For our mid-winter episode join us for a pub crawl to three cosy community - owned pubs in and around Bath.

The last few years have not been easy for pubs, with the pandemic, rising energy costs and inflation. More than 500 closed their doors in 2023, but community pubs it seems, are thriving.

The first pub to be bought by the community was The Red Lion in Preston, Hertfordshire in the early 1980s. According to the Plunkett Foundation, a charity which helps people set up community-owned business, as of January 2024 there were upwards of 180 community-owned pubs in the UK and Bath has three of them. 

In this episode we start at The Hop Pole Inn in Limpley Stoke. It was bought by the community and after three years of frantic fundraising and backbreaking work, it is set to open its doors on 25th January 2025 for the first time in 9 years.  Chair of the Board, Simon Coombe tells us all about it.

We move on to The Bell Inn in Walcott street which was the very first community-owned pub in Bath. It is also home to the Bath Festival Fringe office. Steve Henwood and Wendy Mathews are heavily involved in both the Festival Fringe and The Bell Inn and talk about what it means to them.

Finally we visit The Packhorse in South Stoke. Perched on the side of a steep hill overlooking the beautiful Midford Valley, The Packhorse has been the centre of South Stoke life since the start of the 17th century. Managing Director, Dom Moorhouse shows us around.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Save the Hop Pole Inn - www.limpleystokecbs.org

The Bell Inn - www.thebellinnbath.co.uk

Bath Fringe Festival - www.bathfringe.co.uk

The Packhorse - www.packhorsebath.co.uk

Plunkett Foundation - www.plunkett.co.uk

Plunkett UK Impact Report 2024 - www.plunkett.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Impact-Report-2024.pdf

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk