WEST Somerset villagers who lost their only public house last year are to be treated to a ‘pop up pub’ experience next month.

It comes from award-winning mental health awareness trainer Becky Wright, who has moved into the gin distilling business.

The Dryad Inn will open for an evening on February 10 in the village hall in West Bagborough, where the Rising Sun public house closed last October when landlords Michelle and Paul Fabian moved abroad.

As well as her own small batch Dryad gin, made with bark from Quantock Hills oak trees and a traditional copper still, Becky will be offering a range of local ciders, ales, and wine, and inviting local traders to take a space in the hall.

She has been running pop-up events since last summer on the other side of the Quantocks, in Broomfield Village Hall, and her gin has been stocked by restaurants in Bishops Lydeard and Taunton.

Becky, who lives near West Bagborough, said: “I worry about rural isolation as pubs are closing.

“We need to think how we can keep community going.

“After the Rising Sun closed, it felt like a good opportunity to bring the village together. It also has a social purpose.

“The pop-up pub is about creating a space where people can come and have a drink, meet friends, and get to know other villagers, as well as buying some vegetables or bring something along themselves they are selling.

“If the pop-up pub is well-supported, we will look at opening during the year ahead.”

Among other up-coming events Becky is planning is a combined theatre and pub evening in Broomfield featuring a performance by the Take Art Somerset Theatre Company on March 17.