Beloved Midhurst pub set to reopen as new owners take over

Manny and Natalie Beckley took over the Half Moon Pub last month, after falling in love with its old world charm and residential location.

Natalie said she and her husband have run The Eagle, in Arundel, for a year and a half – but, eager to expand their repertoire, had been looking at pubs closer to Chichester. “We’d looked at a few, but nothing jumped out at us. There was never any spark there. It wasn’t until we saw the Half Moon that we fell in love; fell in love with the charm, the space and the potential.”

A well-loved pub with a lot of support in the community, the pub has been closed since May this year, after a succession of owners, Manny and Natalie want to give this local favourite a new lease of life and some much-needed stability.

"You get out of this what you put in,” Manny said. “This is something we learned working on The Eagle. We made sure we were open, even if we weren’t busy. We’re open when we say we will be open, and we close when we say we’ll close; if you keep things regular and stable, people know you’ll be there when they want you.”

They added that, although they have their plans for the pub, Manny and Natalie want to make it a space in which residents and regulars feel like they have a say.

"We’ve got our ideas for the pub and loads of plans but it’s all open and flexible,” Natalie explained. “If someone says ‘oh my god, what this pub is missing is this, we want to listen to that.’ It’s their pub to enjoy, not ours.”

So far, their plans for the pub include a facelift with updated furniture and an improved interior; an outdoor cookout area, and plenty of live music.

"We’re surrounded by residential areas; and it’s important to us to bring those people in and get them invested in the pub,” Manny said. “These days, we’re surrounded by social media, but I want to bring it back to the days where you’d go to the pub to meet your friends and have a chat with your neighbours.”