That’s what strikes me when Bob Mitchell (pictured right) beams his way from the behind the bar to shake my hand.

Wife Wendy appears equally content as she busies herself with the daily duties in advance of the first lunchtime customers.

The genial atmosphere is infectious. I’m standing in one of the great country village pubs of England and the longer I’m here the broader the smile on my face becomes, too.

The Chequers at Little Gransden, between Biggleswade and Cambridge, is an unassuming local.

In fact, it looks for all intents and purposes like just another house – the legacy of a fire many years ago that saw the premises rebuilt by a house builder, who clearly found it difficult to change his ways.

The reconstruction also saw the addition of a new bar, the first that you encounter as you enter from the car park at the side.

Framed Documents

Warmed by a coal fire, this is a spick-and-span, simple bar room with a dartboard and some fascinating framed documents that reveal more about the history of the pub.

Catching the eye is a print entitled A Chequered Past, which depicts the pub’s family tree, showing the various brewers that have owned the premises over the centuries.

Researched by Bob himself, it reaches back as far as 1764, when the ruling brewery was Priory of St Neots. The branches then extend up to the present day, highlighting periods of ownership by brewers such as Phillips, Green’s and Whitbread.

 The Chequers came into the Mitchell family hands in 1951, when Bob’s father, a demobbed RAF electrician from the nearby airbase, took over the tenancy. (His first year accounts are another framed feature.) He eventually bought the pub from Whitbread in 1970.

A step down from the first bar brings to you an inner sanctum, a snug just wide enough to slot in one table and a bench. This is where the locals hang out, warming themselves by another little coal fire and discussing the hot issues of the day across the hop-strewn bar with Bob and Wendy.

This is clearly the hub of the pub but there’s another room, too. Beyond sits a lounge, boxy and functional yet comfortable, with a fish tank to divert the eye and an ancient cash register perched on the edge of the bar.

Son of Sid

Through a window, you can view the pub’s own brewery, Bob’s little three-barrel refuge-cum-playroom.

His Son of Sid brewery – underlining again the pub’s cherished family connections – has been established nearly five years now, to the point where almost all the beers sold at The Chequers are brewed here.

Among the favourites with regulars are Muckcart Mild (after the pig muck truck that rumbles past every day), Delia’s Delight (Bob’s self-confessed ‘fetish’ with Delia Smith taken to a new level), and Back to Black (an anti-golden ale with a disturbing pictorial tribute to the late Amy Winehouse on the pumpclip).

As seen in the beer names, there’s an engaging sense of fun about Bob’s brewing exploits, an echo of the enjoyment clearly to be had when you are your own boss and can welcome friends into your home every day.

That’s something that big city pubs seldom have and that pub companies can’t buy. It’s a sense of freedom, without the nagging demands of an area manager or pressure from above to increase turnover.

If ever there was an example of how important the cheerfulness of the licensee is to the success of a pub, it’s there to be witnessed at The Chequers – a pub that makes people happy.

The Chequers, 71 Main Road, Little Gransden, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 3DW
Tel. (01767) 677348
www.sonofsid.co.uk
Opening Hours: 12–2, 7–11; 12–11 Friday & Saturday; 12–6, 7–10.30 Sunday