VILLAGERS chalking up a quiet drink at their local pub will find themselves going back to school.

In times gone by, The Bridgewater Arms, at Winston, between Darlington and Barnard Castle, County Durham, was the village school.

Now landlords Wendy Fenwick and her partner Philip Mott have returned the watering hole to school days gone by.

They have had the pub completely refurbished in a style to evoke memories of the classroom.

Areas have been dubbed the Head's Study, School Library and the Assembly Hall.

And to help send drinkers further down memory lane, the entire pub has been decked out with school memorabilia, including old registers, blackboards, books, and hundreds of real photographs of former pupils.

The pub, owned by New Century Inns, of Billingham, even has the original school bell used to call in pupils from the playground.

Mr Mott, 29, said there had already been a positive response since the pub reopened on Friday.

"We wanted to do something different and, because the pub used to be a school, we thought it would a be a good idea to use this as theme," he said.

"We have lots of memorabilia - including a school cane, which will be used on anyone who steps out of line."

The Bridgewater Arms became a pub in 1959 after being bought by the now-defunct Hammonds Brewery, in Darlington.

Before that, it was known as the Winston Church of England School.

The school's closure was brought about by a fall in pupil numbers.

Winston resident Brian Clark, who provided much of the memorabilia, said the school was built by a relative of former Prime Minister Anthony Eden.

"There is lots of history associated with the building and I think it's good that this has been preserved in the pub," he said.

"There are people in the village who went to the school and it will be nice for them to be able to see their names and photographs on display when they go into the pub."

But punters will be relieved there's one thing Wendy and Phil have decided not to reintroduce - stodgy school dinners.

"I think we all remember them with a queasy feeling, so we've styled a new menu that gets ten out of ten for taste," said Wendy