THIS 140-year-old pub serves as a historic reminder of Fareham town in the late 1800s, when many landowners grew strawberries for a fast income.

But after the First World War, the industry started to decline as growers turned to other crops and many strawberry fields were lost to building.

Sir Joseph Paxton is also the name belonging to the architect who built iron and glass structure The Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park.

In 1947, the watering hole was a neighbour building to an air raid shelter for 25 people.

But 14 decades on, Dave and Vicki Roseby have taken over the pub as landlords since 2015, several years after first meeting in Tenerife.

Their pub ownership came after the married couple of 24 years moved back to Vicki’s home in Fareham.

They pride themselves as a local community pub and know every person that walks through the door.

Dave said: “Everybody knows everyone. On the first weekend of every month, we host karaoke and put on live music.

“We had to stop that for a while but then we got double glazing and soundproof windows, so we are going to start it again.”

As a sports pub, they regularly host darts and pool team nights, for men on a Monday and Tuesday and Thursday for women teams.

They have also raised £6,000 over the last five years for several charities, through their Friday night meat raffle.

All food sold at the pub is home-cooked by Vicki and two other chefs, including dishes such as chilli con carne, lasagne and chargrilled steaks.

A new menu is soon to be released which adds a selection of pizzas.

While the pub has a 3.5-star rating on review site TripAdvisor, they sell four real ales and five different lagers.

The dog-friendly boozer has also invited all Daily Echo readers to receive a 20 percent discount.