Wildlife Trust buys pub to promote nature
At a glance
A wildlife charity has bought a pub in The Broads with the aim of attracting more people to nature
The Norfolk Wildlife Trust hopes the purchase of the Pleasure Boat Inn at Hickling Broad will "introduce nature in a different way"
It is looking to hire an experienced pub manager to run the inn and plans to reopen it in 2024
It has been closed for about three years
- Published
A wildlife charity has bought an empty pub to try to help more people connect with nature in The Broads national park.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust paid “the market rate” for the Pleasure Boat Inn in Hickling, which has been closed for about three years.
It hoped the purchase would attract people who “might not normally go to a nature reserve” to get connected with the outdoors.
The charity plans to hire experienced pub managers to run the inn and extensive refurbishment will be carried out before it opens in 2024.
King Charles III had stayed in the pub as a child during a visit to the Broads with his father.
The trust's chief executive Eliot Lyne said the charity had toyed with the idea of buying the pub for a while.
He described the Pleasure Boat as the "missing link" since the trust already owned Hickling Broad.
Mr Lyne said: "We know that nature is really struggling and if people really value nature, they will want to do something about it.
"So what better way than to introduce people to the wonderful place that we’ve got at Hickling by coming here to have some food or a drink to get used to the nature here and to experience it?"
The trust is looking for a business partner with the same vision and values to run the pub on its behalf.
Plans are being made to arrange boat trips from the pub to other parts of Hickling Broad.
Eliot Lyne said the charity had a range of investments to enable it to carry out its conservation work and said the pub fitted in with its “charitable purpose”.
He added that he believed the trust was the first nature charity to invest in a pub.
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