FORMER lawyer Andrew Cornthwaite, who worked in the banking industry, says he has to pinch himself sometimes just to make sure he isn’t dreaming.

The businessman who lives on the Worcestershire/Herefordshire border near Upper Sapey now, with his wife Kate Lane, owns a pub in the village called the Baiting House which they refurbished and has become a successful local hostelry, highly acclaimed for its food and offers accommodation both in the pub and in lodges in a nearby field.

Having seen the Baiting House go from strength to strength, they have bought another pub a few miles away – the Admiral Rodney at Berrow Green, near Martley - which had been closed for about a year, and have embarked on a significant refurbishment to bring it back to life.

Andrew said he lives in a beautiful part of the country, his drive to work is through the stunning Teme Valley and he loves taking these properties and injecting them with new life. “I sometimes pinch myself,” he said.

“The original plan was just to buy the Baiting House. I said I was going to stop at the one but we were enjoying ourselves so much and people said I should look at the Admiral Rodney.”

He pointed out the latest project is very different from the first one. “The Baiting House was more of an engineering project. It was falling down. The Admiral Rodney has good bones.”

Although currently a building site, much of the work being done at the 17th century Admiral Rodney is cosmetic, but being done to a high standard.

Andrew said he and Kate are not planning to create a replica of the Baiting House. They want to run a community pub which is for the locals and will attract customers from as far away from Worcester offering good quality pub grub rather than the two AA Rosette cuisine of the Baiting House.

The rooms are also getting a makeover as well as the pub with its separate dining room, which used to be the stable block and still retains the rings where riders tied up their horses. There will be a discreet nautical theme throughout.

The current skittle alley will be used for functions and also to offer a venue for an air rifle league fixtures.

There is also planning permission for three lodges in the grounds at the rear of the pub so people can enjoyed what the pub has to offer without staying in the six rooms inside.

Andrew has already appointed a chef and bar manager, which he said are most important roles, and will enable him and Kate, who is driving the interior designs, to take more of a back seat once the pub is up and running. The reopening is expected to take place on March 18 2018.

Asked if he would take on another pub once this one is finished, Andrew smiled and confirmed that it is on the cards but he hasn’t made a decision on the particular site. “I am looking for another one. The Baiting House and the Admiral Rodney are both about 15 minutes’ drive from my home and I would be looking for something similar or slightly further.”

In the meantime, as diggers are at work outside, builders, plasterers and joiners are at work inside, there is a deadline to meet for the Admiral Rodney.