A York landlady will be licensee of her first pub when she re-opens the currently boarded up venue in September.

Lyndsey and Stuart Weston currently run the Knavesmire Pub on Albermarle Road, but with its lease about to end, they are moving to the Inn on the Green in Acomb and taking their staff with them.

The couple met at Ye  Old Starre Inn in Stonegate York, where Stuart was assistant manager and Lyndsey was looking for work.

They went on to manage four pubs “in need of love and attention”, three in York, one in Southport, before taking on their first tenancy at The Fox Inn, Holgate.

Lyndsey recalls “five amazing years” with music events, beer festivals, fireworks displays and Word Cup football on a large screen. But when the lease ended in 2013, despite them wanting to renew, Punch Taverns offered the pub to Ossett Brewery.

Having three sons in school, the couple wanted to stay in York, and after ringing around the breweries, they were offered the Cross Keys on Tadcaster Road.

It was ‘dilapidated’ at first but a ‘fantastic’ refurb by the Spirit Group transformed the venue and they made it “a massive success instantly.”

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After a year, they were offered the Knavesmire, and despite reservations, they agreed, calling the move “probably one of the best things we have ever done.”

After a few hard years, they changed the pub to be a community hub, with a range of sports, tapas and home-made pizza, poker nights, darts, pool and snooker.

But Knavesmire needs renovations and is costly to heat, and with Stu working as a brewer for Ainsty Ales, they decided to leave.

Lyndsey felt she still had ‘one more pub’ in her and when visiting Acomb, where she grew up, to have the car cleaned, she saw the Inn on the Greene.

Looking through its window, Lyndsey saw it had potential, despite needing lots of work. She contacted Thwaites Brewery and “was totally hooked.”

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Stuart was reluctant at first, but on seeing the venue and meeting the Thwaites people, he was won over. They bought the tenancy, aiming to open on September 29.

Lyndsey says the pub will serve charcuteries, Mediterranean-inspired small plates, Thwaites and Ainsty Ales, plus wine from York Wines. Thursday steak nights are planned, plus summer bbqs, jazz nights, wine tastings and a whisky club.

Renovations are now underway for the Inn on the Green, with the couple closing the Knavesmire on October 21.

Lyndsey says this will also be the first time she will be licensee, rather than Stuart.

She added: “I also aim to make the pub a safe and welcoming environment for women as well as men and families. Stu is staying at the brewery full time, so I am definitely taking this as MY pub.”