‘I run pub where I grew up’
If punters think the new face behind the bar at one pub looks familiar, they’d be right. Natalie Alden has taken over running The Bull Inn at Linton, just outside Maidstone, from her parents, after growing up there. The new general manager, 39, feels confident in her new role after watching her parents run the place for the past 15 years. Mrs Alden said: “I am completely and utterly in love with The Bull Inn. I got married here last September to Charles, and all the customers came to the wedding.”
Her parents Kim and Bob Garrett were in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years and Mrs Alden, who has two sisters and two brothers, describes running a pub as “in her blood”. The new landlady added: “I have lived with the industry since I was seven; I have lived and breathed it. We used to come home from school and mum was working behind the bar and the head chef would make us our tea.
“Whatever I have done in my life over the last 15 years, I have kept ending up back here.”
She said: “When my parents decided it was time to move on, and The Bull became a managed house, it made perfect sense to apply to become the general manager.”
Her parents are now enjoying a well-earned retirement.
Mrs Alden said: “My parents have been massively supportive of me doing this.
“After all, it’s because of them that I got into the industry in the first place.
“They have taught me that if you want something in life you have got to work hard for it. My parents are incredibly hardworking people, and are great role models for us to look up to.” The Bull can date its history back to at least 1674, when the first licensee was listed.
On the edge of rural Linton, the surrounding countryside is perfect for walkers.
Mrs Alden said she proposed to make only some minor cosmetic changes. She said: “We will continue to provide the same warm welcome as my parents did for many years.”