A pub in Wiltshire is working hard to get its stunning summer garden up and running in time for the Wiltshire Steam Rally.

Broadtown Brewery was formerly run from Broadtown Road just outside of Royal Wootton Bassett until owner Jason Bayliffe decided to relocate the brewery to Calne.

But the Broadtown site now remains home to the brewery's own pub at Hop Chapel, and the chapel's expansive pub garden became a lifeline for locals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now Broadtown's Hop Chapel is preparing to bring out the awning and get the garden lights back up to welcome back the summer with Wiltshire's own Steam Rally.

"We opened the Hop Gardens originally when Covid rules were relaxed and then for a lot of people this became a bit of a haven because it meant they could go outside again when they had all been separated," explained Jason.

“So this was a big landmark place for people to come, and now that we’ve got it all back up and running again we’re going to work on the basis that we have it open every year.

“This will be the first weekend that we’re opening Hop Gardens to host the Wiltshire Steam Rally, so this is a big boost for everybody to come down for the summer."

Staff at the Hop Chapel pub have been working tirelessly to get the popular garden space ready for the summer.Staff at the Hop Chapel pub have been working tirelessly to get the popular garden space ready for the summer. (Image: Broadtown Brewery)

The Steam Rally, which kicks off on Saturday, June 8, has previously been held in Lydiard, but will now see an estimated 4,000 people descend on Broadtown.

The first day will see between 600-700 exhibitors, and the Broadtown Brewery pub are hoping the rally will also bring in a bucket load of pub-goers with it.

"It's be great to bring people in because pubs are doing well at the moment but breweries are still hard work because obviously people still aren’t spending like they were and pubs don’t really want to pay too much for beer," said Jason.

"But we’re doing okay and keeping our head above water.

“It’s been a huge amount of work preparing for this event and we’ve just been trying to get the garden looking pretty and wonderful," he added.

“We have the whole gardens at the back which is our decking area and we put a big stretch tent over and have a bar outside for the summer and that will be open all summer from this weekend with drinks served from the Hop Chapel."

Tickets for the 2024 Steam Rally are priced at £12 and are available on the TicketSource website.