The Butchers Arms Restaurant

THE BUTCHER’S ARMS RAISE ALMOST £4000 FOR FIREFIGHTERS FUND

A world renowned restaurant in Priors Hardwick has raised almost £4000 with a charity evening in aid of the Warwickshire Firefighters Family Fund.

Helen Pires organized the event as a celebration of lino Augusta and Peter’s 35^th year spent serving fabulous foods and wines at the Butchers Arms in the pretty Warwickshire village. Then the evening was dedicated to the tragic loss of the firefighters late last year, as a gesture of support and sympathy.

Guests were local friends and customers including Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale in Eastenders) and local station manager Andrew Goodman, Crew manager David Smith and Fire control officer Jo Goodman, all enjoyed the newly refurbished bar, gourmet food and drink, followed by dancing. The evening raised £3840 for the charity.

WARWICKSHIRE TELEGRAPH - THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2006

Lydia Darby, Helen Pires, Alison Evans and Liz Higgs

WINDY? We had to pedal DOWN hill!!!

An intrepid team of Warwickshire Cyclists braved French hills and the tail of a hurricane to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Lydia Darby, Helen Pires, Alison Evans and Liz Higgs formed one of 38 teams who took part in this year's Extra Mile Dordogne Challenge. Each cycled 45 miles a day in 15 mile stints for three days in appalling weather conditions to complete the 500 mile course. Between "shifts" they would dry off and rest in a bright pink Land Rover Discovery, before heading out again into the French countryside.

Helen, aged 40, whose husband co-owns the Butchers Arms Restaurant in Priors Hardwick, said they spend nearly all day every day in wet clothes. She said "We caught the tail end of Hurricane Gordon which resulted in two days of heavy rain and winds that were so strong at times that even pedalling downhill was hard work. We were soaking wet a lot of the time, so much so that our toes would be squelching in our trainers. It was such a relief to finish your section and get back in the comfort zone of the Discovery, but then, just as you were beginning to dry off, you'd have to climb out and start again. That was the worst bit. As soon as you got back on the bike and set off again it was as if you'd never been out of the saddle. It was a lot more of a challenge that we thought. Even so it was still enjoyable achieving it"

And it was certainly worth it. The group will divide the £7,000 they raised between the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Romanian Challenge Appeal and the Royal Marsden Hospital.

NSPCC Garden Party

THE BIRMINGHAM POST - TUESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2006

Sir Nick Scheele, Lady Ros Scheele, Sir Digby Jones, Lady Patricia Jones, Lino Pires

A record £47,000 was raised at the tenth anniversary garden party of the NSPCC Coventry Business Group. It was held at the home of John and Celeste Clarke in Gibbet Hill, near Coventry.

Among the 215 guests were former CBI Director General Sir Digby and wife Lady Patricia Jones, Sir Nick and Lady Scheele, Chancellor Warwick University, and entertainment sporting stars including Jimi Harkishin of Coronation Street, Ed Doolan of BBC WM and cricketer Dougie Brown.

Event Sponsors James and Patrick Cassidy of Cassidy Developments matched the charity auction proceeds of £23,500 pound for pound to take the total raised to £47,000 in aid of the NSPCC Boole House Centre in Coventry.

TRUE BRITS AT LAST! - August 2006

There was never a more lusty and enthusiastic rendering of God Save The Queen than that sung by Lino and Augusta at a moving ceremony last month.

More than 45 years after arriving in England from their native Portugal, Lino and Augusta fulfilled a long-held dream and became naturalised British citizens at the official ceremony in Warwick's Shire Hall on July 4th.

"I was so delighted to receive my naturalisation papers after all this time that I sang God Save The Queen louder than anyone else," laughs Lino. "Everyone was very impressed!"

It was two years ago that the couple decided to apply for British citizenship and were astonished when their request was initially refused. For decades they had made an impressive contribution to the country of their choice - not only in building up a hugely successful business but also in working tirelessly for charity.

"We had regular customers like Lord Lawson, Lord Heseltine and Dame Jill Knight sponsoring us, so we were amazed when the Home Office turned us down, saying that we had never formally been given 'indefinite leave to remain' in the UK," explains Lino. "It was something we'd never realised we had to apply for."

After the refusal came a year long wait before Lino and Augusta could apply again. Finally, in April this year came the news they had been waiting for, followed by the ceremony three months later.

