Bob (74) to leave his pub after 43 years – but has no plans to retire

BOB Taylor will leave the iconic pub he has run for the past 43 years, but has no plans to retire.

At 74, when most people look forward to putting their feet up, Bob has no such ambition.

He first stepped behind the bar of the Rutland Arms better known as the Dirty Duck at Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir, in 1971.

But now, he says, owners Belvoir Estates, have decided not to renew his lease.

He said: “I’m happy to carry on. My wife is 60 and all would be well, but the Government moved the goalposts so she can’t retire until she’s 65.

“I’ll still continue to run my other pub, the Springfield Arms in Grantham. I’ll be making it a real ale pub and introduce food.”

Born and brought up in the village, Bob drank at the canalside pub as a young man but never held any ambition to take it over.

Then, after working behind the bar of the Chequers, Grantham, for landlord Ali Carley, he decided to have a go for the lease of Dirty Duck, owned by Belvoir Estates.

Bob said: “There were 54 applicants and I got it because the agent was impressed how clean I got my motorbike. The lease was 30 shillings (1.50). It’s a lot more now.

The pub was originally built in 1749 by the Marquis of Granby for his batman Waight who served with him in his military campaigns.

The Marquis, an ancestor of the Duke of Rutland, often helped to set up his former soldiers as publicans, who in turn named their pubs after him.

The pub remained in the Waight family (later Pearson by marriage) until Bob broke the tradition when he took over in 1971.

“The trade isn’t what it was. Supermarkets are killing it, “laments Bob.

“Look at all the Grantham pubs that have disappeared over the past few years. People are either drinking at home or getting a skinfull before they go out.”