Locals take pub to snowed-in Simon

Cheers... Simon Bosson (front right) and landlord Les Robinson with other pub regulars

SNOWED-in and wheelchair bound, Simon Bosson had been missing the sociability of his pub — so the local came to him.

It’s been a difficult six-months for the 45-year-old after ill-health, then a broken wheelchair and finally the heavy snow meant he has rarely been able to leave home.

But his house in Hollins was transformed into a bar as Lark Inn landlord Les Robinson brought beer kegs, snacks, barmaids, regulars and pub games round to boost Simon with some community cheer.

The idea was sparked when Simon entered a TalkSPORT radio competition, which he failed to win.

Simon said: “The presenter said ‘how is the snow in Oldham affecting you personally?’ I answered honestly and said ‘I’m in a wheelchair and it does not suit, I’ve been snowed in and I miss going to the pub’. They said they would see what they could do.”

Les Robinson, landlord of the Hollins Road pub, was only too happy to help and four staff and some regulars trooped the mile-and-a-half to Simon’s Walker’s Road house with all the pub usuals, including some pork scratchings and a game of darts.

He said: “We had to do it. Simon’s a regular and a good friend who has been coming here for 20 years.”

TalkSPORT radio was also there with presenter Ian Collins broadcasting the “Late Show” from the pub from home.

Simon says he’s not a big drinker but visits the pub twice a week to meet friends and take part in crib and dominoes league matches.

He also pops in to other pubs in the area, including Church Inn, where he says he is also well looked after.

He was paralysed from the chest down in 2002 after falling down stairs at his home.

The lifelong Latics fan said: “I’ve coped very well. I took it on the chin and still have my sense of humour and get on with things.

“It means a lot to me to be able to get to the pub. It’s where all my friends from Oldham are who I have grown up with. It keeps me in touch with the outside world.

“I was not too well with my health and then when I was better my electric wheelchair conked out and once I sorted that the weather came along.

“I don’t see a lot of people in general apart from district nurses and carers. It’s great that they’ve done this and everyone is up for it.

“It does mean a lot. I will savour the moment. It’s brought us that bit closer together. I would do the same for them if the boot was on the other foot.”

And the community will be rallying round for Simon again as friend Carl Spiers is organising 20 volunteers to undertake a sponsored walk from Boundary Park to Huddersfield Town on April 6, before a Latics game there, to raise funds to buy him a new electric wheelchair.