Steaks are high as Kenny puts pub up for sale

The Drove Inn at Roweltown, near Brampton, is on the market for £390,000 – or £758,000 for six lots including the pub with a self-catering holiday unit, a four-bedroom barn conversion and lots of land.

Landlord Kenny Hope – who, according to one review, “makes steaks you can cut with a spoon” – has decided to sell the pub after 35 years behind the bar. Mr Hope said: “I would like to retire but it depends if the pub gets sold. If it doesn’t I’ll still be here.”

The father-of-two, who worked previously as a builder’s labourer, farmer, wood-cutter, machinery demonstrator and lorry driver, reckons it took him 10 years to win over the locals.

But he finally cracked it when he began making steaks which have pulled in customers from all over the world. In the late 1970s, Mr Hope bought some steaks from NK Meats in Brampton and began cooking them every Sunday.

It started with six one night, seven the next week, then 10, then a few on Saturdays too. Now he does T-bones, sirloin, fillet, rump, king and queen sizes – 12oz and 8oz. A public auction, organised by chartered surveyors H&H Bowe, takes place in the pub on Wednesday, September 30 at 7.30pm. It is for sale as a whole or in six lots. The pub has four darts and two pool teams which keep it busy all year round. It also operates a mobile bar which is available to hire for local functions. The land which is up for sale ranges from £18,000 to £72,000 – depending on the size, and High Luckens barn is on the market for £220,000.