Nervous whispers circulated Penarth throughout August.

"Why hasn't it reopened?"

"When will it be back?"

"Has claimed COVID The Windsor as one of its victims?"

Last week, the pub's owners put all rumours to rest with a post announcing they were to reopen on Monday 7 September.

Nub News spoke with Brains Brewery CEO, Alistair Darby, about why the pub did not reopen in line with the easing of COVID restrictions.

"We always planned to reopen our 100 managed pubs in phases, prioritising those with the largest indoor spaces and big outdoor areas since we were opening during summer school holidays," he told us.

"The phasing was driven by a whole range of imperatives such as managing restocking of food and drink, bring back staff from furlough, and making pubs Covid secure. All of this required a huge amount of work pub by pub and we just didn't have the resources to open all at once.

"Not for a minute was this phasing about the future of any of our pubs: so please don't worry about The Windsor!"

The future of the British pub has never been less certain. An institution plunged into turmoil by changing consumer habits had its problems compounded this year by the coronavirus outbreak.

We asked Alistair if he thinks customers will flock back to the Windsor upon its reopening.

"We certainly hope so and are really looking forward to welcoming our customers back.

"We have put in place all precautions and, next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you can still enjoy the Eat Out to Help Out deal in our pubs which we have extended for two weeks from 31st August!"

Whatever the future holds for the Windsor, you can expect to see this Nub News reporter down there for a pint on Monday.