Owners of the award winning Armatree Hotel Ash and Libby Walker have said their final goodbyes to their beloved bush pub, after 14 years of owning the ‘community loungeroom’.

The recent sale of the Armatree Hotel, winner of Best Bush Pub in both 2018 and 2019 has brought a sense of nostalgia to owners Ash and Libby Walker, who’s acquisition of the pub was made out of a long running joke. 

“We were on our way to a twenty first and called in to get changed. We had a beer that tasted a bit funny and a packet of chips that were out of date. We always said that if you’re going to buy a pub, you’d buy the Armatree pub,” Libby Walker said. 

Both Ash and Libby went on with their careers in plumbing and nursing, before the story of the pub with potential came up again five years later, except this time, they bought it.

Since then, the hotel has undergone extensive renovations, with the addition of a beer garden, caravanning and camp area, camp kitchen, and a new commercial kitchen.

In turn, the location became a hive of community activity. 

“We’ve always called the pub a bit of a community lounge room. There’s so much business that happens, so much informal mental health chat, everything from a meeting place for new people and catching up with old friends.” Mrs Walker said. 

“We were only talking yesterday about a scrap metal guy who came here to do one job, and stayed here for 12 months because there was that much work around found from word of mouth in the pub,” she said.

On top of after work drinks and Sunday catch-ups, the pub has been home to weddings, wakes, birthdays, and concerts, something that the new owners have committed to continuing, as well as more plans to expand the business.

“They’re actually putting on some local staff to help assist with that in terms of an admis/events coordinator who’s a local person here, which I think is a really exciting role and a really important role,” Mrs Walker said. 

An important and exciting feature of the sale, she said, was that all of the existing staff will be able to keep their jobs. 

Meanwhile, Ash and Libby will simply be down the road, starting their new life in the same spot. 

With more time on his hands, Mr Walker is eager to restart his plumbing career, opening up a business to cater for the Gilgandra area. 

“There is actually quite a need for a plumbing business in Gilgandra at the moment because there are currently no plumbers, so that’s something we’ll explore,” Mrs Walker said. 

Mrs Walker said that with her time, she’s pondered the idea of writing a book filled with the stories she’s heard from years of being on the other side of the bar, and before that, as a nurse. 

“I’m excited to still be here because we have great friends here, and to be able to walk in and order a beer and be on the other side of the bar,” Mrs Walker said.