WEARING a neatly pressed shirt, with smartly combed hair and a shy smile, "Slim" John Denman looks as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

But sit and have a beer at the Mossman Hotel and you soon find out this character plays a central role in most of the pub’s best stories, the subject of much affection and good-natured ribbing.

Born and bred in the rural township, Slim is often called the Mayor of Mossman and has worked as a cleaner at the pub for the last 10 years, often seven days a week.

He is the one who tells the new bartenders all the ghost stories, likes to pop up behind them and give them a fright, and has been known to don a tutu – there is reportedly photographic evidence of the latter point.

He also has a habit of supporting any sports team that is playing against Australia. And, much to other punters’ disgust, the Blues in State of Origin.

"Most of the crazy things that happen here revolve around Slim," laughs Shaun Pullen, who has been a visitor to the pub since he moved to Mossman almost three years ago.

"He’ll go for anyone except Australia. He’s a bit of a conundrum, is old Slimmy."

Mr Pullen is one of a small group enjoying a quiet beer around the horseshoe bar, which guarantees that even if you come in on your own, you’ll soon be feeling like one of the locals.

"You just wander in, it’s nice and open, and it’s a communal bar where everyone faces each other," he said.

"It’s just good to sit here and watch people, have a yarn and find out what’s happening in the outside world."

The original Mossman Hotel was a single storey, galvanised iron shed located at Craiglie, south of Port Douglas, which served the thirsty, tired travellers who used the Bump Track to get to the Tableland.

With the establishment of the Cairns-Mareeba railway and the subsequent demise of Craiglie, it was shifted to Front St in Mossman in 1894.

The pub became a firm favourite among itinerant cane cutters and mill hands before it was rebuilt as an art deco style concrete building in 1955.

In keeping with the pub’s long history, old-time photos line the walls.

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Sipping a cold beer on her afternoon off, Kay Crowder is someone who knows the importance of a good local pub.

She has worked at the hotel since arriving in Mossman two-and-a-half years ago from England.

"We’re a proper local’s pub, but all of the pubs in Mossman are completely different," she explained.

"I can’t say that we have hardcore customers – they socialise and go from one to the other. "But they’re all good, that’s the main thing, and if they’re not they get told – and that’s it."

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