WHEN Mick and Heather Chaplin took on their first pub they were the youngest landlord and landlady in East Anglia.Mrs Chaplin was just 19, and Mr Chaplin 22.

WHEN Mick and Heather Chaplin took on their first pub they were the youngest landlord and landlady in East Anglia.

Mrs Chaplin was just 19, and Mr Chaplin 22.

Now, after 32 years in the pub trade the couple are finally bowing out of the business and hope to catch up on things they weren't able to do before.

This will include travel, and mean visiting old friends everywhere from America to Spain.

But both say they have enjoyed their careers, the last 18 years of which have been spent at the Bristol Arms, Shotley.

Mrs Chaplin said: "There are some nice people about and we've met a lot of them. It's not just a job, it's a way of life."

They have seen something of the world on trips to Finland, Ireland, France, Gibraltar and Spain organised by the drinks industry.

They also raised money for charity, including the Licenced Victuallers' two schools for distressed children, the RNLI, and they have raised around £100,000 for Cancer Research.

The Chaplins' first pub was the former Blue Coat Boy in Dog's Head Street, Ipswich.

The couple now live in Shotley and intend to stay in the village when they finally hand over the pub on March 12.