"I was very happy to swear allegiance to the Queen," says Lino. "This country has been so good to me and I am very grateful. Now Augusta and I really are True Brits!

The Above Average Weight Band

Marsden Musical Evening

Not the usual fayre for the restaurant on a Sunday evening when normally closed and resting, we were anything but on Sunday 11th September 2005. A chance meeting with Ian Levin in the newsagents resulted in "THE ABOVE AVERAGE WEIGHT BAND" offering their services to play for free and we had many friends who came along and contributed to the total of £900 raised on the night!

A private party with a difference with covers of great songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's by the band who are Robin Levin (Guitar), Trev Reeves (Bass), Ian Levin (Bass), Rick Francis (Lead Vocals), Kev Moffat (Guitar) and Gary Swinburn (Drums). There was even a contribution from Edward Pires aged 12 during "Sweet Home Alabama"

A fitting farewell to the bass player Ian Levin and a welcome to their new bassist!

A great success maybe to be repeated at a later date!

The winners of the 5th International Charity Football Match From back left: Amilcar Monteiro, Lubo Faglic, Lino Pires (Manager), Lewis James, Paul (the main man) Buckingham, front row: John Parker, Adam Newman (Captain) and Jorge Guerreiro

5th International Charity Football Match

For the 5th year The Butchers Arms "5-a-side" football team pitched up at the lovely house in Churchover of Nigel and Tracey Lennard to compete in a charity football tournament to raise money for the "Friends of St. Cross Hospital" in Rugby. A beautiful summer's evening greeted the four teams and handsome refreshments for the spectators.

Our glorious Portuguese team came away victorious again after nail biting extra time in the final. We have a lovely trophy to display for a year and we are awaiting a total for the money raised.

We will keep you posted!

Let's hope we can do as well next year!

Just a few of the riders in the London - Brighton Cycle Ride - June 2005

Helen's Charity Cycle Ride

A big thank you to everyone who kindly sponsored me on my recent London to Brighton Cycle Ride in June 2005. It never ceases to amaze me how generous people are, especially with a little generous persuasion from Terry. The total amount of sponsorship I was able to donate to the British Heart Foundation was £4,000.00 all from our wonderful Butchers Arm's customers and friends.

The day was very hot and there was a huge turnout so the going was slow. It took us 7 hours to cover the 54 miles of the course, but I thoroughly enjoyed the achievement and the atmosphere was fantastic, and all for a good cause!

Kind regards,

Helen Pires

The winners of the Honda Mr Mark and Mrs Julia Englert together with Lino, Peter and David Blackwell the donator of the bike

Results - Christmas Raffle

Thank you for your participation in the Monkey Marsden Raffle.

£17,000 was raised for The Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign, and the winner of the Monkey Bike was Mr Mark Englert from Hellidon, Northamptonshire.

2nd prize winner was Mr Sumner from Daventry and the winner of the 3rd prize was Mr John Chalfin from Offchurch, Warwickshire.

We thank you again and wish all of you a happy, health and prosperous new year!

Lino, Augusta, Peter, Helen and all the staff at the Butchers Arms Restaurant.

Linos Book 'Fantastic'

The books are of course still available to purchase, see details to the left.

Well no doubt you all own a copy of Lino's autobiography by now. The new total for this fundraising project is is now in excess of £114,500 which I'm sure you will agree is 'Fantastic'!

Lino's Autobiography

Entitled 'Fantastic!' - a word that is often on his lips - the book tells the truly extraordinary story of Lino's rise from the humblest of beginnings in a remote peasant community in Portugal to become the hugely successful proprietor of The Butcher's Arms, renowned for many years now as one of the best and most popular restaurants in the Midlands.

Even those of you who have got to know him well in the 30 years since he first took over what was then a run-down country pub in the village of Priors Hardwick will be fascinated to read about his early years in Vinha, where he became the first person who ever even learned to read and write, and his long struggle to secure a better future for himself and Augusta, the childhood sweetheart he fell in love with at first sight, 60 years ago.

With a foreword by former racing driver and long-time regular customer David Hobbs and 24 pages of photographs and illustration, the book is also packed with anecdotes about the many colourful personalities who have visited the restaurant over the years.

'Fantastic!' is priced at £20.00, with all the profits going to The Royal Marsden Hospital.

