Ref. 73139-76 Paul Studholme, left, behind the bar at the Brewers Arms with fiancee Amy Cullum and her parents Beverley and John.A PUB landlord is returning to his childhood home to breathe new life into the inn where he grew up.

And it was during the decade Paul Studholme spent living at the Brewers Arms in Wanborough that he developed his fondness for the trade.

Mr Studholme, 44, has now taken over the pub and is refurbishing it.

The pub was his home from the age of 11 after he was adopted by Gerald and Muriel Sadler, who ran the Brewers Arms from 1955 to 1990.

He said: "I grew up at the Brewers and spent more than a decade there, so it's incredible that I can now return and make it my home again. I think living there, gave me my taste for running pubs.

"I will always remember helping to clear away glasses and tidying up."

The Sadlers were animal lovers and the pub became famous for its menagerie, including rabbits, donkeys, monkeys and parrots.

"It was always known as the pub with the monkeys," said Mr Studholme.

"It used to attract people from far around. I remember giving people rides on the donkey in the pub garden."

His move to the pub is all the more timely as he is getting married to his fiance, Amy Cullum, later this year. And joining them in the running of the pub will be Amy's parents, John and Bev, while Mr and Mrs Sadler, who still live in the village, will be on hand to offer advice.

"I had some of the happiest times of my life at the Brewers," said Mr Stud-holme, who runs a number of other pubs in the Swindon area, including Longs Bar in Old Town and the Apartment in the town centre.

But despite Paul's delight at returning to his roots, he has no intention of keeping the pub as it was in the 1970s. He is currently undertaking a radical revamp of parts of the pub and the garden.

"The front of the pub will remain the traditional country pub that I remember as a kid," he said.

Anthony Osborne