SEVENTY years ago, Gordon Cotterill used to ride his horse, Tingle, to his favourite pub, the Aloomba Hotel. Watch our audio slideshow.

Times were different back then.

"You had no cars, dirt roads, no electricity. You came to the pub on a horse," Mr Cotterill said.

The country cowboys tied their horses to a rail out back, then wandered into the pub for a cold one.

The 86-year-old has been drinking at the Aloomba Hotel since he was 16.

He’s been loyal to the watering hole for 70 years.

He’s seen it twice destroyed by fire, drunk with the hordes of cane-cutters and railway workers, and had more big nights than he cared to remember.

And the sugar cane farmer wouldn’t go anywhere else.

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"It’s the friendships. I come in here and sit in the same seat; I don’t even have to think about what I’m going to have because the next thing a beer, my beer, is there."

It’s regulars like him that keep the pub chugging along.

Owner Peter Dragojlo arrived 23 years ago when the country town was humming with men who worked hard and played harder.

"There used to be more fights than feeds," he said of the big drinking and partying era.

"Many nights we wouldn’t get to bed, it would be dawn and we’d turn the barbie on and cook bacon and eggs for whoever was around."

Patrons used to pitch tents on the lawn rather than go home and after the cooked brekkie, Mr Dragojlo would send them to the creek to cool off while the pub was cleaned.

However, times were changing and the pub was slowing down with its regulars mostly coming from the 150-strong community.

But it still had karaoke and pool nights and a visit from Santa Claus himself every Christmas Eve.

For about six years, Carol Thuren has driven from Cairns to the Aloomba Hotel several times a week.

She loved the laidback country pub and the good company.

"It’s like my second home, or maybe it’s my first home – I’m not sure," she joked.

Sam Keys has been drinking at the pub since 1972. Sure it’s the closest to his home, but he rated the honest country folk and the mateship.

When he’s been in trouble, Mr Dragojlo and his partner, Maxine Herbert, have always lent a hand, especially when his property was flooded.

Ms Herbert said it was the country way – one day when she and Peter had to go to school to sort out a troubled child, they left the pub open.

When they got back, patrons were on the stools with their beers and a local, who couldn’t work out the till, had a tally of who owed what.

Ms Herbert said they looked after the patrons too, picking them up or dropping them home.

"We don’t have a courtesy bus, but the locals know if they want a lift we’ll drive them home."

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