For more details on how to order one of Lino's books please send us an email at info@thebutchersarms.com or telephone Sally or Wendy on 01327 260504.

The winners of the 5th International Charity Football Match From back left: Amilcar Monteiro, Lubo Faglic, Lino Pires (Manager), Lewis James, Paul (the main man) Buckingham, front row: John Parker, Adam Newman (Captain) and Jorge Guerreiro

5th International Charity Football Match

For the 5th year The Butchers Arms "5-a-side" football team pitched up at the lovely house in Churchover of Nigel and Tracey Lennard to compete in a charity football tournament to raise money for the "Friends of St. Cross Hospital" in Rugby. A beautiful summer's evening greeted the four teams and handsome refreshments for the spectators.

Our glorious Portuguese team came away victorious again after nail biting extra time in the final. We have a lovely trophy to display for a year and we are awaiting a total for the money raised.

We will keep you posted!

Let's hope we can do as well next year!

Lino with ghost writer Mike Cable in Portuguese Wine Suppliers

Book Launch

Lino's Autobiography, Fantastic! was officially launched on Monday 15th July 2002 with a lunchtime Press Reception at which he and 'ghost writer' Mike Cable (pictured together doing essential research in the cellars of Portuguese wine suppliers Paulo da Silva of Azenhas do Mar) met journalists and photographers from local and regional papers and magazines, including the Birmingham Post, the Banbury Guardian, the Leamington Observer, the Solihull Times and the Warwickshire County Magazine, with radio interviews to follow on BBC Radio Northampton and BBC Radio Oxford.

In the evening, some of the eightly customers who had ordered special leather-bound copies of the book attended a champagne reception on the terrace. Among those who toasted the success of the book - all the profits from which will be donated to Prof. David Cunningham's research fund at The Royal Marsden Hospital - was actor John Bowe of Prime Suspect, Coronation Street and more recently Tipping the Velvet fame. John is a regular customer and held his wedding reception at The Butchers Arms.

A sell-out of this handsome, fully-illustrated book would benefit the Royal Marsden to the tune of at least £120,000 so please order your copy now. Not only will you learn all sorts of surprising things about Lino's colourful past but you will, at the same time, be helping a very worthy and deserving cause.

Lino with former Prime Minister John Major

Lino with John Major

Lino found himself in even more illustrious company than usual when he was seated next to former Prime Minister John Major at a special Gala Evening organised by the Daventry Constituency Conservative Association to celebrate the life and work of the late Lord Prentice of Daventry.

Among the auction items offered during the fund-raising part of the evening was a meal for four people at The Butchers Arms Restaurant. At the same time, Lino himself made the winning bid for a beautiful basket of roses, which he immediately presented to Constituency President, Lady Hesketh.

Ferrari Prize Winner

The ultimate little boy racer's dream car has been won in a £41,000 charity raffle by a careful 29-year-old lady driver. The miniature Ferrari F1 racing car - petrol driver and capable of 50mph -was offered as first prize in a raffle organised by restaurant owner Peter Pires to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital, where he was successfully treated for cancer four years ago.

The winning ticket, drawn by the Royal Marsden's consultant medical oncologist David Cunningham during a special dinner at the Butcher's Arms restaurant, Priors Hardwick, Warwickshire, last Tuesday (November 27th), belonged to Paula Needham.

Paula, a travel company sales manager from Hurst Lane, Bollington, Macclesfield in Cheshire was one of 4,100 people who bought £10 tickets for the raffle.

"I'm so excited - it's the first time I've ever won anything in my life," said motor-racing fan Paula, who bought her single ticket when she visited the Butcher's Arms for dinner as part of a corporate hospitality event organised at nearby Silverstone by the sponsors of one of the Grand Prix teams.

As she waited to take delivery of the car, a perfect hand-made scale replica of a Ferrari FI racer, Paula admitted that she wasn't quite sure yet what she was going to do with it. "At five-foot-nine I'm afraid I'm a bit too big to drive it myself," she said. "I'm not married and don't have any children of my own but I do have three nephews aged between four and six who will no doubt be able to enjoy it when they are a bit older. Maybe we will build a racetrack in the garden.

"In the meantime I am going to have to park it in my mum's double garage - next to her Fiesta!"

Paula herself drives a company BMW for which she recently bought a personalised number plate L4DY P. "I must say, that would look much better on the back of a Ferrari," she added.

