PUB landlord John L’Huillier and his wife Barbara will be pulling their last pints at The Swan Inn at Newland this weekend.

The couple, who have run the pub for the last 33 years, are calling time and looking forward to retirement and taking life easy in future.

The couple took over the tenancy of The Swan, which is owned by Madresfield Estates, in 1975 after two years at The Fox in Bransford, and have loved running a pub they describe as friendly and traditional.

“It’s a demanding job running a pub but we’ve enjoyed it. It’s a very personal business, you build up a clientele and get to know people. I expect there’s a lot we’ll miss,” said Mr L’Huillier.

He said they had seen a lot of changes at the pub over the years.

“We use to have a lot of local farmers who drank here and they were real characters,” said Mr L’Huillier, adding that over the years they had also served a number of celebrities, including comedian Norman Wisdom and Lady Sassoon, wife of the wealthy race horse owner Sir Victor Sassoon.

The pub has strong links with the Malvern-based Morgan Motor Company and has been used as a meeting place by enthusiasts and as a location for photographs of the famous sports cars.

John, 70, and Barbara, 67, plan to stay in Malvern initially and have not yet made any definite plans for their retirement.

The pub will be taken over after Monday (November 17) by Duncan Ironmonger, of the award-winning Nags Head in Malvern.