Village pub reopens for first time in nine years

Jun 30 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

PARTY time was officially declared at the weekend as the ale started flowing once again in a Northumberland hamlet which has been dry for almost a decade.

Local people celebrated as the bar doors swung open for the first time in nine years at the Crown Inn at remote Catton near Allendale – bringing to a successful conclusion a long-running campaign to retain the village’s only pub.

The Crown was closed by its previous owners in 1999, but more than 200 residents supported a determined battle to block three separate attempts to shut it for good by turning it into a house.

Now it has bucked the national trend of escalating pub closures by re-opening under the ownership of Jim Hick and his wife Sue, who launched the nearby Allendale Brewery two years ago.

Locals who successfully campaigned to save the Crown enjoyed a celebration party in the pub on Friday night – and it officially re-opened to the public on Saturday when two local musicians entertained scores of eager real ale enthusiasts.

Mrs and Mrs Hick, whose son Tom now runs the brewery operation, bought the Crown from previous owner Paul Murphy after his third attempt to convert the bar into part of his house was rejected by Tynedale Council planners.

The couple, together with a band of helpers and tradesmen, have spent the last 10 weeks renovating the premises to bring the pub back to life and meet modern health and safety standards. It sells all of the Allendale Brewery’s beers, including Best Bitter, Tar Bar’l Stout, Curlew’s Return and Jack Snipe, as well as a weekly guest ale and a Czech Pilsner lager.

Yesterday Mr Hick said: “The number of pubs closing these days is frightening, but the market for cask ales is quite healthy, so we thought the best way forward would be to buy a local pub as an outlet for our own beer.

“In Catton, the Crown Inn has been closed for 10 years but the village got together as a group to retain it.

“Saturday night was great and we must have had about 100 people in. We have had a fantastic reception from local people and the re-opening was incredibly well supported. We plan to sell real ales, no John Smiths or Fosters, and people will vote with their feet.”

Retired teacher Joan Robinson, who lives near the pub and was a leading member of the Save The Crown Action Group, said: “We are all cock-a-hoop and absolutely delighted. The Crown is not just a place to drink but somewhere for people to meet up and the social heart of the village. We have been missing that in Catton because we don’t have a shop, school or post office, and the loss of the pub was a huge blow.”

Over the next few weeks the Crown, which is being run by manager Graham Girvan, will start selling food once kitchen staff are up and running.

Tynedale Council refused permission to turn the pub into a house in 2006, and last year a Government planning inspector rejected the previous owners’ appeal against the decision following a public inquiry in Hexham.