Only pub in West Lothian village reopens following £400k revamp

The pub’s new licensees are Winchburgh husband and wife duo, Trevor and Yvonne Spence who are joined in the venture by son Aidan, a trained chef.

The Tally Ho is the Spence’s first pub and Yvonne, who is currently the British Number One Olympic weightlifter for her age and weight group, is forgoing participation in this year’s world championships in Canada to ensure the pub gets off to the best possible start.

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“The weightlifting has definitely come in useful over the past few days,” said Yvonne, who has found her skill to have come in handy for carrying kegs and adding the last few touches to the pub. “For me, its the one exercise that you have to focus absolutely on, when you’re weightlifting it needs all your focus on it so that you don’t hurt yourself.

“It’s absolutely the best stress relief, especially over a stressful few days.”

The investment into the pub has transformed it into a great quality, family-friendly pub and which will introduce food to residents of Winchburgh.

Yvonne added: “It has been our dream to have our own pub one day and, when our local became available, we felt it was ‘now or never’.

“We want The Tally Ho to appeal to all and cater for families.

“We’ve overhauled the pub from top to bottom.

“Though I’ve been doing a lot of heavy lifting to get it ready, I want The Tally Ho to be perfect, so I’ve not got time for the training required for the world championships this year.”

Trevor said: “It will be community led, the plan is to listen to the feedback and change it up to what the locals want.

“We’ll have ten taps on and two real ales, so everything from your John Smiths and Fosters to your Deuchars, but we hope to rotate some.”

The Spences have not forgotten customers’ four-legged friends and have ensured the pub is dog friendly.

Dogs will have a dedicated play area in the garden, treats and even their own drinks, with Pawsecco and Bottom Sniffer on the menu.

The pub has a children’s play area, numerous games for families and they will put on a host of activities such as quiz nights and acoustic music and are keen to support local groups and good causes.