Brass back to its Best with new man in charge

A MOSSLEY pub is back open for business.

And Kyle Clayton hopes to breathe new life into the Best o’Brass, with early signs looking promising.

The Manchester Road venue in Bottom Mossley has been spruced up and revamped, with customers already liking what they see.

After being closed for more than a year, regulars were wondering if they would ever set foot in it again.

But 30-year-old Kyle, who hails from Mossley, has big plans as he said: “I wanted to put a community pub back in the town.

“Since we opened on February 14, things have been going well, it’s been fairly busy but we had our big opening on February 18.

“The response was very encouraging – we had quite a few people in for us showing football.

We’ll offer that regularly, as well as live music and a sports quiz once a month.

“It’ll be a drinking sports quiz – basically, you get a question wrong and you have to take a drink!”

As soon as he knew he would get the pub, Kyle got to work in transforming and updating the surroundings.

It certainly meant a lot as he added: “We’ve done the carpets, the upholstery, the bar, the lines, everything basically – in just five days.”

Kyle is no novice to working in pubs having been in and around several venues in the local area.

But when it came to getting one of his own, he simply summed it up by saying: “I don’t know what made me get one!

“I’ve been in and out of pubs all my life with my family, so I thought I’d just try something new.”

Regulars from when it was last open are already coming back through the door and just being able to do that is a blessed relief.

One, known as Carl, who was with his friends PJ and ‘Dave Sticks’, said: “I was very much a regular and when it was closed I missed it very much. There aren’t many small pubs left.

“In Mossley, we’ve lost a lot of the traditional old pubs and when this was closed for 15 months, it broke my heart.

“I asked when would it reopening again and the answer was, ‘I can’t see it ever opening again.’

“I was the last person to have a pint in here before it closed its doors for the first lockdown. I wanted to be the first one. It’s a special pub this.”

Now the Best o’Brass is back open, it serves on Monday to Thursday from 2pm until 10.30pm, on Friday from 2 until 11pm and at weekend between noon and 11pm.