C O N T E X T 1 2 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 3 17 The heritage of of leisure The heritage The heritage of leisur ge of leisure The h The heritage of leisure of leisure The h heritage closed heritage pubs. Several have recently reopened in the sympathetic hands of small breweries – for instance the Albion Conwy (a consortium of NorthWales brewers); the Crystal Fountain, Cannock (Black Country Ales); and the Garden Gate, Leeds (Leeds Brewery). We also encourage pub owners to capitalise on their Inventory status, given the degree of public interest in our architectural heritage. However, the challenges which face many heritage pubs are real and various. Those seeking to close or redevelop particular pubs will usually claim that they are no longer commercially viable. A high proportion of heritage pubs are small by modern standards and it can not be denied that small pubs, especially in rural areas, can struggle to make ends meet. Does this mean inevitable extinction for those tiny, simple pubs which were once so very common? Not necessarily. The Drewe Arms, Drewesteignton, Devon was kept for 75 years by Mabel Mudge who, when she retired in 1994 aged 99, was England’s oldest licensee. The pub then comprised, essentially, one little room to the left of the entrance (another room behind the servery was occasionally used as an overspill area). Although this room oozed atmosphere, with its old benches and service to the bar through a stable-door arrangement, it could never on its own be a commercial proposition nowadays. The new owners have, though, retained it intact and unchanged. New drinking and eating areas have been created on the ground floor from rooms previously in domestic use, while guest accommodation is provided upstairs. None of these developments impinge on the historic core, so you really do get the best of both worlds. It is a similar tale at the Sun, Leintwardine, Herefordshire. Flossie Lane took over this small, simply appointed, village pub from her father in 1945 and ran it until her death in 2009. She made hardly any changes over the years and the Sun was generally regarded as the most unspoilt pub in the country. Fortunately, the new owners committed themselves to preserving the old layout with its simple furnishings, including the bar parlour which doubled as Flossie’s living room. A large extension at the back houses a new bar, making the pub large enough to generate the necessary business income. Like the Drewe, this is almost invisible from the original rooms, where the magic lives on. Other examples of sensitive enlargement can be found at the Cock, Broom, Bedfordshire; and Mary McBride’s Bar, Cushenden, Country Antrim. Location can be another problem for Inventory pubs. Their preservation can often, ironically, be attributed to a position in an unfashionable part of town where pub owners have considered investment less worthwhile. In some cases, those areas are now up and coming, but others have continued to stagnate or fallen into further decline. Some heritage pubs have been lost as a result because local custom has trickled away. Some owners, however, have shown that such trends can be thoroughly bucked. The Sun, Lientwardine, old bar (left) and parlour (below) (Photos: Michael Slaughter LRPS)
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