Village makes final push to buy its last pub

Ickleton Lionhearted is trying to raise the funds to buy the Lion and open it as a community-owned pub

A final cry for help has been made by villages hoping to raise £450,000 to save their last remaining pub.

The Ickleton Lion, Cambridgeshire, opened as a pub in 1728 but has closed and was put up for sale by Suffolk brewing giant Greene King in 2023.

Three quarters of the sum has been raised by about 270 shareholders hoping to buy the Lion as a community-owned pub protected from potential redevelopment.

Share offers close on Saturday and Greene King has been prevented from selling to anyone other than to a community interest group before 24 September.

In World War Two the pub, in the village near Duxford, was popular among US airmen and reputedly played host to RAF flying ace Douglas Bader, and in recent years it has served scientists from the Wellcome Genome Campus and cyclists along Route 11.

Community group Ickleton Lionhearted created a community benefit society to provide an affordable way to support the pub.

It said every member "irrespective of their shareholding" would have an equal say in the running of the pub.

"At one time we had six [pubs] in the village and one just outside. Gradually they disappeared and The Lion is the last one," said Rachel Radford, chairwoman of Lionhearted group.

"We are on our way financially but we've only got a few days left until our share offer ends and we still need to raise just over £70,000.

"Ideally we'd like another £120,000, but that's quite a lot in a very short period of time... but people are being incredibly generous."

She added they were "optimistic" after a flurry of investments including some from France and the US.

A £45,000 grant was also awarded by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority in partnership with Plunkett UK.

'So close'

Ickleton Lionhearted hoped to successfully purchase the site from Greene King and transform it into a free house, multi-functional community hub and pub.

It aimed to put an offer to Greene King, which does not have to accept, before 24 September, when offers from other would-be buyers can be made.

If successful, they hope to include a cafe, space for workers and a repair shop and they want to host community events to make it "a place where people can just drop in and have a chat".

Ms Radford added: "We’re so close but without a last-minute surge of support, we’re worried we’ll fall short of the target and the pub will be at risk of redevelopment."