A tipple with a dash of fresh air

The Lamb Hotel in Blackburn Road has just finished a £12,000 refurbishment turning an old stable yard into an attractive beer garden.

The cobbled yard, which had been used as a car park, had become scruffy and unattractive over the years.

But after the investment by owners Punch Taverns and joint tenant landlord David Hilton, the outside area will now be in use with 18 tables with chairs.

The pub, which is 120 years old next year, used to be a hotel which took in weary travellers on their way along Blackburn Road through Darwen to Blackburn.

There is even an old stable in the back of the pub where horses used to be rested before hoof power was overtaken by the motor car.

Mr Hilton said: "The pub really needed brightening up. It has a fantastic atmosphere and the regulars are brilliant. We wanted to keep the traditional feel of the pub but bring it into the 21st century."

As well as the new beer garden, the pub has had new windows fitted and new plant pots put up to brighten up the outside.

A fun day is going to be held to mark the occasion in about three weeks time but the details are yet to be finalised.

Ambitious Mr Hilton is then going to tackle the decorations inside the pub.