Pub firm’s rethink revives village hub hopes

People in the Peak District village of Bamford had decided to raise the money to buy the Angler’s Rest after seeing the pub go through a succession of 10 landlords in as many years.

They entered into an agreement in principle with pub company Admiral Taverns to buy the inn, and drew up plans to turn it into a traditional pub along with a post office, a cafe and bunkhouse accommodation.

In order to make the purchase possible, the Bamford Community Society (BCS) registered the Angler’s Rest as an Asset of Community value, agreed a price with Admiral Taverns and set about raising the money through a community share scheme.

It was then announced last month that Admiral Taverns had decided to sell not to the BCS, but to a third party developer.

However, after the public outcry that ensued, the company has now gone back on that decision, and will instead sell the Angler’s Rest to the people of Bamford.

Admiral Taverns’ managing director Kevin George said: “I am pleased to confirm that Admiral Taverns has reached an agreement with the purchaser of the Angler’s Rest to rescind the sale, enabling the residents of Bamford to purchase the pub.

“The pub will now be available for the local community to proceed with a purchase under the original terms, through the BCS.

“While the original purchaser was entirely committed to maintaining the pub as a pub, with the potential of incorporating additional community services, such as a post office, both they and Admiral Taverns recognise the strength of feeling expressed by the residents of Bamford regarding the Angler’s Rest.

“It is clear that the local community feels passionately about taking ownership of the pub themselves.

“Consequently, in the days since the original sale was agreed at the end of August, and in the wake of considerable campaigning by the BCS, we have worked to rescind the sale agreement.”

Mark Bawden, member of the BCS, said: “The people of Bamford have worked for 18 months to secure the future of the pub and also to prevent the post office from closing, by housing it in the Angler’s Rest.

“The only issue we have now is that fund-raising has been suspended for the three weeks since Admiral exchanged contracts with a third party.

“Although we have raised enough money to buy the pub and do the immediate work required, we are relying on a loan to make up the balance.

“At the moment we have £184,000 in shares, but the full cost is £320,000, so we would urge people who believe in what we are doing to put their hands in their pockets and buy a share.”

Those who wish to buy a share in the Angler’s Rest can find out more on the BCS website, at www.bcs.hopevalleyderbyshire.co.uk.

The minimum investment through the share scheme is £250.

Mr George said that he wished the residents the “very best” in their purchase of the pub.

He added: “We strongly believe we have always acted reasonably and with the highest integrity.

“Our motivation in all our dealings with the Angler’s Rest was to secure the future of the pub.

“As we became aware of how important this situation was to the BCS and local community, we sought to address it to everyone’s satisfaction.

“Nevertheless, if anyone has misinterpreted our intentions or if our actions have caused upset, we would like to apologise.”

He added: “We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone connected to the pub, to the BCS and the residents of Bamford, the very best with this project – now and in the future.”