Tina Wood, who had never run a pub before five years ago, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award after transforming the Ashmore Inn in Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton, into a community hub. The pub, which dates back to the 1950s, has been nominated in the Best Admiral Taverns Pub category of this year's Great British Pub Awards.
Wood, 48, a mum-of-four, had worked on fairgrounds, in factories, and performed body piercings since the age of eight. But running a pub had always been her dream. Around eight years ago, she decided to pursue it, despite facing significant hurdles.
Overcoming Dyslexia and Rejection
Due to her dyslexia, it took Wood four attempts to obtain her personal licence, a requirement for anyone wishing to run a pub in England and Wales. After passing, she attended four job interviews but was told each time she "didn't have enough experience."
"That was really destroying," she explained. "It was a knockdown for me as a person."
Her luck changed at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic when her best friend informed her about a job at a pub in Ashmore Park. Despite initially refusing, her friend put her forward anyway, and Wood was offered an interview.
"I was like, 'the b****r,' because I couldn't refuse," said Wood. "I came to the interview on a Thursday, and when I walked through that door, there was just an aura. Honestly, that's all I can explain."
A New Chapter and Community Recognition
On Sunday, she received the call that would change her life, recalling: "I just jumped all over my bedroom, telling my son, 'I got it, I got it'." She added: "I've always wanted pubs from a baby because we're travellers."
Fast forward to the summer of 2026, and the Ashmore Inn has been shortlisted among the best pubs in the country under Wood's leadership. This is the latest in a string of awards and recognitions since she took over in 2021. Earlier this month, the pub scooped Community Pub of the Year in Admiral Taverns' Proper Pubs Awards Gala, and two years ago, it picked up Charity Pub of the Year at the same ceremony.
"I don't think of myself as doing anything special at all, honestly," she said. "I'm just myself, we help each other, and I just support everyone. This is a place that we call a home from home."
A Home from Home with a Food Bank
Charitable work is a big part of Wood's life, with regular charity events and a food bank operating out of a back room at the Ashmore Inn. Wood spends £150 of her own money on the food bank each month.
"They come in the side door," she explained. "No one even knows they're coming in, so they don't feel like, you know, under pressure or embarrassed, because that's what it ain't about. They get a bag, and they take whatever they want, so they're going to bed at night with a full tummy. That makes me happy. That makes me really, really happy."
The room also contains a fridge for packed lunches for children during the summer holidays, a freezer for frozen food, and a large amount of children's toys given away at Christmas and special occasions. Wood handed out more than 1,000 Easter eggs this year and 2,500 selection packs of toys last Christmas. Members of the public can also take receipts pinned to a board inside the pub, allowing them to purchase items at nearby shops for free if they're struggling financially.
Personal Losses and Resilience
Wood has overcome heavy personal losses. Her daughter Shania died in 2004 when she was just four-and-a-half hours old, and her dad, Phil 'Pecker' Wood, died in 2021, aged 62. Following a previous relationship breakdown, Wood worked three jobs to provide for her children but suffered "two massive strokes" from stress at the age of 27, requiring hospital treatment. She also suffered a mini-stroke after becoming landlady, but the support from the community and Admiral Taverns was "amazing."
"I lost my daughter, Shania, and I was a functioning alcoholic, because I couldn’t cope with the pain of losing her," explained Wood. "I was still going to work, still taking my children to school, but I just couldn’t focus on the morning without drinking two mini beers to put my head straight. And then I recovered, but I needed another addiction, and that’s when I came to tattoos. I had a big tattoo for my daughter, it is Shania’s growing tree, and every birthday, I have a butterfly or a rose put on for her."
She continued: "Sadly, I lost my daddy to cancer. He’s my true hero, the best of the best, absolutely. Fit, fighting, healthy." There is now a shrine dedicated to Pecker behind the bar, one of Wood's favourite parts of the pub. She believes her dad may have guided her to the Ashmore Inn.
"That's what I say, my daddy brought me here," she said. "Honestly, when I think of that aura, when I walked in, honestly, all I can describe was there being an aura, a massive aura. It was unbelievable, an unbelievable feeling. I've got videos of balloons in here, just coming through the bar, through the pub, they've gone round and come back in. I don't know whether it's my daddy, because some men say it's haunted, here. That's what they say, it's haunted, yeah. But I'd like to think it is, and my daughter, as well. It's not like a bad haunting."
The awards ceremony of the Great British Pub Awards takes place at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 23.
