New owners of Fox Inn, Holywell "determined" to keep going

Christopher Swallow, and his wife Alwena have been the landlords of the The Fox Inn, in Ysceifiog, near Holywell for the past 14 years. 

With their tenancy due to expire in June next year and thoughts of retiring, it looked set to be 15 years and out for the couple. 

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However, when it became apparent that the pub may close following their tenancy, they put an offer in with the owners to purchase the site. 

The sale was completed last week. 

Chris, with wife Alwena (Image: UGC)

Running a pub is in the family for Chris, with both his parents and grandparents being publicans, while Alwena has cooked in a variety of pubs for years. 

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Despite initial thoughts about retirement, Chris says the pair are determined to keep the pub running successfully. 

He said: "Our tenancy agreement was due to be up in June of next year and we were set on retiring but we didn't know what we'd do once we had retired. 

"We thought about staying on for another 18 months to two years, then the chance to buy it came up and it was hard to turn down.

"The sale got completed last week and had we not bought it, it might not have remained a pub. 

"Then whenever we do retire we'll rent it out to make sure that it will still be a local pub as that is important. 

"These days there a lot more pubs shutting down than opening and we're determined to keep it going and be successful."

Following the sale, Chris also revealed that small refurbishments will take place in the pub over the coming months. 

The pub is open every day of the week bar Wednesday, from 4pm during the week and from 2pm Saturday and 1pm Sunday.