The car was originally bought by Peter's father Lino Pires, owner of the Butcher's Arms, as a birthday present for his grandson Edward after he had seen it featured on the children's television show Blue Peter. Lino arranged for it to be presented to Edward by Top Gear's Tony Mason, a regular customer at the Butcher's Arms.

Peter and Lino had previously raised nearly £90,000 for the Royal Marsden with a charity auction that produced £80,000 and another raffle that brought in over £8,000.

Said 37-year-old Peter Pires, who was successfully treated at the Royal Marsden after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1997: "Edward has now outgrown it and was very happy to let us raffle it in aid of such a good cause."

Second prize in the raffle - a meal at the Butcher's Arms, with transport to the restaurant in a Ferrari and back in a Rolls Royce - was won by Ray Sweby, managing director of Faulding Pharmaceuticals, a local company that happens to be one of the Royal Marsden's suppliers. Third prize was a selection of the latest Ferrari team's Formula 1 merchandise.

Added Peter Pires: "We are delighted to have now raised over £130,000 in total as a thank you to the hospital and the staff there who helped to save my life and we are already thinking about what we can do next in the way of fund-raising to help them to continue their vital research."

Famous guests: Lino Pires raises a glass to some of the many celebrities who have enjoyed his hospitality at the Butchers Arms. Ordinary punters, it seems, can expect the same high standards.

Star of the Show - October 2000

Warwickshire Choice, Issue No.1

No one has done more to put the tiny Warwickshire village of Priors Hardwick on the map than Lino Pires - the immaculately presented mine host of the renowned Butchers Arms.

Visitors famous and otherwise flock to the Butchers Arms, swelling the hamlet to proportions never dreamed of by the villagers before this Portuguese gentleman arrived nearly 30 years ago. He came to England to learn the language (let him tell you the story of the cutlery, it has the diners weeping) but retains his strong accent. He is every inch the perfect English gent, immaculately coiffed and suited, but with the dark charm of a southern European.

The Butchers Arms dates back to 1375 and is a wonderful old sandstone building which the Pires family has lovingly renovated and extended over the years. There are ancient flagstone floors, elderly oak beams, open fires and horse brasses which shimmer in the glow of the firelight.

The walls are hung with treasures - photographs of the rich and famous who have enjoyed hospitality at this famous establishment (Joan Collins, Ian Botham, Selina Scott, Richard Briers, Julian Lloyd Webber), letters of thanks and appreciation from Earl Spencer and George Robertson, and prints and drawings from some of the world's finest car designers (Lino and all members of staff sport silver Jaguar pins on their lapels).

When Lino and his wife Augusta arrived in England all those years ago, he worked at the Railway Hotel in Leicester and then became cocktail barman at the Westgate Arms in Warwick where he earned £15 a week.

He tells the story of how he bought the Butchers Arms unseen at two o'clock one morning and took more money in his first week than he had earned in a month at the Warwick restaurant.

The village pub had once been lucky to have 12 punters supping on a good night - but now Lino attracts a thousand people a week. There are 19 full and part time staff, including his celebrated chef Francisco Simão, and most have been with him for many, many years.

It's easy to see why the Butchers Arms has been such a phenomenal success - Lino is a perfectionist and expects everyone else to be too. Standards are vertiginously high. There is no piece of cutlery or glassware that does not shine, no brass that is unrubbed, no flagstone unscrubbed.

The garden, which Lino tends himself, is crowded with shrubs and perennials in tubs and borders, climbing walls and trellis. Lino greets guests in the bar, serves drinks, takes orders and then sits with the customers who have long since become his friends.

We visit on a Tuesday lunchtime - it's early but already the restaurant is filling up. I order a grilled goat's cheese salad with dover sole mornay to follow. My friend chooses scallops mornay followed by push-the-boat-out steak Diane.

Needless to say it's a triumph. My salad could scarcely be more perfect - the cheese still warm, the leaves tender, the tomatoes cherry and the balsamic dressing sticky and tart. The dover sole is flaky and the sauce cheesy but not too thick. I steal some scallops and wish I had room for more than the one bite.

