SOME 25 years ago Hereford Times readers helped pick a new name for the city's Kerry Arms – but it only lasted until the millennium.

In 1995 when brewery chain Firkin took over the Commercial Road pub, it wanted to rename it.

In October 1995, it closed to undergo a refurbishment which would end up costing more than £300,000, and was renamed the Farmhand and Firkin.

It reopened in December that year, with nurses Dilys Price and Lisa Owens from the Stonebow Unit invited to the opening.

The Farmhand, like other pubs in the Firkin chain, had been given an alehouse look with wooden floors, long wooden tables and pews. The new manager was Jane Trivett.

The name had to begin with an F or Ph to fit in with the Firkin name.

But five years later in 2000 its name was changed to The Kerry.

In April, the Farmhand and Firkin signs outside were all replaced with new ones.

"Everybody who came in here used to talk about 'The Kerry' and we are in the business of giving people what they want," new owner Sam Ellis told the Hereford Times at the time.

Until it was taken over by the Firkin chain, the pub was well known as either the Kerry or the Kerry Arms.

"When people used to phone up for taxis to come to the Firkin, the companies wouldn't know where you were talking about until you said 'Kerry'," Mr Ellis added.

He hoped to re-establish the pub as a mecca for city drinkers.

Do you have memories of the pub? If so, join our We Grew Up in Hereford group on Facebook.