Alan Merryweather and Sarah Cunnington, business owners of The Black Horse in Aylestone were stranded in Tenerife as the coronavirus outbreak caused flights to be cancelled and travellers to be left miles from home, not knowing how long it would be until they could return to England and to their pub.
“Being in isolation in our hotel room gave us plenty of time to think and to brainstorm how we and our pub could help our community through this when we got back. We could see what was happening in Tenerife and knew it wouldn’t be too long before it started happening at home.” Says Alan.
Alan and Sarah finally arrived back in the UK the same day the Government ordered all pubs to close.
“With nothing to do and being cooped up in our hotel room, we were constantly on our phones reading the news, that’s when we decided we wanted to help people take a little break from all of this and spread a little normality and happiness.”
The Black Horse is a popular pub, known for its fantastic programme of entertainment, including a Sunday Bike Ride Club, quiz nights and a Cheese Club, not to mention a great array of comedy upstairs at the Laughter Loft. It’s also known for its fun and friendly landlord and landlady, so it didn’t surprise its many regulars when their favourite pub decided to keep the fun going through the many virtual events they have hosted since The Black Horse temporarily closed its doors.