Couple take over Stoke-on-Trent pub - 15 years after getting engaged there
A popular couple has taken over a traditional real ales pub that they became engaged in. Cherished Craig and Loren Skelding have moved to The Bulls Head in John’s Square, Burslem, which is the pub where Craig proposed to Loren in 2009 before getting wed in Las Vegas a year later.
The Bulls Head, owned by Titanic, is close to Craig’s heart as his parents would drink here when they were “courting”. At one point, Craig and Loren lived in a house in between The Bulls and The Duke William, so this was their local for quite some time.
Now Craig and Loren will be pouring the pints there rather than drinking them, as they have now settled in after moving from the Crown and Thistle in Kidsgrove. Their dog, Bella the chow chow, who is a crucial part of the couple’s lives, has also moved with them.
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Craig, 55, said: “We have a lot of family history in The Bulls Head. My mum was born in a house in Moorland Road and when my mum and dad were courting they would use The Bulls Head.
“We moved to Burslem about 25 years ago and I proposed to Lauren in the yard in 2009, and then we got married in Las Vegas in 2010. We lived in Burslem for quite a few years and then we moved over to The Crown and Thistle and spent 10 years there running that pub.
“When we heard The Bulls Head [manager] was due to retire we thought ‘this feels right’, because it felt like we were doing a full circle coming back here. It’s a very similar pub to The Crown and Thistle. We were a big part of the community in Kidsgrove, and we’ve already had loads of visitors from there so we feel quite privileged - it’s home from home really.
“We’ve been welcomed by the Burslem community with open arms, and friends who knew us from back when I proposed to Loren have been in to see us as well. We’ve had good support from the Port Vale fans too. The whole community has welcomed us and it’s been quite amazing. We’re really really surprised. It was hard to leave The Crown and Thistle and it was a difficult decision to make. It was this pub that made us move because it means so much to us. It’s really heartwarming.
“The Bulls Head is a traditional ale house and we also have a good wine and spirit selection as well as Belgium beers. We intend to keep it as it is, we’re keeping the same style as we want to keep it as a traditional ales pub - a real traditional ales pub - and be at the centre of the community. That’s what we want to build, that’s our focus, to be the number one traditional ales pub in the area. In our opinion we think local pubs should be at the centre of the community.
“We’re working with other pubs and the microbar over the road because we want to draw people back to the market square. It’s a lovely little square and it seems to be leaning back to the town that it used to be, it’s becoming quite vibrant again. It’s good timing for us because we can settle in and then start focusing on Christmas. We used to have a lot of involvement with the community and with the Rotary Club in Kidsgrove over the years, so we want to do it in Burslem.”
Talking about their earlier life Craig added: “I went to college in Moorland Road and I did a course in engineering, but I was also a casual relief manager for pubs for quite some time. I was born in a house in Biddulph which was around the corner from the Pennine Tavern, and that was the first pub I ran full time. I ran that for four years, then went back into engineering, then went back to managing pubs when we moved to The Crown and Thistle 10 years ago. I’ve always been in traditional ale houses since I was 18.
“I’ve always had two career paths. We’re so privileged to have two great pubs in two great communities. Loren used to run the office at Longport narrowboats, and prior to that she ran The Red Lion in Kidsgrove, so the narrowboat community knows us well as well.”
The Bulls Head is open from Monday to Thursday from 3pm until 10pm, on Fridays and Saturdays from midday until 11pm, and on Sundays from midday until 10pm.