A 152-YEAR-OLD pub is open again after being given a facelift to make it fit for the 21st century.

The Crimea at Cross Lane in Primrose Hill has had £35,000-worth of work to restore it to its former glory.

It was the first-ever house in Primrose Hill.

The Grade II listed building was built in 1793 as a cottage.

It became a pub in 1856, the year the Crimean War ended and which led to its name.

It fell into disrepair after being closed three years ago.

Roof slates were stolen and the inside was ransacked and fittings taken.

Landlord and landlady Colin and Angela Anderson have replaced the roof and refurbished the interior.

They opened last Saturday.

Mr Anderson, 45, said: “It has been a big job; it needed to be completely gutted.

“We’re delighted to have got it open. It looks really good.

“Some of the locals came in when it was still a bomb site and they are really impressed with what we’ve done.”

The couple have experience in the pub trade, having run the New Yew Tree at Liversedge until six months ago.

They said they struggled to make money as tenants of a brewery and gave up the pub.

But they were tempted back into the industry when they spotted their chance to buy the freehold for The Crimea.

And they will hope to defy the experience of many other local licensees, who are struggling as a result of the smoking ban and rising beer prices.

The Andersons will target real ale fans as well as locals.

They also want to hear from people interested in starting pool and football teams.

The Crimean War (1853–1856) was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) on the other.

Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula and in western Turkey.