Despite Covid-19, theft and flooding Pleasley pub landlords celebrate five year anniversary

Paul Stevens and Sara-Lee Burton took over the White Swan pub in Meden Square, Pleasley, in 2019 and have been met with many challenges during their time in charge including the Covid-19 pandemic, the theft of a pizza oven from the beer garden and having to close their doors for nine weeks after devastating damage caused by Storm Babet in 2023.

But it has been the support of the community that has kept them going.

Paul, 51, said: “The village is what has kept us going and got us to where we are today. There are so many people in this village that have a heart of gold, it’s unreal.

“They are a fantastic group of people. After Covid we had people helping us build a gazebo and we’ve rebuilt a new kitchen with the help of customers.

“We have a resilience because we want to succeed and we have been accepted as part of the community.”

Friday, June 28, marked five years since Paul and Sara-Lee first took over the pub and they celebrated with a party and an award ceremony for their customers.

Paul said: “We wanted to let people know that we care and that they care about us.”

It was fate that brought Paul and Sara-Lee to Pleasley as neither of them are from the area and they were looking at pubs near Buxton before settling on The White Swan.

Paul said: “The minute we saw this one, we fell in love with it.

“The first night we opened and everyone came in, we had to use a till that wasn’t adding up properly and we didn’t know any of the prices, so it was quite a confusing one.

“But we managed and from that night onwards we have just kept going and we’re getting busier and busier.

“We love the people, they are life long friends now and they have become family and we have a great staff as well and we’ve got a barmaid who has been with us from day one.”