In the past 12 months, 259 pubs have closed across the UK, 53 of which have been turned into houses or HMOs, and a further 13 knocked down and turned into new build housing, according to research by consumer organisation the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). “Pubs are being lost forever,” they say.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association, last year’s closures alone led to an estimated 4,500 job losses. Huge cost pressures are largely to blame.
One pub that faced such a fate was The Ivy Inn in Heddington, Wiltshire, which was put on the market in May 2024. Locals were heartbroken.
Gemma Coombes, 43, who has lived in the village her whole life, remembers visiting with her grandmother as a child. “We loved it. It was busy, friendly and so welcoming. I remember having an Appletiser playing billiards. There was an atmosphere of everybody knowing who you were. It was lovely.
“The day it closed was very sad. It was a heavy feeling. It doesn’t just hold memories for us locals, it was a pub that people would travel to if they wanted a nice carvery or to sit in front of an open fire.”
In response to the closure, Heddington residents resurrected Friends of The Ivy in September 2024. Previously the official channel of communication between the pub and residents, Friends of The Ivy became an official community benefit society (CBS) – a not-for-profit business owned by its members and operated for the benefit of the community, often to invest in local pubs, shops or football clubs – that would fundraise to buy and reopen the pub.
Chair of the society Paul Moyle-Harris, 66, who has lived in the village since 1996, says £350,000 was needed to buy the pub itself but raising around £600,000 would mean the community could refurbish and replenish much of the failing building, like the toilets and kitchen, which “were not up to 21st century guidelines” nor DDA-compliant.
Heddington residents joined together to fundraise for The Ivy Inn pubPeople could buy shares in the pub for joint ownership for £1, with a minimum purchase of 100 to join the CBS.
Raising the money has come with its challenges (Moyle-Harris says it took 12 weeks to open a bank account because of the pitfalls of being a CBS and not a singular person or registered business) but overall it has been a success. They’ve currently raised £410,000 meaning the future of The Ivy Inn is secure as a pub, and will not be turned into housing. Solicitors are currently in talks to exchange contracts to purchase the building.
Over £250,000 of the money has come from those within the nearby village themselves, which totals to around 520 people. “One chap in the village has bought £20,000 worth of shares. He’s in his thirties and has a young family but he just believes in this. We’ve had a lot of younger people buying between £200 and £500 but everybody has been involved. The working families, the youngsters and the retired.”
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Moyle-Harris says when he first moved in, a Sunday dinner at The Ivy would need to be booked six weeks in advance. “It was so popular, people would travel on a regular basis from places like Chippenham and Bristol. It had a fantastic reputation and it has so much history. General Patton would visit during the war. It’s really scary that we could have lost that history.”
The plan is to use the building as a community group, and run it as a cafe during the day, and pub in the evening. “There’s nowhere for anybody to go at the moment,” says Coombes. “There’s a weekly coffee morning in the church that’s really busy, but there’s no toilet or proper tea and coffee facilities. The school uses the village hall most of the time. There’s not anywhere for parents to meet. When I go out with friends we have to drive 10 miles to a restaurant but we’d be at The Ivy Inn if it was open.
Like hundreds of other pub in the UK, The Ivy Inn shut its doors last year (Photo: David Askham / Alamy)“We’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place, but the pub is the missing link. It’s not about getting drunk, it’s about having somewhere to go to relax and have a chat. I have four children and I’d love for them to experience it how I did when I was a little girl.”
Moyle-Harris is predicting The Ivy Inn will reopen in 2026, but worries the fundraising is still not enough to refurbish it to a state people from outside the village will want to visit. As it’s a 17th-century building that needs modernising, he knows it’ll be a lot of work, and although there are nearly 100 local volunteers for painting and gardening, he also knows the work won’t be quick.
The Drewe Arms in Drewsteignton, Devon, was also on the verge of disappearing until the community raised money to save it. The pub reopened last March after sitting empty for nearly two years. “The pub was the heart of the village so it was a real dampener when it closed,” says Ian Pickford, the Society Secretary of Drewsteignton Community Society.
Imogen Clements, who has lived in Drewsteignton for 16 years, says “it immediately became a ghost village”.
Local volunteers came together to help re-paint the pub“We live in an age now where you work from home, study from home, shop from home and can entertain from home so there’s not many reasons to actually go out. We felt that first hand. We didn’t have a reason to come together as a community, it was a depressive period. In cities there’s pub alternatives but for us, it’s the only one within walking distance.”
The Drewe Arms was a well-known British pub and boasts the longest-serving landlady, Mabel Mudge, who served behind the bar for 75 years. She stepped down in 1994 aged 99 before passing away two years later. The history of the building dates back to 1756 and Mudge drew pints through World War Two. “She kept it open through wars – she never closed it. The idea that the pub had fallen victim to commercial forces was horrifying for the community,” says Clements.
Mudge’s family still live in the village, and others in the community have fond memories of her. “People show off their photo albums of their parents, or uncles, working for Mabel, or talk about the picket fences they put up or the animals that used to be in local barns. Mabel used to bring ham and cheese sandwiches to people’s doorsteps, and a big pint of ale. There’s so many stories about her.”
Clements moved to the village from London, when she had her first child with her husband, and was part of the fundraising team to reopen the pub, which was a huge success. Almost £600,000 was raised, which Pickford believes is one of the highest figures for a community benefit society. Many of the donors were locals, but a lot of money came from people who had visited The Drewe Arms on their travels. Contributions also came from people in Australia, Spain, Italy and America, who loved the history of the pub and wanted to see it reopen.
Mabel Mudge served behind the bar for 75 years People in the community have fond memories of the pubThe community has changed how the The Drewe Arms functions, and given each room a purpose. Throughout the week, they hold yoga and Pilates classes, coffee mornings, open mic nights, and invite new bands on the weekends.
“We’re so pleased we managed to buy the pub on behalf of the community because we all worried somebody else would turn it into a gastro restaurant, for example, and not respect the heritage. We didn’t want a moneymaking operation that would strip its character or it to be thatched cottages. We’ve managed to maintain its history but also run it as a business that suits everyone. We’re really proud of it.”
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