The historic village pub near Bristol with a huge beer garden and a sea shanty festival

A small blackboard on the bar of The Fox is an indicator of how business is going at this lovely rural village pub near Bristol.

The message chalked on it reminds customers that last orders at the bar are now 8.30pm and the pub closes its doors at 9pm - even at weekends. Pull the shutters down at that time in city pubs and there would be protests in the streets.

On the bright June afternoon I visit, there are quite a few people eating in the pub and drinkers in the pretty garden that wraps around the building.

To anybody passing, it looks like business as usual. But like so many village pubs up and down the country, The Fox is trying its best to get customers through the door and it’s not as easy as it once was.

Lucinda and John Lucker have run this Grade II-listed pub since 2010 but in those 13 years, the number of regulars from the village using the place has fallen.

“For a village with about 250 homes, maybe 30 use the pub regularly,” Lucinda tells me as she pours a glass of Exmoor Wicked Wolf - now the cheapest pint in the pub at £5.20.

And it’s because of this drop in customers, twinned with the rising energy and staff costs, that the owners have to close earlier than they would like.

“If Covid taught us something it was that we didn’t need to be open all hours,” she says. “And it’s sad because this is the only place where locals can socialise in the village.”

Dating from the 18th-century, The Fox is the only pub in Easter Compton, a peaceful and desirable village close to the M5 junction at Cribbs Causeway.

It’s on the main road through the village to Pilning, where there are only two pubs left.

The Fox now relies more on people ordering food than it does drinkers. The days of farmers propping up the bar after a long day in the fields are a distant memory.

“When we took over 13 years, the previous landlord had been here more than 20 years and there were still a few local lads drinking here but most of them are married with kids now and probably stay home with a few beers from the local shop.”

A two-bar pub with large beer garden, The Fox was winning awards on a regular basis before the pandemic. There are framed posters on the wall for ‘best community hub 2020’ and regional winner for ‘pubs in bloom 2019’.

It continues to serve pub food at reasonable prices. Among the best-sellers on the menu are homemade beef lasagne (£10.50) and fish and chips (£11.75).

As well as the Wicked Wolf real ale, there are several types of Thatchers cider, Guinness, Carling, Pravha and Madri on draught.

A large blackboard in the smaller bar at the front lists forthcoming dates the pub is closing early for private functions. Another reminds regulars of a day when it will be closed so the landlords can attend the funeral of a former regular and ‘friend of The Fox’.

As I leave, I spot a poster for the pub’s annual Summer Shanty Day, which takes place on Saturday, July 8, from 2pm-8pm.

As well as food and drink all day, there will be sea shanties and songs of the sea performed from local crews including The Severn Whalers, The Steepholmers and the Frampton Shantymen.

In many ways, a day of sea shanties with a few pints harks back to the time when the pub first opened in the 18th-century and boats carried cargo on the nearby River Severn.

But with Bristol Zoo relocating to a site on the edge of Easter Compton next year, maybe The Fox will see an increase in visitors and become a busy community pub again. It may just be what this charming old village pub needs to turn its fortunes around again.

The Fox, Main Road, Easter Compton, Bristol, BS35 5RA.