The Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria.

Entire community co-operates for success

The story of the Old Crown and how it became a small beacon of hope for pub preservation dates from 1988. Jim and Liz Fearnley were former teachers who bought the pub and decided to add a brewery in outhouses at the back.

Ten exhausting years later, the Fearnleys decided to sell the pub and concentrate on brewing. Kim and Lyn Matthews took over the pub - but within a short time the future of both pub and brewery were in doubt.

Lyn Matthews died tragically and suddenly from cancer, and Kim decided to sell the pub and leave the area. The Fearnleys had also had enough and announced they wanted to sell the brewery.

Julian Davey, chairman of the co-op that now owns the brewery, says the villagers feared that Hesket Newmarket, which once had five pubs, would lose its last local. The first co-op was formed four years ago, with 57 people - some from as far away as Cambridgeshire and Norfolk - chipping in to become equal shareholders. The number has now grown to 58 and ideally they would like a further 15.

The pub co-op was set up in 2002 when Kim Matthews announced he was selling. As a result of media attention, Julian Ross, chairman of the pub co-op, says there was a huge response when he first announced the creation of the co-op. People from England, Scotland, North America and even South Africa who had visited the pub and fallen under its spell rushed to join, donating £1,500 each.

The co-op started with 35 members and needed 125. There was no problem in reaching that target, with many of the shareholders in the brewery also opting to join the pub co-op.

Julian Ross says the aim of the co-op is to maintain the pub, not to make money. The success of the business is down to the new tenants, Lou and Linda Hogg. They have a 21-year lease, which they can only sell back to the co-op if they decide to move on.

Both pub and brewery are flourishing. The beers are delivered direct to local outlets and taken further afield by the Flying Firkin wholesaler. Turnover at the pub has increased by 50 per cent since it re-opened as a co-op.

The Old Crown stages quiz nights, folk nights and tall story competitions. It's also home to the local darts and pool leagues, and doubles as the village library. Villagers chip in by cooking for the pub, supplying pies, cakes and even curries.

Audrey Heslop, a shareholder in both co-ops, makes soup for the Old Crown. Her support is both simple and heart-felt: "We won't get wealthy running the pub and the brewery. It's all about lifestyle. It's a Cumbrian pub serving Cumbrian beer and food."

(Extract from an article by Roger Protz)

For further information please visit the Old Crown's website at www.theoldcrownpub.co.uk