YP Comment: Community-run pub best in UK

Residents in Hudswell, North Yorkshire, are celebrating today as it is announced the George & Dragon has won CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year award. The inn closed in 2008, but within two years the community had pulled together to buy it back and carry out a major refurbishment.

Along with its quality real ales and beer terrace overlooking the Swale Valley, the hostelry is truly at the heart of village life as the home of the local library, a shop and community allotments.

The trend for community-run pubs is growing as people fight to save their locals – the way the George & Dragon has gone from closed doors to being selected as the country’s best pub in less than a decade is a shining example of how to make it work. Let’s raise a glass to the Yorkshire grit and determination that made it all possible.