Much-missed Devon seaside pub to reopen

A much-missed seaside pub in Devon is to reopen its doors this weekend after being closed for almost a year. The Malt House pub and Restaurant in Seaton, affectionately known as 'the old George' has been taken over by new owners who are hoping to recreate its former glory days in the town.

The pub closed on January 2, after its previous owners announced on Facebook they were 'devastated' to be leaving after 10 years but were unable to financially continue with the business.

The post said: "There have been a number of economical factors at play, but our biggest setback was having a poor summer. In a seasonal town you need a good summer to get through the winter and with no signage, external lighting and decoration along with scaffolding surrounding the building it made this impossible for us.

It has now been taken over by Devon-based company Barcraft Devon Ltd in conjunction with Heineken. Its other pubs include The Phoenix in Exmouth which it successfully resurrected earlier this year following a prolonged closure after the previous owner left.

The Malt House will reopen today, Friday, November 29, with a soft launch from 3pm. It will be open the following day to welcome locals and visitors attending the Christmas lights switch-on in Seaton.

Revealing what people can expect, a spokesman for Barcraft Devon said: "It's an old worlde pub with a lot of key features of the seaside. It is known by a lot of people as the famous 'old George' so we are trying to bring that back under The Malt House name.

"It is located in The Square in Seaton so is in a good central position.

"It is going to be a locals bar and next year we will introduce food which will be locally sourced homemade pub grub. We will using the same menu from great British pub The John Gregory in Weymouth.

"We have not needed to do anything to the building other than change the layout of the furniture and prep it, stock it and give it a good clean. I have never walked into a pub like it in terms of how well looked after it is. I believe it had a refit or touch up just before the previous owners left."

The pub will be serving real ales alongside low and zero alcohol options and is also bringing in a drinks machine to serve coffees and tea. Another new introduction is a loyalty card for customers. It will offer 20 per cent off from Mondays to Fridays and regulars who buy eight draft drinks will be rewarded with a free pint by using the card, except on Guinness.

Visitors can look forward to live entertainment becoming a regular fixture in the pub's calendar which will include music, bingo and quizzes.

The Barcraft Devon spokesman said: "We will open up and see what the demographic is and see how it goes and what they want. The word on the street has been that people are saying it's lovely to see the pub will be reopening again.

"It's good to get a beautiful pub back in business in this lovely, welcoming seaside town. We are looking forward to meeting the locals and giving them a warm welcome."