Another rural pub calls time

Closure of East Ilsley pub prompts fears among ale campaigners that it could be the first of many

SPARKING fears of a succession of pub closures another West Berkshire establishment has shut its doors.

The Crown and Horns in East Ilsley closed down over the Christmas period adding to the New Year gloom surrounding the closure of another once-thriving rural pub a short distance away, prompting concern by the West Berkshire Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) group that it will have a domino effect on other pubs.

The Newbury Weekly News recently reported that the Compton Swan, in High Street, Compton, shut on December 30, and while brewer Greene King said it was working hard to re-open that pub, the fate of the Punch Taverns-owned Crown and Horns is less clear amid a traditionally tough time of the year for landlords.

The chairman of West Berkshire CAMRA, Adrian Bean, said the fate of both pubs was “a real shame.”

“Just after Christmas is always a concerning time for landlords,” he said.

“This is the time of the year breweries put their prices up. January and February are lean months and you will see pubs going out of business more at this time of the year when landlords have just has enough.

“People go on detox programs, or they think, “Oh, I have spent a lot over Christmas” and decide they don't want to go out.”

He said he hoped a local person or business would come forward to take the Crown and Horns on and re-open it.

“It is sad to see, we would always want to see it stay as a pub and have someone come in and give it a go,” he said.

“If we lose it to housing it will be gone and we can't get it back.

He said he believed the Government should do more to protect rural pubs.

“Landlords are also at the mercy of ever changing laws,” he said.

“Despite this Government saying they wanted to stop all this red tape they keep bringing in new legislation. It is something different every week. Giving them a rate relief and doing rate reviews would help.”

A statement from Punch Taverns said: “The pub has closed briefly and our priority is to re-open it as soon as possible.”

The chairman of East Ilsley Parish Council, Gordon Allsop, was a former landlord of the Crown and Horns and he said he would be sad to see the pub vanish for good.

“It is a shame to see it close, and now we only have one pub (The Swan, in High Street, East Ilsley) serving two villages,” he said.

“Of all the Downland pubs which have shut briefly at one time or another the Crown was always fairly consistent, let's hope they can turn its fortunes around.”

CAMRA is also shortly to unveil a revamped website with an updated pub guide and a new gallery of pictures.

To launch the new website the branch will be holding an event in The Lock, Stock and Barrel pub in Northbrook Street on Tuesday, January 24.