BHURTPORE INN

In 1825, the Iron Fort of Bhurtpore, in northern India, was again becoming a serious thorn in the side of the British. Bhurtpore was considered by the Indians to be indestructible following previous failed attempts by the otherwise all conquering British.

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Lord Combermere began his five year stint as Commander-in-Chief  in India by masterminding the siege of Bhurtpore which, in January 1826, finally assured relative peace in the subcontinent for many years.

Twenty three years later, in 1849, the George family finally arrived in Aston, renting the pub, by now known as the Bhurtpore Inn, from the Combermere estate. They also had the field behind the pub and a couple more fields in the locality, and managed to make a living from a mix of agriculture, brewing and running the village pub.

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In 1865 Lord Combermere (whose distinguished military career was defined by his achievement at Bhurtpore) passed away and before long, decades of financial problems lead to annual sales of estate property.

In 1895, Philip George, the third generation of landlord, bought the pub from the estate and set about a major programme of improvements, costing around £200. During this period the Bhurtpore was described in county records as the best run pub in the area.

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In 1901 the business was sold to Woolf's Brewery of Crewe for around £2,000. Woolf's was taken over by Allsopp's of Burton in 1923 which became part of Ind Coope and eventually what became called Carlsberg Tetley, to whom the pub was still tied in 1991.

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In that year, after several years in the trade, Simon and Nicky George were looking to buy their first pub and the boarded up, stripped out Bhurtpore ticked just about every box.

Five months of rebuilding, repairing and refitting later, the Bhurtpore reopened for business on April 9th, 1992 - the same day that John Major's Government was re-elected, much to Neil Kinnock's surprise.