Popular pub reopened by couple with decades of experience

Greg Coleman and Carla Marsh have taken on The Juggs in The Street, which is their first Shepherd Neame pub together.

The 13th century establishment was listed at uk.businessesforsale.com in November last year as it looked for a new landlord.

Visit www.thejuggs.co.uk.

Carla, 46, who runs Front of House, said: “It’s been non-stop since we came in the door. We do know a lot of people because we are from the area but also the locals feel like they have their pub back.”

Head chef Greg, 53, said: “It’s very unusual in the trade to have somewhere where you get footfall all the time. People walk over the Downs and they’re outside our door. The beauty of it is it’s such a nice place, with such a lot of history.”

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The pub offers a menu of pub classics and fish dishes, as well as an a la carte menu that is changed seasonally. Shepherd Neame said Greg is known for his signature homemade focaccia bread and sandwiches. They said the pub also offers the 'bhaji smuggler', a vegetarian dish of Bombay mix, pickled red onion and coriander chutney. Carla aims to bake a cake every Tuesday and Wednesday too.

A Shepherd Neame spokesperson called the pub ‘one of the prettiest’ in town, saying it is ‘situated in a quiet, leafy village lane’.

They said: “Today’s passers-by are more likely to be walkers taking in the delights of the Downs than the fishwives carrying their fish baskets – or ‘juggs’ as they used to be called – to the market in Lewes which the pub is named after.”

They added: “The building, originally built in the 14th century and added to over the years before being turned into a pub in the early 80s, has also had a thorough refresh, being repainted outside with new signage, a revamp of the large outside garden, as well as some refurbishment inside including new toilets. The team is also a mixture of old and new, with some long-serving members staying including Deputy Manager Jack Walker, while others have joined.”

Greg and Carla said they will be assisted by Elsie the border terrier.