Reopening of pub brings people together in village

The reopening of the Sole and Heel pub proved popular in Rackheath

A Norfolk community has celebrated its village pub reopening after two years of sitting empty.

The Sole and Heel pub in Rackheath, near Norwich, reopened on Saturday having been bought by businessman Marcus Pearcey in April.

About 200 homes have been built in the village in recent years, but a further 3,850 are proposed for land between Rackheath and Salhouse as part of Broadland District Council's plans to meet government housebuilding targets.

After a "big push" to reopen, Mr Pearcey's team "gutted" the venue to give it a fresh look and get the doors open again.

The Sole and Heel pub in Rackheath had been closed since August 2022

"There was a real energy for the pub to be reopening," said Mr Pearcey, who also owns businesses nearby including the Oaklands Hotel and Salhouse Farm Shop and Cafe.

"I love pubs and what was nice was that we had some people in from Rackheath who might have been a bit funny about all the new housing previously, but when they joined up and were in the beer garden they got talking.

"That was really nice to see those two groups together and that's what pubs do."

Mr Pearcey said more than 1,000 customers visited on Saturday.

The pub is not serving food yet, but Mr Pearcey intends to launch a Greek street food kitchen during the August bank holiday weekend, with plans to sell takeaway food from the pub too.

The Salhouse Road pub, built in the 1930s, closed in August 2022 following the death of its landlady, so Mr Pearcey was pleased to see some previous regulars returning.

He added: "We heard all sorts of stories - that they had met the wife at the pub or got engaged there.

"It's been mad, but it's been really nice."