TRIBUTES have been paid to a local legend of the pub trade who was at his happiest behind the bar.

Old Town personality and Beehive barman John Somers lost his battle with cancer last Wednesday aged 69.

John’s widow Marilyn, 70, said: “He was one of life’s characters, he did things his way.”

Youngest daughter Gillian, 33, said: “He was not your average kind of man.

“People have been saying to me he was one in a million.”

The family also highlighted John’s generosity, which he never wanted or needed acknowledged.

John, of Crombey Street, town centre, was forced to retire from his job at the Beehive pub on Prospect Hill in June after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer.

Though John vowed to fight the disease, his health rapidly deteriorated and he died with family by his side. He leaves behind his wife, four children and five grandchildren.

John was born in 1939 in Clonmel, County Tipperary in Ireland and moved to London in 1960 where he met Marilyn.

They were married in 1962 and moved to Calne where John did occasional bar work.

In 1967, John received a call from a friend who was returning to Ireland and wanted him to take over the Flying Monk pub in Malmesbury.

John ran this successfully for 17 years then moved to the Iron Horse in Wroughton until 1992.

Moving to Crombey Street, John took work under Beehive landlord Noel Reilly and then, when Noel went bankrupt, under current landlord Andy Marcer.

John never forgot his Irish heritage and was proud to wear his Ireland rugby shirt or delight in winding people up by wearing the colours of any team playing England.

Always one for a joke, John regularly lied about his age maintaining he was still 38.

Marilyn said she had only discovered he was not the ‘Munster Boys Boxing Champion’ by chance.

Nick-naming himself Mr Angry from Eastcott to Adver reporters, John’s most famous slogan was ‘get off, you’re c**p’ used mercilessly to bands performing at the Beehive.

However, John did occasionally find himself the butt of the joke thanks to Beehive regulars.

On one occasion customers welded the cellar doors together and John was forced to break them open with a hammer and chisel.

“He sort of came alive up there,” said Gillian, of Old Town.

“He used to look after the pub like it was his own, he loved it so much and he wanted to make sure everything was right.

“The best conversations I have had with him have been in the Beehive over a drink, he wasn’t one for small talk.”

John’s eldest son Andrew, 46, from Malmesbury, added: “He loved to sing and invented his own key which meant no-one could sing with him and he had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of boxing, rugby and tennis.

“He has inspired and influenced me throughout my life and I have so much to be thankful for.

“I also have the utmost respect and admiration for his courage and spirit during what must have been an absolutely devastating premature end to his happy and otherwise healthy life.

“A great dad, a great mate and the best landlord ever who never underestimated the importance of having a pint and a chat.”

The funeral will be at Holy Rood Church, on Groundwell Road, on November 10 at 12pm.