Answering our ten questions this week is Matthew Cunningham, manager of our current pub of the year, The Borehole, Stone

What inspired you to run a pub?
It wasn’t so much inspiration but necessity, we are a family-run business and after experiencing a massive loss within the family as well as having to close our pub situated in Newcastle-under-Lyme (The Vaults), it was the next logical step. It’s a shame that the circumstances surrounding my appointment to manage the pub are so negative because I love what I do

Why should people come to your pub?
Well in a nutshell, it’s the overall experience: we provide our community with top-quality, locally brewed ales in a warm and homely setting. We’re very much family and dog friendly. We have a real log fire to keep you warm on those cold and wet days, and in the summer months you can bask in glorious sunshine thanks to our secluded beer garden to the rear.

What will we find behind the bar to delight our tastebuds?
On the wet side, we have 5 core cask ales, from pales and IPAs to traditional bitters and a dark ruby, on top of this we have draught cider and lager as well as a regular rotation of craft keg beers.
If you’re looking for snacks we have a fantastic range too, not only do we offer bowls of peanuts (salted, dry roast & chilli) but we also have possibly some of the best pork scratchings you can find! And if that doesn’t tickle your fancy then we have 10 flavours of crisps sourced locally from Staffordshire-based ‘Just Crisps’. If you’ve a sweet tooth, we’ve got you covered too, with kinder bars, freddos and pick ‘n’ mix bags!

Do you have any regular or occasional events?
We have all sorts of events going on throughout the year at the Borehole, for starters we have of course our fortnightly pub quiz, hosted by our resident quizmaster Jay, it’s a £1 per person and we serve cheese oatcakes to each team at halftime, with the winning team to expect a free round on us!
On a Wednesday night from Spring until about mid-October we have our ‘Mid-Week-Munch’ which sees a host of different food vendors join us at our Micro-Pub from 4pm-8pm to serve up all sorts of delightful food, from chicken naan bread wraps, gourmet venison burgers, thai curries, steak-loaded fries and more!
And then we also have our monthly charity dog walk, which is a fantastic way to stretch your legs and strike up a relationship with members or our community all whilst supporting local charities and the amazing work that they do. We advertise the dates and times of these walks both inside the pub and via our Facebook page.

What are the best & worst parts of the job?
The best part of the job has got to be the community that exists around our pub, it’s truly humbling to see all the friendly faces (and their dogs!) who travel from far and wide to visit the Borehole. It sounds cheesy but during peoples’ best and worst times, we are there, to help celebrate or commiserate and it’s a big honour.
Of course, there are negatives, although I feel like it could be a lot worse! Working the hours I do at the pub means that I don’t get to help out at the Brewery quite as much as l’d like to.

You have some time off – what do you do?
Depends on how much time l’ve got! Me and my partner Sarah like to take our Spaniels Pud and Maggie on a nice day out if we can, one of our favourite destinations being Talacre Beach. In this job we admittedly don’t get a lot of time off together so a nice, chilled night in with a movie or some music suits me just fine!

Any funny moments you can share?
One of our regular customers is a parrot, so I guess there’s that!

What three words best describe your pub?
Quirky, homely and unique.

How could CAMRA (local & national) help support you?
You can support us by raising awareness about the difficulties that independent pubs face, whether it be soaring costs, lower footfall or this apparent race to the bottom that we see throughout the industry. Any support is greatly appreciated and ultimately I think Real Ale is not just ‘an old man’s drink’ but a cultural pillar in the country and it needs to be protected before it dies out completely.

Tell us you best (or worst) pub joke
A weasel walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Wow, I’ve never served a weasel before. What can I get you?”
“Pop,” goes the weasel.

Many thanks to Matthew for taking time to answer our questions.
If you run a pub in the Heart of Staffordshire area and would like to take part in a future ‘Meet the Publican’ feature, please get in touch