New landlords of The Rutland Arms in Bottesford plan to make it the ‘community pub it once was’

A couple has taken over as landlords of a village pub.

Russell Wheatcroft and Emma Compton are the new landlords of The Rutland Arms in Bottesford.

The couple, who both live in Bottesford, used to go into the pub as it was their “regular local” before the Covid lockdown.

Russell said they spent their last night in the pub before it shut and sang “we’ll meet again type of songs.”

He added: “After Covid, the previous landland retired and a new one came in, so we started to go to the other pub in the village.

“The pub took a bad turn, but when the pub went up for sale, we jumped at the chance.”

The couple first met 14 years ago where they both work at a tech company in Nottingham.

The pub is open and run by them now, but they have many future plans for it.

Alongside preparing for the future of their pub, they are also preparing for their wedding as they get married next Saturday (November 4) at The Chequers Inn, in Woolsthorpe.

Russell said they are trying to “bring the pub back to the community pub it once was”.

He added: “We are massively grateful to the community.

“We have worked to get the pub to exceptional standards and 90 man hours have gone into cleaning it.

“We have a lot of plans for the pub.”

The couple plan to upgrade the kitchen to serve food, hold community-based events to “draw people in”, bring in live music and much more.

The pub will also freeze its prices until Christmas.

All changes the couple hope to make are planned to be completed by March or April next year.