A trolley arrives with cooking utensils, burner and frying pan. The chef at the table presents a piece of fillet flattened to within an inch of its life. Butter goes in the pan, sizzle sizzle. Finely chopped onions are added, then a dash of Worcester sauce, sizzle sizzle. Then in goes the steak, flip it over, add the brandy and wow there's the woosh as the chef sets light to the alcohol with a deft flick of his wrist. My friend pronounces the steak is good, very good and Lino arrives to tell us he is the only one in the world to cook steak Diane this way - the only way.

Puddings arrive and we are too full. Lino arrives and persuades us not to leave without tasting the oranges in caramel, the pear in red wine or the traditional Portuguese rice pudding which is as near to heaven as an angel's wing. The pudding lady holds our eyes steadily as she pours cream from several feet above the table. Not a drop misses the spot. She's done this before.

Lino is talking to his guests as they eat their lunch. He is the showman, the entertainer, and the show is again a triumph.

Pole Position: Little James Clarke steers through the charity donation with (left to right) Stuart Dyble (Jaguar Cars), Lino Pires (Butcher's Arms), charity auctioneer Harvey Williams, John Clarke and Victoria Maher

Mighty Bid By James, Age 5

Evening Telegraph, 6/10/2000

A Memorable charity auction - where the winning bid was made by five-year-old - has netted £3,000 for disadvantaged children.

James Clarke pledged £1,000, at a garden party in aid of the NSPCC held at the home of his parents, John and Celeste Clarke, in Gibbet Hill, Coventry.

Top prize was dinner at the Butcher's Arms in Priors Hardwick, near Southam. Other lots included helicopter rides and an Armani suit.

The Money will be spent on projects at the NSPCC's Boole House centre in Whitefriars Lane, named after Jaguar's late PR director, David Boole.

