Peter Whitwam is a jack of all trades. “I’ve done a lot in my time,” he says, smiling as he slices a side of beef in the kitchen of the pub where he is both cook and landlord.

He has served in the army, driven lorries, worked in the textile trade, run his own business, and travelled around Europe in a camper van.

Now he can be found manning the kitchen at The Fountain, a traditional pub in Roberttown, where diners can enjoy hearty English fare and enjoy the far-reaching views across open countryside.

“It’s a lovely position,” he says, “And we’ve gone to town on hanging baskets to make it look even more inviting.”

Donning his chef’s whites, Peter, 58, cooks up home-made roast beef and Yorkshire puddings, liver and onions with mash, cottage pie, lamb shank with mustard mash, bubble and squeak and specials including chicken jalfrezi and sikh kebab.

“Some say English food is bland, but nothing could be further from the truth. When you have a plate of beef, carrots, broccoli, new potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, you get so many individual tastes – it is beautiful.”

Many meals are served with seasonal vegetables, sourced from local suppliers. “We buy as much as possible from local farmers and producers – our vegetables come from a greengrocer in Roberttown and meat from a nearby farm shop.”

As a soldier with the Royal Corps of Transport, he worked as a wagon driver and, from his base in Germany, delivered supplies to help with the construction of bridges. “We worked with the Royal Engineers, building bridges across the Rhine and Vaser,” he recalls.

He went on to work as a long-distance lorry driver travelling around of the UK delivering a range of goods.

After running his own transport firm for a time, he turned his hand to the textile business. “We had a few old looms and set up as textile menders and burlers,” he recalls. “We wove tartans for the army.”

Peter is a great believer in being able to make a go of anything you care to try. “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it,” he says. “You just have to watch someone else do it, and learn from that, and then do it yourself. Like cooking – you just use basic, good ingredients – nice joints of beef, and fresh vegetables.”

He loves cooking, and thinks of it as a hobby as well a job. “I’ve always cooked to wind down. It’s very relaxing. Working for myself, I often used to do 20 hour days, then I’d come home and cook a meal.”

He is keen to maintain the spirit of the pub, which is owned by Blackburn-based Thwaites Brewery. “Our customers like the feel of a traditional pub – people come here to enjoy a drink, to relax and to have a meal if they want to.”

A father-of-three, with seven grandchildren, he still retains the wanderlust that led to him to join the army and, later, to embark on two trips around Europe in a camper van.

“I’d like to buy another camper and head off again,” he says. “I’m definitely going to do it. Last time I went to Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, using the back roads – it was fantastic.”

The Fountain
290 Huddersfield Road, Roberttown, Liversedge.
Tel: 01942 405880