FINE food and a warm welcome was promised at one long-lost Hereford pub, which dated back to the 19th century, back in 1993.

Now home to Chinese restaurant and takeaway the New Hum-Ming Garden, Foley Street's Moss Cottage proudly marketed itself as the county's first non-smoking bar and restaurant that year.

Hereford Times: Diners at Moss Cottage Inn in 1993Diners at Moss Cottage Inn in 1993 (Image: Hereford Times)

In a move well ahead of the times, with the smoking ban in pubs and restaurants in England not coming into force until 2007, owners Tom and Kristin Connolly decided to devote their entire upstairs restaurant to non-smokers.

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Part of the downstairs eating area was also non-smoking only, while smokers were allowed to light up in the rest of the downstairs restaurant.

Hereford Times:

The couple had taken the pub on earlier that year, after eating there regularly and enjoying the "relaxed and welcoming atmosphere".

They took on award-winning chef Paul Warrington, and offered a menu ranging from bar snacks to full a la carte, with starters priced from £1.95, mains from £6.95, and homemade puds from £1.95.

The pub had already built up a strong reputation under previous owner Ben Holland, who was responsible for the unusual crenellated extension to the side of the old pub.

Hereford Times: The garden at Moss Cottage in HerefordThe garden at Moss Cottage in Hereford (Image: Hereford Times)

It had been built, he told the Hereford Times in 1989, to double the pub's restaurant capacity to more than 40 and open up bar space after soaring demand saw the business turning customers away.

Now a popular Chinese restaurant, not all evidence of 2 Foley Street's past have been stripped, with patrons still able enjoy a pint at the bar while they wait for their takeaway.