Auction items and amounts raised

The Royal Marsden Charity Evening Auction
1st February 1998

Items Auctioned

1. "Links" of London, Sterling Silver Desk Clock (kindly donated by Fred Burrow of Gurit Essex Limited)	£550.00
2. "The Gates of Althorp, Vision of Heaven", an original watercolour (kindly donated by Mr & Mrs Elkins of Northampton)	£500.00
3. A Collection of Maclaren Mercedes Formula One Memorabilia, to include a Jumper, T.Shirt, Polo Shirt, Baseball Cap, Computer Mouse Mat (kindly donated by Computervision Ltd)	£125.00
4. Use of a Mercedes Benz SLK Sports convertible for a weekend (does not include insurance)	£450.00
5. Two Grandstand Tickets with full Hospitality for the 1998 Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone (kindly donated by Mr Barrie Thrussell of the RAC)	£800.00
6. A Stunning Jaguar XK8 Sports Convertible for the use of, for three months from 01.05.98 (kindly donated by Mr Nick Scheele, Chairman of Jaguar Cars Limited)	£3,000.00
7. An Imperial (8 bottles) Grahams 1985 Vintage Port (donated by the Butcher's Arms Restaurant)	1st £1,500.00 2nd - £1,200.00
8. A Berkeley forge garden bench for two (kindly donated by Vivienne Barlow of Country Gardens)	£350.00
9. A day's Off-Road Driving Instruction at Land Rover's Jungle Track at Solihull - for one person (kindly donated by Trevor Key of The Rover Group)	£500.00
10. A case of twelve bottles of Australian wine made by Brown Brothers - 6 Family Reserve Chardonnay & 6 Cabernet Sauvignon (kindly donated by Mr Ray Sweby of Faulding Pharmaceuticals Plc)	£425.00
11. A Panasonic in-car CD Tuner fitted (kindly donated by David and Hazel Blackwell of Clarendon Motor Services Ltd of Leamington Spa)	£600.00
12. "A Tour of ProDrive's World Championship Winning Rally Team in the morning, followed by Lunch and a Tour of the Benetton Formula One Factory in the afternoon, for two people (kindly donated by Mr David Richards and Mr David Lapworth of Prodrive Ltd)	£600.00
13. A Mobile Telephone (kindly donated by Mr John Chalfin of Intercell Ltd)	£650.00
14. A Pre-Theatre Dinner at the Tamarind Indian Restaurant and a deluxe double room at the Halcyon Hotel, London (kindly donated by Mr & Mrs E Saunders)	£525.00
15. A Child's Complete Kit in Coventry City's Home Colours and a Match Ball (the shirt and ball autographed by the team) (kindly donated by Mr J Reason of Coventry)	2 sets £700.00
16. A Track Day in a Caterham 7 doing High Speed Passenger Laps at Donnington Park Racing Circuit for up to 3 people, to include refreshments (kindly donated by Andrew & Stuart Parker of Team Parker Racing)	£650.00
17. One Week's Stay in a Cornish Country Cottage one mile from Rock. Sleeps up to six people (kindly donated by Mrs Jenny Hayward)	£800.00
18. Four Wheel Drive Tyres by "General" (set of 4) fitted (kindly donated by Mr Alan Baldwin of Southam Tyres Ltd)	£350.00
19. A Lovely Garden Statue (4ft high) (kindly donated by Mr & Mrs Jakeman of The Southam Garden Centre)	£100.00
20. A Day Driving a Rover MGF at the Racing Circuit of your choice (kindly donated by Mr Trevor Key of Rover Group Ltd)	£300.00
21. A Trip to the Butcher's Arms Restaurant for Lunch, collected and delivered in a Vintage 8 litre Bentley (the car that brought Peter and Helen from the church to their wedding reception) (kindly donated by Mr Geoff Parker)	£400.00
22. 3 Gift Vouchers for the sum of £100 each, to be spent in three of the top clothes shops in Leamington Spa (kindly donated by Lorraine & John from Feminique, Arias and Status)	£350.00
23. A Beautiful Portuguese Crocheted Table Cloth, Hand Made by Augusta (3 metres x 1.5 metres)	£1,200.00
24. A Camping Gaz Ranchero 1100 super gas barbecue (kindly donated by Mr G Davies of HE Philips Ltd, Coventry)	£470.00
25. A Hair Appointment to include manicure and facial at Rackhams Hair Salon (kindly donated by Fenella)	£120.00
26. "The Computer Lab" a book written and illustrated by Bryony Hill (kindly donated and signed by Jimmy Hill)	£100.00
27. One year's full double membership to the Warwick Health Club from 1/2/98 (kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Jones from Warwick)	£300.00
28. £1000 worth of Marble or Granite for Kitchen or bathroom surfaces to customers specification (kindly donated by Mr Don Bannocks of Bannocks Tigre Marble Co. Ltd)	£750.00
29. The use of a lovely town house in Salcome, Devon for a long weekend - sleeps upto six people (kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Postins of Balsall Common)	£500.00
30. A tour of the Aston Martin factory at Newport Pagnell, track driving at Goodwood racing circuit in an Aston Martin DB7 and use of the car for four days (kindly donated by Mr Simon Thrussell of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd)	£800.00
31. A fabulous weekend for two at The Seteis Palace Hotel, Sintra, Portugal including flights from TAP Air Portugal and dinner at the Curral dos Caprinos (best restaurant in the area)	£1,050.00
32. Another fabulous weekend for two in the company of Lino and Augusta at their house in Portugal to include transport (if you don't mind Lino's driving!) and Augusta's cooking On the night of the auction, the first bidder (Mr Michael Rosenberg) could not be with us but had already made this generous donation. We were shocked and surprised that somebody else was prepared to bid for this prize for a second time (Mr David Holmes)!	1st $10,000 (£6,300) 2nd £7,500
33. Two weeks in a six bedroom house overlooking Championship gold course in Florida (kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Lamb)	£3,000.00
34. 28 days use of Jaguar XK8 or Daimler V8 (kindly donated by Mr Dennis Stickley)	£800.00
35. One week in Lakeside Hotel near Chicago including flights and use of car (kindly donated by Mr Gregory Hobbs and Mr Richard Sadiq)	£1,500.00
36. £500 of Hairdressing Vouchers	£450.00

Peter Pires and his son James

80,000 Thanks To The Hospital That Saved My Life

When Peter Pires was diagnosed as having cancer in 1997, his devoted father Lino insisted that he was treated at the same hospital that saved jump jockey Bob Champion.

Champion had touched the heart of the nation sixteen years earlier when he overcame cancer and rode Aldaniti, who had himself conquered serious injury, to a fairytale victory in the Grand National.

The heroic and emotional triumph on the Aintree racecourse, later made into a film, made a lasting impression on the Portuguese-born restauranteur.

Devastating

When the devastating news was broken that his only son had cancer, he was adamant that he should also be treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital. Peter had been ill for several months before he was admitted to hospital for an emergency operation and having non- Hodgkin´s lymphoma.

