IT'S the pub that gives you a hug! 

Mike and Cat Wallace got such a special feeling from The King Rufus at Eling Hill that they bought it! 

The 170-year-old pub closed at the start of the pandemic and no-one knew if it would ever reopen.

READ MORE: The 17th Century New Forest pub with a stunning new look

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It's now been back in business for 18 months and is going from strength to strength with an imipressive selection of chilled ciders, legendary toasted sandwiches, popular Ploughmans, live music and a fantastic feel. 

Mike said: "The pub had been closed for almost two years and was put up for sale by the previous owners.

"We happened to be driving past after visiting the allotment and noticed it was for sale. A week later we’d agreed to buy it and so put our house in Ashurst up for sale.

"The King Rufus is unique, there’s not another pub like it in the area. There’s just a special feeling you get when you walk in the door and that’s the reason we bought it. We say it’s ‘the pub that gives you a hug’."

Mike and Cat moved into The King Rufus in June 2021, renovating and reopening it six months later.

The pub was built around 1850 and was owned until the early 20th Century by brewer Ashby's, based in Rumbridge Street in Totton, which was eventually bought out by Strong's of Romsey.

In the early 1980s, the landlord was the recently retired local football legend Peter Rodridgues, who captained Saints to their historic 1976 FA Cup victory over Manchester United. 

The King Rufus is open on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, as well as being available for private hire for up to 50 on Saturday nights. 

The pub's legendary toasted sandwiches sell out most Fridays while the superb  Ploughman's Lunches, with pork pies and scotch eggs handmade by The New Forest Butcher in Lyndhurst, go down a storm on Sundays. 

Customers are enjoying jugs of Pimms and chilled white wine spritzers during the hot weather, and there are ten ciders available, including Dorset Nectar Cider on draught. 

Hanging baskets adorn the exterior while the bar is full of cut flowers grown on Cat's allotment. 

On the last Sunday of each month, acoustic folk favourites Daughters of Davis play a set of original material.