THE owners of a stall specialising in real ale that has won a legion of followers less than six months after opening its doors have decided to branch out and open their own pub.

John Anderson and Dave Walker launched The Crafty Pint in Darlington’s Covered Market last year, selling bottled beers from the North-East and beyond.

Their success means they have now decided to take over the Half Moon, a Victorian-era pub in Northgate, to create a new real ale pub for Darlington.

They will keep the historic Half Moon name, but plan to incorporate the Crafty Pint shop and their own micro-brewery into the freehouse, which will operate without a brewery.

When the pair announced their news on the Crafty Pint Facebook page last week they were inundated with replies and saw more than 10,000 page views in less than four days.

Mr Anderson, 54, described the reaction as ‘absolutely amazing’ and said: “Our previous record for page views was 240 so this was pretty big. We’ve even had people from Colorado writing to congratulate us.”

In recent years Darlington has become a hub for real ale pubs and bars, with people travelling from far and wide to enjoy hand-pulled ales and beers from local brewers.

The new Half Moon, which is expected to open in June following a refurbishment using furniture reclaimed from churches, will focus on real ale and creating a welcoming atmosphere for drinkers.

Mr Walker, 45, said: “We’ve both always been interested in real ales and brewing and the pub seems like a natural extension to what we are doing here in the market.

“The stall is a bit limited in what we can do in terms of size and the opening hours.

“We’ve both been involved in the real ale scene in Darlington for a long time and we know there’s a massive demand for it here.”

Mr Anderson added: “It’s a great opportunity. We knew the pub was empty and Dave got on to them, but we never heard anything. Then they phoned up about two weeks ago and asked if we wanted to view it. It’s happened fast since then.”

Opening dates and times for the Half Moon will be announced in the coming weeks.