Ray & Jo Lambe, The Windmill, Charlton
The Windmill at Charlton near Hitchin is enjoying better times, since the arrival in January 2007 of new licensees Ray and Jo Lambe.
In their first six months they changed a poorly performing pub into a success story, despite neither having had much previous experience.
Ray said: “We have sales growth of 50 per cent on food and 55 per cent on drink.”
Jo previously worked in a bakery and Ray was a secondary school teacher, who gave up his profession in April to help run the pub full-time.
They were both born and raised in their parents’ pubs, however – so it was a natural move.
“We are quite lucky,” Ray concedes. “There are only 20 houses in Charlton but it is a satellite village of Hitchin and word soon spreads.
“We haven’t advertised widely but Jo is a chef and a lot of people know her brother Andy, who has run a bakery business in Hitchin for five years.
“Many people came because they were curious, enjoyed freshly cooked home-made food here and were impressed.”
The modern European menu includes great favourites like sirloin steaks, chicken pie and sausage and mash in red onion gravy.
“The pub looked tired so we decorated it for the first time in seven years before we opened,” said Ray.
“That meant people saw the whole difference at once – a brighter, cleaner pub, new people and lovely fresh food and good ale, all at once.”
Ray, who previously taught in Stevenage, said: “I enjoyed teaching but when I was doing that and Jo was a chef we didn’t see much of each other.
“We now work together which is great. We both had a fondness for pubs, and it is a full-time job. If you enjoy it, as we do, it’s a lovely life.”
