Army veteran opens new Long Eaton micropub with a beer dedicated to his grandad

It's always been his dream to open a pub

It's a real family affair at a new micropub. Scott Wilson and his wife Gemma are the faces that customers will see behind the bar at The Looking Glass, but it's a real team effort behind the scenes.

Not only have relatives helped them to transform the venue, a former Indian restaurant and takeaway, but they have also brewed some of the beers.

Even Scott's late grandfather gets in on the act, with an ale named in his honour - Fiery Fred.

The Looking Glass, in Derby Road, Long Eaton, will open its doors at noon on Wednesday, April 8. As well as Fiery Fred, pints of Ecton Copper and Thor will be served.

Those beers are brewed at Wilsons of Warslow in the Peak District, which was founded by his dad, Dave Wilson, now retired, and brother Lee Wilson-Hart.

A pilsner from the Little Brewery in Derby completes the launch's line-up, but Scott is in talks with Nottinghamshire's Blue Monkey to add some of its ales too, further down the line.

"We've got three traditional bitters, one pale ale, one stout and we've got some gluten-free, more like craft beers, in cans," said Scott.

Wine, prosecco, spirits, soft drinks and hot drinks will also be served, with Scott saying: "We've got pretty much every spirit under the sun so if a partner doesn't drink beer or ale, we've got an alternative that caters for all."

Peckish drinkers will be able to nibble on typical bar snacks, such as crisps, but the owners hope to add sausage rolls and scotch eggs to the offering in the future.

Scott was medically discharged after more than five years with the Royal Signals in Colchester when a broken foot refused to heal properly.

As a civilian, he became a long-distance lorry driver during the week and provided protection at boxing and football matches at weekends, but he'd always hankered after opening his own pub.

The chance to make that dream come true fell into his lap on a night out on the town. Scott's dad was asked if he'd like to open a microbrewery in the former curry house, Land of the Five Rivers, and adjacent takeaway, Chandelier Grill and Glaze.

Scott said: "My dad said 'no but Scott will turn it into a pub.'" At that point Gemma wasn't so keen.

She said: "I was adamant no, absolutely not because we'd spoken about it a lot and he's always said he'd like to own a pub and I said it's not my type of thing at all. But I said if this is what you want to do, we'll give it a shot."

What started off as a "little project" turned out to be a much bigger scheme than anticipated. Family and friends got stuck in, knocking down a section of an adjoining wall, plastering, painting, designing the interior and cleaning.

The name and style of the micropub was left to Gemma, who came up with the Through the Looking Glass-inspired theme, a sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Her sister Kelly spent hours putting together colourful flower displays and her mum Sue created the floral tables.

The end result is an attractive space with forest green paint, a comfy sofa and armchair, bookcases, gilt-framed mirrors and ripped pages from Lewis Carroll's famous story decorating a wall.

Scott won't be dressing up as the Mad Hatter but Gemma's parents gifted him a pocket watch, like the White Rabbit's, to wear in the bar.

Gemma, who spent years working for high street opticians but more recently was a part-time receptionist at a doctor's surgery, said: "It's very different as I've never stood on that side of the bar in my life." Joining her pulling pints will be her 18-year-old daughter, Lola.

Scott plans to hold veterans' mornings on Sundays since there isn't a hub in the town. "They can come in, have a chat, have some coffees and we're doing bacon cobs just for them.

"If they need help with anything, then we'll get them help. It's one of the reasons we wanted a bookshelf because they can take a book and read because that helps a lot of people. A lot of the homeless are veterans, mainly by choice, so if we can help them out, that's the main thing."

The Looking Glass will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon until 11pm. As well as being dog-friendly, children are welcome up to 9pm.

"I'm looking forward to it. I think we'll get the first week out the way and then when we've got our feet under the table we'll be a bit more relaxed because there 's always teething problems so it's just trying to iron out the little niggles," said Scott.

"We're allowed up to 100 people but we're going to cut it off at 50 maximum as we've only 24 sitting. We don't want it to be like sardines. Just nice chilled-out vibes. There's not a lot up this way so hopefully it will be nice and steady."

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