“Not everybody has someone to go home to so I like to make it nice”

This week’s pub is in the centre of Horwich with a new landlady who prides herself on helping others, even starting a food bank.

The Bowling Green has a batch of friendly regulars and has only started serving food.

Introduce yourself

My name is Monique Mackay and I run The Bowling Green in Horwich.

How is running the pub?

It’s lovely, I’ve been here since July now, I used to run the Gilnow Arms and the Royal Hotel, and a few other pubs, but I was a social worker for 33 years before I went into the pub game when I was 57 years old

What made you go into the industry later in life?

I just love the atmosphere you get in a pub, I began to thrive off the community spirit.  And that’s also why I took over here because it’s a busy pub.

Monique dancing awayMonique dancing away (Image: Supplied)What changes did you make?

I’ve opened up the kitchen, and we have live bands every Friday and Saturday, plus a darts and pool team.

Describe the pub

It’s a real homely place, some of the customers have been coming in for a long time, they like coming in during the week and on weekends, on weekends we do tend to see people travel from further out to visit, as in travelling from Chorley or Bolton, but it’s a got a good town centre vibe.

What extra things do you do for the community?

We’re starting a foodbank collection point next week, I’ve done it in my previous pubs as I want to give back, and we will also run a family fun day for charity in the summer.

(Image: Supplied)What food do you serve?

It’s just basic bar snacks, pizzas, cheesy chips, chicken wings, chips and gravy, fish fingers, all sorts.  We charge £5 for fish fingers, chips and peas, and £5 for a ten-inch pizza, which you can get with plenty of different toppings.

What’s the draught line-up?

  • Tetley’s

  • Fosters

  • Angelo Poretti

  • Carlsberg

  • San Miguel

  • Stella Artois

  • Amstel

  • Estrella

  • Cruzcampo

  • Three guest ale taps

What’s the best thing about running a pub?

I think just being around people, I’m very much a people person and I like creating a nice environment, not everybody has someone to go home to so I like to make it nice for people.

What’s the plan going forward?

In the new year, I want to convert the back into a beer garden, as we don’t really have one at the minute, We’ll also be introducing bingo and play your cards right.