"if I had not had the operation I would not have lasted another week," recalls Peter, who celebrated his 34th birthday earlier this month.

It was a birthday which neither he nor his close family dared think about when he was admitted to the Royal Marsden, a hospital renowned as a world leader in cancer care. He was not allowed his first precious visit to be with his wife Helen and children Heather, aged six, Edward, aged four, and one-year-old James until the end of September.

"Out of the three months I was in Hospital there was only two days my dad did not come to visit me," said Peter, who runs The Butcher´s Arms Restaurant with his dad. "he was up a 6am to to drive down there, have breakfast with me and get back in time to open the restaurant in time for lunch. It was a four hour round trip."

Peter was allowed home from the hospital after 12 weeks of intensive treatment, but had to return for bouts of chemotherapy, which fortunately finished in time for Christmas. "As far as my consultant is concerned, I no longer have the problem. I´m in remission," he smiles. "I have to go back for three-monthly scans for two years to make sure it does not re-occur."

Peter says he owes his life to the Royal Marsden and now feels better than he has done for years. He is enjoying being back at work. "We wanted to try and give something back as a way of saying thank you."

The restaurant gave them the perfect opportunity to hold a fund raising dinner and auction for the hospital, billed as a "Celebration Dinner".

"It was an emotional evening for me, but we had already gone through all the tears and hugging and we wanted it to be a celebration," said Peter.

Bob Champion after riding Aldaniti to victory at the Grand National in 1981

And who better to celebrate his victory over cancer with but Bob Champion, who joined Peters doctors at the dinner attended by one hundred people.

The family had hoped to raise £40,000 by selling tickets at £200 each, donations from customers, and from the auction of fabulous prizes which included a day out with the Benetton Formula 1 racing team and the use of a Jaguar XK8 for three months, donated by Nick Scheele, chairman and chief executive of Jaguar Cars.

Dreams

"We received the most wonderful array of gifts for the auction from people who knew how important work undertaken by the Royal Marsden is," said Peter.

But never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the auction, conducted by family friend and former racing driver David Hobbs, would raise the final figure - a staggering £80,000.

Three months behind the wheel of a Jaguar XK8 fetched £3,000, a large bottle of port mustered £2,700, and a holiday in Portugal raised £14,000 alone from two bidders.

"I can´t thank everyone enough who made a donation," said Peter. "They were absolute saints at the hospital and we just wanted to help a lot more people in the same position as me.

Malcolm and Eva Reynolds outside St. Marys church

Historical Accounts of Priors Hardwick

"It´s the only restaurant in England money wouldn't buy," says Lino Pires, the man who transformed the village. "It will never be sold in my lifetime. I have a passion for it. My customers are my life."

Mr Malcolm Reynolds came to the village in the late 1940´s and recalls the day when Mrs Ada Gee ran the the then village pub. "If there were 12 people on Saturday night it was a good night," he remembers. "She used to have a lamp by the side of the dart board. She used to soak it in a tub of water over night to soften it. Now at weekends I can count anything between sixty and eighty cars in the car park. Lino is the biggest character I have ever come across and he is very generous."

A former serviceman with the Coldstream Guards, Mr Reynolds lives in a centuries-old cottage near the village church, the cottage is hard to miss because of its red corrugated-tin roof.

"In 1895, the population of Priors Hardwick was 500," says Mr Reynolds, who worked locally as a shepherd. "Now it is about 180. There are over 100 motor cars here and about 40 dogs." His wife Eva came from Smethwick to live in the village. "My sister lived here and she said: ´If I get you a little cottage in Priors Hardwick, would you come?´ and I said "Yes´." she remembers.

"It was very different, I enjoyed the freedom. You don´t feel lonely in the country, in those days everybody knew everyone. I thought they were being very nosy when I first came here, but they weren´t, they were just interested. In the town, nobody talked to anybody. Everybody was so busy."

Near the Reynolds home is a widow, Mrs Mary Winn, who has lived in her cottage opposite the church all her life. She remembers the arrival of the red roof.

"I was about sixteen when they changed the roof to what it is today - it was thatched before," recalls Mrs Winn, who ran the village post office from her home for 40 years, only giving up the job five years ago after fracturing her hips in a fall.

She also remembers the spring outlet near the church wall.

