Who will buy The Jolly Sisters pub?

A MUCH-LOVED community pub is on the market after almost 30 years with the same landlord at the tiller.

The Jolly Sisters in Bride Street has been listed by specialist estate agents David Coffer Lyons as a ‘Freehold Opportunity’, as its long-serving publicans seek to hang up their glasses for the final time.

Maria Roach, who runs the pub with her partner Alex said: “I’m coming up to retirement and that is the main reason why I’m selling. It was a couple of months ago we had a football match on, and I just passed out behind the counter. I just thought alright, no, we’ve gotta stop.”

Ms Roach began at the Jolly Sisters in 1995 when it was her parents’ business and has run it on-and-off since, taking a majority stake in its ownership following the death of her mother in 2018.

She told the Tribune: “My mum used to run the pub down the road that is now an Indian restaurant. She ran that for 30 years.

“And I helped her for 27 or 28 years of those 30 years. So I’ve always done it, and I’ve loved it. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

The pub dates from the 1860s, and was originally called the New Queen’s Head before it was renamed to The Jolly Sisters in 1999. The building lies within the St Mary Magdalene conservation area, and is locally listed.

The estate agents list the pub’s capacity as 40, and its back room features a large wooden fireplace with a darts board used by the baer’s three teams. “It’s a great little pub in the right hands,” Ms Roach said.

Jollys, as it’s known locally, has been a staple of Bride Street since it opened.

Ms Roach said: “We try to make people welcome, and at home, and some people who don’t have that really appreciate it.

“It’s a villagey kind of community, but people also return from long distances.

“The Germans are coming in a week’s time – and the Americans are coming after that. It’s totally crazy.”

Ms Roach told the Tribune that the listing had received a lot of interest, but that her partner had urged her to wait for a satisfactory offer.

She said: “We’re going to hang out, you know, we’re not in a hurry to leave.”