WE try to put the spotlight on local venues and show why they are one of the best places to go to relax in our ‘Pub of the Week’ feature.

This time we have gone to Belmont to find out what makes it so special.

Name of the pub

The Black Dog

Address of the pub:

Church St, Belmont

Landlord/landlady name:

Nik Kershaw

How long have you been the landlord/landlady for?

One month

Bar staff and their names:

Victoria is manager, Suzzie, Mel, Rachel, Heidi

Give us some history about the pub

It is a Holt Brewery pub and it has been here for two centuries. It is the only pub in Belmont and is a dog friendly, homely village pub. It has a very welcoming atmosphere and there is very much a community feel and most people in the village want to pop in and enjoy it. We are dog friendly and also have a lot of cyclists and bikers coming to our pub.

Is food served? Is so what’s on the menu?

Yes, we serve great food and we get a lot of compliments about the food. We have lots for everyone including the Ultimate Burger and the Hanging Kebab to our traditional fish and chips as well as our great mixed grill. The hanging kebab keeps flying off the shelves and you can get chips with it and a pitta bread with salad. It also has vegetables, and you can have fillet steak, lamb or halloumi with it.

Is there a beer garden?

Yes we have one and there there is an outside seating area.

Do you have any darts/snooker/pool teams

No, we don’t

Most popular drink served is:

We find our Holts Bitter and Holts Lager are the most popular

Most memorable moment at the pub

The quirkiness of the place makes for the most memorable moments but it also is the busy shifts and wanting to serve our customers that have been the best moments so far.

Have you faced any challenges within the industry?

I have ran a few pubs before and you learn from running different ones but you have to learn about your customers - old and new ones and need to build for the future.

The best thing about running a pub is

Meeting the people and you find that no two days are the same but I love to serve people and I honestly love being a host too.

The worst thing about running a pub is..

Time off (the lack of it) as you do everything yourself but I suppose it is part of the lifestyle.