A RETIRING grandfather is handing over the running of his pub after more than 30 years in the industry. 

READ MORE: Food review: The Sun Inn 

Dave Mackenzie retired from being the tenant at The Sun Inn in Ulverston on Sunday January 10. 

He has been a licensee for 35 years and has had the Sun Inn for 27 years. 

He has also been the chairman of the Ulverston Licensed Victuallers Association for 27 years and was responsible for starting up the Ulverston Bar Watch, which he was chairman for 20 years.

He said: "It was time for me to retire, I am nearly 73-years-old and for the past 12 months I have been semi-retired. 

"My son Scott and his wife Kirsty have been helping me run the pub for a while now and now it needs to become their business."

Mr Mackenzie has thoroughly enjoyed his career, even when times have been tough. 

He said: "The trade has had a rough three or four years but we all got through it together. 

"Scott and Kirsty are refurbishing the pub and I'm looking forward to what it'll look like afterwards."

The father-of-five is looking forward to retired life, especially as he will get to spend more time with his grandchildren.

He said: "I always thought it would be really nice to keep the pub in the family and it's great that I am able to do that. 

"Scott and Kirsty really deserve the pub - they have put a lot of hard work in to it."

The couple have big plans for the pub. 

She said: "We have been running the pub for a while now with Dave and this means we can finally put our stamp on it now. 

"The pub is going through a big refurbishment at the moment and will be closing for a few days at the end of February. 

"We are making it very different  to what it is now, we are going to really change the look but still keep it as a traditional pub."

The pair have already had a big refurbishment in the kitchen and have received good feedback about the food. 

Mrs Mackenzie said: "We will be having a lot more real ales, different wines and quality gins."

They have also added four new hotel rooms and are in the process of refurbishing the other 16. 

Mrs MacKenzie said: "He has been in the industry for so long that its been a great opportunity to learn from him.

"He was responsible for bringing in Bar Watch here at the time when there was a lot of trouble in Ulverston, but thanks to Bar Watch Ulverston is a much safer place to drink."