West Norfolk village pub in sale process, but not to the community

After almost two years of campaigning to keep their village pub open, residents in Northwold are celebrating news it has been sold.

Back in June 2017, the Save The Crown Inn campaign group was created after the pub was put up for sale, and, since then, villagers had been working towards the goal of purchasing it as a community asset.

But on Saturday, members of the steering group confirmed on the Save The Crown Inn website that, although the community has not bought the pub, it is now in the process of being sold to new owners.

Cliff Anderson, acting chairman of the steering group, said: “We don’t know whether contracts have been exchanged yet but they have made an offer which has presumably been accepted. That’s as much as we know.

“If the new owner is going to develop the pub and make it a success then we as a group have no problems with that.”

Mr Anderson said the group hopes to give a “positive welcome” to the new owner of The Crown Inn, which has been permanently closed since late 2018.

“We hope the pub is open on a regular basis and is developed to attract more and more people to it, not only from the village but from the local area as well,” he added.

Although the campaign group put in two years of “hard work” to purchase the pub for the community, Mr Anderson said: “If you get a pub that is what you want it to be then that’s a positive thing”.

He added: “The fact that we have been active for the last two years has raised the profile of the pub.

“The events like the pop-up pubs, which have been extremely well-attended, shows the owners that there is a need in the village for a pub and that a good proportion of the villagers, if the pop-up is anything to go by, are actively supporting it.”

At this stage, it is not known when The Crown Inn will open again, but at least one further pop-up pub event is planned.