The Maypole Pub on Hayling Island to relaunch as new landlady secures dream location

New landlady Julie Fear will be opening the establishment’s doors on Friday for a soft launch. The pub’s future was in doubt before the new year, as previous owner Kate Haley-Roebuck said her and her partner were moving for family reasons, but the venue will be greeting residents once again from 12pm.

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Mrs Fear, 54, said she could not wait to get started at the Havant Road location alongside her husband Jim. She told The News: ‘My husband and I have always dreamed of having a pub, so this is it

‘My husband and I love going out to good country pubs and visiting them. I want to make this place somewhere people will travel to.’

The Worthing native is an experienced entrepreneur. She runs The Boathouse In The Marina restaurant in Ferry Road, Littlehampton, and previously worked at the Fuller’s pub franchise.

Mrs Fear found out she became the new landlady in mid-November after being approached. After a lot of hard work to get things back into tip-top condition, and close another franchise at Littlehampton golf club, the new landlady is ready for the pub to open to the public – after juggling three businesses over Christmas.

She said: ‘It’s been a long haul, but I’m really looking forward to Friday and finally meeting people I’ve been chatting to on social media. It’s going to be really lovely.

‘My hands are raw, my back is absolutely agony. We’ve been cleaning, clearing and making it a better looking building inside and out. We made everything clean, warm and respectful.’

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Mrs Fear said she was ‘very excited’ to meet the locals after drumming up a rapport with them on social media. She added she turned down previous opportunities before to run a pub, but thought this opportunity came up at the ‘right time’.

‘I want to get my teeth into a new challenge,’ she added. ‘Knowing the locals is very important. They are your neighbours and they are the reason you have a business.

‘I hope to build a strong connection with them.’ Mrs Fear said the pub will host live music every Saturday and serve good homemade food from ingredients from local suppliers.

The new opening hours will be 12pm-10pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 12pm to 6pm on Sunday. It will be closed every Monday.