"I used to get water in a bucket from the spring. It was better than tap water," she says. "After the village was put on mains supply they closed the tap, but there is talk that they may reopen it."

Mrs Anne Prophet, present owner of School Cottage, with Mrs Muriel Clements who spent her early years there.

Forty years ago Mrs Muriel Clements was pictured in a Sunday Mercury article taking her son, Peter, to the village school where there were just six pupils.

"Lino has put us on the map, he makes everyone he talks to feel special," says 75 year old Mrs Clements.

The village remains an isolated, attractive, small rural outpost surrounded by farmland and unscarred by modern development. Its church is superbly placed on a hillside and nearby is the village green with its stone war memorial and a backdrop of attractive period dwellings.

A sharp drop leads down past The Butchers Arms and the road rises again to another hillside above the fields opposite the former village pub.

Today the village school is a private house on a hillside looking across the fields to St Mary´s Church at the top of the adjacent hillside.

It is hard to recognise the red brick building as the former school and just the other side of the road is the house where Mrs Clements spent the first four years of her life.

The medieval stone cottage offers an insight into the changing face of the English village. "It hadn´t got a name years ago," says Mrs Clements. "Now it has been christened the School House but it has nothing to do with the school. It didn´t look anything like it does today. It had a worn out look."

Her farther Edward Gardener was a smallholder working on fields scattered around the village landscape. "I remember him milking a cow or two. He had some sheep, and also kept a lot of pigs at one stage. We had buses going to Leamington, Banbury and Rugby. It was quite an event to leave the village."

Today her former home looks very different. The immaculate property has an extension that blends well with the original house and is now an idyllically placed rural retreat.

Restaurant owner Lino Pires

Good Fortune In A Dying Village

Sitting quietly at his own table with a large claret glass was the professor who had worked out the route to the moon. "He has an Omega watch NASA gave him to thank him very much for what he did to do the navigation to the moon," explains restaurateur Lino Pires enthusiastically. People have to eat somewhere. But somehow it is surprising to find the man who helped Neil Armstrong Become the first man on the moon on the Apollo 11 flight in 1969 in a restaurant in a small Warwickshire village.

On a nearby table was a Friday lunchtime party that included the amiable ventriloquist Ray Allen, creator of Lord Charles. In another corner was the man who helped design Jaguar's V12 engine. The walls of The Butcher's Arms Restaurant are decked out with autographed photographs of everyone from actress Joan Collins to car designers, but, it wasn't always like this.

Doomed

Back in 1959, the Sunday Mercury published a doom-ridden article with the headline "A Village Comes To The End The Road".

The village school was down to six pupils and about to close. The Butcher's Arms Restaurant also faced closure - "Takings aren't very high - its future is very undecided," said a spokesman for Flowers, the Stratford-upon-Avon brewery. And the 13th century church faced a £1,000 repair bill.

Today Priors Hardwick has become known far beyond Warwickshire because The Butcher's Arms Restaurant, run by the remarkable Mr Pires, is one of the best-known village restaurants in the country.

At weekends a sea of cars park opposite the 14th century inn and 500 people, more than twice the village population, come to eat in the there. The signboard with the flags of Portugal and Great Britain and the words "Portugal, the oldest ally in the world" indicate Lino's background. In 1972, he was a cocktail bar man at the Westgate Arms Restaurant where his wife, Augusta, also worked when he made the deal that changed his life after raising £30,000.

"One Saturday night at two in the morning I bought this place without even seeing it." he recalls "I was desperate to start a business." A man said "Well, I've got a pub, I'll sell it to you". Then we shook hands. "I was on £15 a week at the restaurant. I took more money in the first week for myself than I did working for a month in the restaurant. There was nothing here. It was a little village pub. The transformation took fifteen years. I have had about twenty extensions."

Today some 1,000 people a week eat at The Butcher's Arms Restaurant where there are nineteen full and part-time staff. It is a pristinely kept establishment where an old world of flagstone floors, low oak beams, open fires and mullion windows merge inconspicuously into the extended areas.

Lino's undimmed enthusiasm might seem rather un-English for a rural Warwickshire village, but, his happy knack of making people feel they are the centre of attention goes some way to explaining his popularity. Portuguese chef Francisco Simao has been there for 24 years and the restaurant which has a cellar with more than 200 wines, manages the unusual combination of quality and quantity with its dishes.

Star of the Show