The Old Horn Community Pub Society, who re-opened the Old Horn Inn, in Spennithorne, North Yorkshire, have won CAMRA’s Pub Saving Award 2024.
The Old Horn Inn, Spennithorne
Runners-up were the Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society, who rescued the Chequers Inn, in Roxwell, Essex.
CAMRA has also revealed the Drewe Arms, in Drewsteignton, Devon, as the winner of the inaugural Heritage Award, and the Kings Head, in Bristol, as the Heritage Award runner-up.
The Pub Saving Award recognises people who have come together to save a pub that would have otherwise been demolished or converted to another use. It aims to secure publicity for pub-saving campaigns to encourage others to save their local.
The Old Horn Inn, which is more than 200 years old, closed suddenly in 2022, with a planning application submitted to convert it into housing. Villagers banded together to protect the pub from this fate, raising £180,000 to bring it into community ownership and undertaking a major volunteer-led refurbishment. It reopened to the public in May last year.
The Chequers Inn had been closed since January 2020 and under threat of being converted to housing. The campaign drew supporters from as far as Australia and the USA.
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The inaugural Heritage Award was open to all pubs on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. It recognises and celebrates heritage pubs that have been revitalised in some way.
The first winner is one of Devon’s oldest pubs, the Drewe Arms. When the grade II* listed pub closed in 2022, it was feared that it would be lost forever. The Drewsteignton Community Society formed and locals came together to re-open its doors once again in March 2024.
The runner-up is the Kings Head in Bristol, which was restored by Good Chemistry Brewery. Shut since the Covid pandemic, the mid-17th century building has been restored it to its former glory. The grade II listed pub boasts some of the oldest bar fittings in the the UK.
“When a pub closes, it is incredibly hard to open the doors again, with many losing the battle to conversion or demolition,” said Paul Ainsworth, CAMRA’s Pub Saving Award co-ordinator. “That is why these awards are so important. The hard work and dedication shown by these campaigns to save local pubs deserves recognition.
“They are all inspirational stories that will hopefully encourage more pub-saving campaigns, so future generations can enjoy the wonderful sense of community that only a pub can provide.”
He added: “2024 marked the one-year anniversary of the wanton destruction of the Crooked House pub in Himley, serving as a grim reminder that pubs in the wrong hands can sadly disappear. January is a tough time for pubs, so please make sure to support your local and seek out beautiful heritage pubs across the UK.”
