In 2006 Italy won the World Cup, a whale swam up the River Thames and Carole Burton became the licensee of The Three Crowns. Carole remembers the day well; it was extremely hot.

Since then, Carole has been in charge and talking to her has been a revelation. So much has changed over the last 17 years. But before we talked about the highs and lows and changes, I wanted to know how she had become a landlady.

As many older Barrow residents will remember Carole’s parents ran the Conservative Club for 20 years so Carole was brought up in the business and really loved the catering side. So, when the opportunity to run the Three Crowns came up, she went for it. However, becoming a licensee is a long process of interviews; background checks; inspection of business plans; and short courses on cellar training, hygiene and safety. Carole passed them all and the licence was hers.

The pub she took over in 2006 was structurally much the same as it is today. There is a massive flat above the pub running its whole length where Carole and Andy lived and brought up their two children Jack and Olivia (Liv). The major difference was that the pub in 2006 had stopped doing food. Carole had to start from scratch. Before stopping, the pub menu had been limited to the basics such as lasagne, cottage pie, and fish and chips. Now it’s massive with a menu offering a wide choice of dishes for all kinds of tastes: vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and children’s – the lot. Tapas, too, on Wednesday nights and the Street Food / Dirty Fries, started as takeaways in the car park during Covid, are now popular fixtures on the restaurant menu. But it’s the Sunday Lunches that are the star attraction. Carole produces 200 covers in four hours. You have to book in advance to get a table but many meals are prepared for collection and simply warmed up at home. One customer was so upset to hear that because Carole was leaving the Sunday lunches would end, she cried. What a sad but wonderful tribute to Carole’s food.

And the drinks, like the food, have been expanded over the years. There were always good beers, wines and spirits on sale but now there is an extensive cocktail menu too. Watching sport, especially football, has always been important to the pub. When Carole arrived, there was just one TV and now there are three inside, one outside, and if a World Cup appears another seven can be quickly added. Carole says the night Leicester City won the Premiership was an amazing night, a real high for herself and everyone in the pub. The Covid pandemic produced the worst lows.

To have achieved all this Carole is quick to acknowledge the tremendous support she has always had from her husband Andy and her staff. In 2006 there were just eight on the books. It has now grown to 18 including her daughter Liv. Liv not only cooks meals but loves taking photos of them to tell the world through Facebook. In 2006 there was word-of-mouth and an A board in the street. And Facebook? Who’d heard of Facebook?

So, much has changed over the years and Carole, through her energy and imagination, has ensured the pub is always a busy one. Now she wants to try something else. What could it be? Well outside-catering is what she has in mind only the details are still sketchy. She’d love to set up something in Barrow where she has such a good reputation; she wouldn’t need to do today what she did in 2006 – start from scratch. This would be great as we could not simply order our party food from her but see her around in the village. Good luck for the future Carole! I’m sure whatever you do will be a great success.

Gaynor Barton