The Mortal Man in Troutbeck bought by manager and head chef

When the Mortal Man in Troutbeck was in danger of 'falling into the wrong hands', general manager Sarah Chapman-Hughes and head chef Anthony Daly sold and remortgaged their respective houses to buy the leasehold on the legendary pub in January.

"The Mortal Man is so unique, and we cared too much about it to let it fall into the hands of just anybody", Sarah, who had spent six years as manager, confessed.

"We'd heard that some pub chains were looking at it, and the prospect of that would have been too painful.

"We've already spent £90,000 on refurbishing the pub and particularly the beer garden.

"It has crazy views all the way down the valley.

"Most of the benches were broken, it was shabby, and just didn't fit with the area."

The revamped beer garden at The Mortal Man (Image: Sarah Chapman-Hughes)

Since taking the reins, Sarah, 31, and Anthony, 35, have breathed new life into the old pub replacing carpets, curtains, tables, and chairs, with work still ongoing.

Sarah's sister is now the general manager and her twin works as front-of-house and on maintenance.

She said: "We're a real family affair, most of the team have been here a long time, and I'm very keen to keep it that way.

READ MORE: Say hello to the new owners of Lake District pub

"We found out well after I started work here that my uncle proposed to my auntie here years ago so it feels like it's been in the family even longer.

"The first change we made is to up the team's wages and we're now on our third pay rise.

"I'm a firm believer in stability and a happy team is the only way to achieve that.

"They've been sensational and they deserve a wage that you can actually live on."

The team also wants to focus more on working with other local businesses, setting up pop-up shops in the building, and focusing more on local breweries.

They also rotate weekly donations to four different charities that are personal to us.

Sarah said that since taking over they have had an 'outrageously busy' start to the year and that all profits have gone back into continuously improving and maintaining the Mortal Man.

She said: "The support from the locals has been overwhelming.

"We had a big party on New Year's Eve for everybody, and every local within about a mile and a half radius turned up.

"I couldn’t make it from one end to the other without being hugged."

The Mortal Man has 11 guest rooms and offers a 10 per cent discount card to locals and regulars.