The Rising Sun has reopened to the public in Woodcroft, Gloucestershire, after ten long years (Picture: SWNS)
Villagers are toasting the grand reopening of their local pub after raising £500,000 to stop developers turning it into flats.
Their tireless campaign to buy and save The Rising Sun, in Woodcroft, Gloucestershire, took 11 years.
Once the locals raised the cash, they began renovating the abandoned and shabby pub themselves.
At Saturday’s reopening, campaigner Michelle Hayes said the village was ‘absolutely thrilled’.
‘This is a testament, not only to the hard work of the committee and community who have come together to help with renovations,’ the GP said.
‘They had belief in this project and are supporting the pub, making it something really special now it is open as a vital community hub.’
Lynne Fletcher, who lived near the pub when it closed in October 2011, said: ‘We weren’t too worried when it shut because the estate agents said it was being sold as a pub.
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It was a group effort to get the pub ready for the reopening (Picture: SWNS)
A brand new entrance was built (Picture: SWNS)
The pub fell into disrepair in the ten years since it closed (Picture: SWNS)
Locals mucked in to renovate the pub (Picture: SWNS)
‘The first indication something was wrong was when a neighbour asked a workman how long before it would be before it reopened again. He told him: “It’ll never open as a pub again, mate.”’
Residents battled with planning applications and appeals, and the council declared The Rising Sun a community asset in 2013.
The developers who bought the pub eventually agreed to sell it last year to the ‘Save Our Sun’ group, who raised over £300,000 and secured a £175,000 grant from the Government.
Lynne added: ‘It’s been a long fight and to be honest there were times we probably would have given up without Michelle, but she doggedly stuck at it.
‘It’s the sort of village that people drive through. Now when people come up the hill, they see the pub all lit up and it looks cosy and inviting.’
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The village’s tireless campaign to buy and save the beloved local took 11 years.
