Landlord celebrates anniversary and CAMRA win at The Salutation Inn

The Salutation Inn - also known as The Sally - marked its ten year anniversary last Saturday (April 8) with live music, friends and of course foaming glasses of cider and ale.

The pub in Ham has been a story of success since it was first taken over by Peter Tiley and his wife Claire in April, 2013.

Together, the team has won numerous CAMRA awards, including National Pub of the Year in 2014, and was also named the district's cider pub of the year, this year.

The team also used to run a sister pub The Butcher's Hook in Thornbury high street, but it sadly closed in 2021. 

Before taking on the pub, Peter used to work as a telecoms analyst in London. 

Peter said: “The last ten years have really had their ups and downs.  

“Over the course of the decade we have done so many things with the pub including winning National Pub of the Year in 2014, getting through the pandemic, opening a microbrewery, opening a sister pub, rearing pigs and chickens and so much more. 

Landlord Peter Tiley recently celebrated a decade at The Salutation Inn (Image: Peter Tiley)

“It's been hard work and extremely challenging but it's also been hugely rewarding to watch the community knit and weave themselves around the pub. 

“We celebrated with our Tenth Anniversary Bash which started early in the evening and had two live music acts, a selection of our favourite beers from the last decade as well as an award presentation at 7pm from the local CAMRA branch. 

“The pub was absolutely rammed and it was a real pleasure to see so many people there and to celebrate with them all!

Friends and staff at The Salutation Inn last Saturday (Image: Peter Tiley)

“I originally had no intention of running a pub and what I originally wanted to do was brew beer. 

“The Salutation was a fantastic pub that I already knew well and back in the day it had its own brewery so I knew it had scope for a brewery to be reinstated once again. 

"As it turned out, the running of the pub consumed me and I hardly had time to brew beer in the end. 

“Eventually I realised that I was more passionate about the running of the pub than brewing, hence I employed a head brewer at our brewery and focussed on the pub instead.   

“My number one priority was to create a space for the community to mix and mingle and at times this has been to our own financial detriment, but it's something that's very important to me. 

The Salutation Inn - also known as The Sally - is located near Berkeley in Ham (Image: Peter Tiley)

“To have managed to survive as a rural wet-led pub without compromising on my values for this amount of time is an achievement I am very proud of.  

“Watching friendships develop through the pub and then seeing the way people look out for one another and help each other out is really lovely. 

“It's really important to me that community spaces like this exist, especially in rural areas.”