Couple bring new life to old pub

PLYMOUTH’S best-known pint pulling couple – affectionately known as Betty and Barney Rubble – have split up but remain close and their pubs are unaffected. Sarah “Betty” Wills and Rob “Barney” Wills remain great friends and business partners but are in new relationships.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

And Betty’s new inamorata is her other best friend and former bar manager Carly Duncan. The couple can now be seen regularly working at the Stoke Bar, in Stoke Village, where they will run the premises Sarah and Rob added to their hostelry empire in June by taking a 10-year lease.

There are four other staff too and Sarah is keen to re-establish the venue, previously known as The Stoke Bar and Grill, as a staple in an area “renowned for pub runs”. Its neighbours include The Blockhouse Inn, The Masonic Inn, Oddfellows Arms and The Stoke Inn.

“I’m from Stoke, I grew up in this area,” she said. “So this is about bringing local residents in, making it a community pub and bringing people back into Stoke Village.