Ask around Sheringham for a word to describe Bob Brewster, former landlord of the Crown Inn, and people will say: legend.

The ex-publican, who ran pubs in the town for almost 50 years, died on Tuesday, September 13, at the age of 79.

Mr Brewster was born in 1943 in Norwich to Olive and Ernie Brewster and grew up in Sprowston, where he went to the local school.

At the age of 16, he got his first job as a typewriter mechanic. He then sold pharmaceuticals and later worked as a rep for Silent Nights, selling beds.

He married his first wife Glennis in 1966 and they lived in Brundall. Their first child, Alison, was born in 1967, followed by Ashley in 1968 and Matthew in 1977.

In the meantime, in 1973, the family had moved to Sheringham, where Mr Brewster finally got to fulfil one of his dreams, which was to run a pub.

When he took over the Windham Arms on Wyndham Street, it was very quiet, but he built up the pub's reputation, and as he did so well there, Norwich Brewery asked him to take over the Crown Inn, too, which he did in 1978.

North Norfolk News: An EDP clipping from the 1980s reporting on a revamped Crown Inn.An EDP clipping from the 1980s reporting on a revamped Crown Inn. (Image: Courtesy of the Brewster family)

He ran both pubs for five years until 1983 when he gave up the Windham Arms.

In 1994 he met Debbie and they married in 2006 in Antigua.

During Mr Brewster's time at the Crown Inn, the venue became the hub of Sheringham. On Wednesday nights, when live musicians would play to a packed crowd, it was the place to be.

In a town where he employed more than 1,000 staff at the two pubs over almost 50 years, his loss will be felt deeply.

North Norfolk News: An EDP clipping from 1979 reports on Bob Brewster winning the Norwich Brewery Innkeeper of the Year award.An EDP clipping from 1979 reports on Bob Brewster winning the Norwich Brewery Innkeeper of the Year award. (Image: Courtesy of the Brewster family)

Mr Brewster also loved animals. According to his daughter Alison, he would even save a bug from a swimming pool.

It was this passion which brought him and Debbie on holidays to South Africa every year for 13 years, for six weeks at a time, never once missing a safari.

His son Ashley said: "So many people called him a legend. He was loved and respected by all. He was generous and kind."

Mr Brewster, who twice won Norwich Brewery's Innkeeper of the Year, retired in January this year. He had been planning to travel to South Africa again but had to cancel the trip.

He leaves behind his three children, his wife Debbie, two step-children Eddie and Becky Hammon, his brother Ted, his 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.