Rupert Everett says 'whole village' saved pub

When he's not seen on the latest season of Rivals, Rupert Everett can occasionally be found behind the bar of his local pub.

The St Trinian's, Another Country and My Best Friend's Wedding star lives in Enford, Wiltshire, where villagers volunteer their time to keep the taps running at The Swan Inn.

"The pub has been kept going by all the villagers," he said. "People in the village work shifts, clean it, do the garden, work behind the bar."

Everett recently appeared in season two of Rivals which was filmed in the likes of Bristol, Corsham in Wiltshire and Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

The Hollywood star said the success of the show was due to the "nostalgia" it captured for the 1980s.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire at the Enford Summer Fete, Everett said: "Jilly Cooper was a one off genius."

"The first season of it [Rivals] was brilliantly made and the second season even better I think, not because I'm in it.

"It's just a group of really excellent filmmakers and I think they've captured a feeling which people feel nostalgic about," he added.

The actor, who moved to Wiltshire in 2018 to care for his mother, said he now feels "very rooted" in Enford.

"I love Wiltshire life," Everett said.

He said the "whole village showed up" to support the Swan Inn when it closed which proved "how important communities are at a time like this".

"For us in Enford, especially the way the world is going and how complicated and uncertain the times are, communities feel very important," he added.

The Swan, the only pub in the village, closed last summer. It briefly reopened thanks to the efforts of locals until it had to shut again in January.

The 16th Century pub reopened again in April following a combination of new shareholders offering an undisclosed amount to the pub and continued voluntary support.

Sophie Elena Cooper, majority shareholder of the Swan along with her husband Andrew Wiggins, said there had been a "whirlwind of activity" to get the pub up and running and volunteers had "continued to provide huge support".

"We couldn't have opened the pub without them.

Cooper said the team hope, "in time", to carry out a refurbishment of the site and open a high-quality restaurant.

She also said they were working to get some employees on board.

"For now, we are enjoying the wonderful summer months, and, like a swan, furiously paddling below the surface," she added.

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