Historic Hampshire pub the Hunters Inn in Swanmore to reopen this week after three years
A historic pub which has been closed for more than three years is due to reopen its doors this week.
The Hunters Inn, on the corner of Droxford Road and Cott Street, Swanmore was formerly a coaching inn, dating back to the 1700s.
It became a popular nightspot in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, attracting coachloads of people from Portsmouth, but in later years ran into difficulties.
Heartstone Inns took over from longstanding landlord Tony Picariello in 2018 after buying the pub for £900,000, but closed it a year later saying it was proving ‘uneconomic’ to operate.
It has been undergoing a long-running refurbishment project under new owners – with several mooted reopening dates not coming to pass – but the owners have now confirmed they will open this week.
A Facebook post released under the pub’s account says: ‘Big news! We are excited to announce that we have set our opening date - Thursday, August 18th. We will be having an informal opening ceremony, signifying the bar officially being open for business!
‘Food service will begin on Friday, August 19. We will provide menus and be taking limited lunch and dinner bookings in-person at the ceremony. So make sure to come by and save your seat. All are welcome, we can’t wait to see you there!’