'Saving pub cost £300k but no-one wants to run it'

The pub's new tenants quit after three months and there has only been one other applicant since

Villagers who "slogged" to raise more than £300,000 to buy their under-threat local pub say they are baffled that no-one wants to step in and run it.

The Fishers Arms in Horncliffe, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, shut in 2021 but reopened in December 2023 after a massive fundraising effort to make it a community asset.

After its first tenants quit within three months, only one couple has applied for the tenancy but then backed out.

Moira Kay, who is part of a team of volunteers who work 14-hour days to keep the venue open, said villagers desperately wanted a couple to "fall in love with our beloved pub" and take on a "viable business".

The campaign to save the Fishers Arms, which dates back to 1760, was backed by North East celebrities including Hairy Biker Si King and rock group Lindisfarne.

Ms Kay said: "We don't understand why no-one wants to run our darling pub.

"It's in a beautiful part of the world and is the heart and hub of our community.

"It's also a viable business with two beautiful rooms to rent out."

Since it reopened almost two years ago a team of volunteers, as well as paid staff, have kept the pub open seven-days a week

The pub, which is on the border between England and Scotland, closed in November 2021 and was made the subject of an Asset of Community Value (ACV) Order by Northumberland County Council, preventing the use of the building changing.

Horncliffe's 403 residents were desperate to save it after losing their post office and shop.

The village is not on the electricity grid and villagers said the pub had been a safe haven when the power went off during 2021's Storm Arwen.

Villagers Moira Kay and Louise Giddens said keeping the pub running was "relentless"

It cost £185,000 to buy the pub and villagers helped raise the money by selling shares for £500.

The pot was also boosted with grants, including from the National Lottery and the Berwick Community Trust.

It had taken 300 hours to complete one 75-page form in order to secure £65,000 from the government's community asset fund, Ms Kay said.

'Social fabric'

Hubert Gieschen, North East regional director of the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "It was amazing to see the locals of Horncliffe come together to save the Fishers Arms and take it on under community ownership.

"It just shows how important pubs are to our social fabric and wellbeing that people are willing to fight to see them saved from closure and conversion.

"Running a pub and keeping it afloat, community-owned or not, is tough in today's unforgiving economic climate."

Villagers said the pub had been the "hub and the heart" of community until it shut in 2021

Ms Kay said if a tenant could be found before winter, villagers would try to do a deal offering two months rent free.

"The tenant could run the pub as they please with a few community boundaries, which are letting musicians and clubs in and sticking to reasonable opening hours," she said.

"The Fishers is also free from all ties, so future tenants can support small local breweries and local suppliers and are not tied into one of the big pub-owning companies.

"We would love to welcome a couple to expand on our enthusiasm, while stamping their own identity on what would be their very own business."