The memory of ‘Auntie’ Mabel Mudge is inspiring a battle to save the Drewe Arms for community ownership (Picture: The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Mick Smallcombe)

The legend of a publican said to hold the record as Britain’s longest-serving landlord has been invoked in a campaign to save the village pub where she pulled pints for 75 years.  

Humble ‘Auntie’ Mabel Mudge navigated black-outs, recessions, World War Two and personal tragedies at the ‘exceptional’ Drewe Arms in Devon.  

The teetotaller’s legacy now stands to be continued by locals rallying behind a campaign to save the rural pub on the fringes of Dartmoor.  

The Drewe Arms’ future was thrown into doubt when it shut in 2022 following a trading history dating back to at least 1756.

Community ownership is now being sought by the locals, who have drawn up a business plan to give it a ‘multi-faceted’ lease of life. 

As well as resuming bar service, they want to establish a cafe, social hub and community kitchen with a ‘meals on wheels’ service at the Grade II-listed building in Drewsteignton village square.  

Locals have rallied round an effort to give the Drewe Arms a new lease of life (Picture: The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Mick Smallcombe)

The appeal has so far raised more than £457,000 out of a £600,000 target via a Crowdfunder page, which has the target date of October 29.  

Imogen Clements, a member of the appeal’s steering committee, said: ‘There’s a huge amount of stories connected to the Drewe Arms and the locals all have a real emotional bond with the place.  

‘Up to now the pub has been passed from brewery to pubco to pubco with landlords often being driven into the ground but now, for the first time in living memory, the freehold has come up for sale.

‘So the community has the chance to buy the pub, make it viable by reinvesting all the profits back into it and protecting it as a unique local heritage asset.  

‘Before we launched the appeal we checked the pulse locally and found there was massive support out there to save the Drewe. 

‘The idea is that it won’t just be a watering hole but will be a multi-faceted venue holding events with the garden, the terrace and an ancillary building known as the long room hosting events.

‘It’s got a dining area, fireplaces and a lovely, quirky bar with a serving hatch, taproom and all the character of an historic pub as well as fantastic potential to make it a commercial success.’ 

Mabel Mudge is thought to still hold the record as the country’s longest-running landlord (Picture: via The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Facebook)

A community benefit society will manage the Drewe if the appeal succeeds, taking it away from what the fundraisers describe as an ‘onerous’ pubco model. A reprieve will also continue the legacy of Mabel and her husband Ernest, who took on the then Druid Arms in 1919.

The long-serving publican is said to have kept up the pub’s trading hours even after Ernest’s sudden death aged in his 50s.

She retired at the age of 99 after which the villagers ran the pub for nearly a year under an agreement with the then owners, Whitbread.

Enjoying a glass at the Crowdfunder launch party are Elaine Chudley (left), David Young and Sarah Hooper (Picture: The Drewe Arms/Mick Smallcombe)

The community effort is aimed at restoring the Drewe Arms to its place in village life (Picture: The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Mick Smallcombe)

Known affectionately as ‘Auntie Mabel’, she once told how she ‘only ever had a drop of lemonade’. She added: ‘I can’t say I ever smoked much either: course, in my young days the girls didn’t have much smokes anyway.’

Housed on a site dating back to 1646, the Drewe is considered a ‘legend in the annals of historic rural pubs’ by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).  

The group also describes the interior, which has been described by visitors as having a ‘timewarp’ feel, as being of ‘exceptional historic importance’.  

A new ownership model would see local people have a stake in the management of the Drewe Arms (Picture: via The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Facebook)

The Drewe Arms has been the focal point for many milestones including this celebration of the millennium (Picture: John Shiell)

Mabel, whose hallmarks in the pub include pictures of her on the wall and ‘Mabel’s Room’ on the ground floor, died aged 101. CAMRA has also said she was England’s oldest licensee at the time she retired from the Drewe, which has been put on the market by the Stonegate Group. 

A spokesperson for the UK’s largest pub company said: ‘The Drewe Arms, Devon, is currently on the market for sale. Should the community wish to put an offer in we look forward to receiving it in due course.’

Imogen believes one of the village’s most familiar faces over the years would approve of the effort to keep the pumps flowing.  

‘Mabel would have fully supported the campaign,’ she said. ‘She was the pub’s matriarch and although she died some time ago, she remains a record breaker as the UK’s longest serving landlady. 

‘Pubs like this are so much more than buildings, they are almost brought to life by the people who they are named after or who ran them, and the story of Mabel and the Drewe Arms is interwoven.

Mabel Mudge pours one of many pints during her long tenure as landlord of the Drew Arms (Picture: via The Drewe Arms Community Pub/Facebook)

‘Everyone has fond memories of her and her stoicism, keeping the pub open through thick and thin: the 20s, 30s, World War Two and even the death of her five-month-old baby and sudden death of her husband.

‘Mabel ensured that throughout the last century this pub remained a constant reassuring and welcoming presence for the community. 

‘We are doing this as much for her as for all those for whom the Drewe has been a second home. We’ll be raising a glass to everyone who helped us save this special pub and of course to the Drewe’s best known licensee, Mabel Mudge, if we succeed.’   

To support the appeal visit the Crowdfunder page here. 

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The legend of ‘Auntie’ Mabel Mudge is inspiring a community effort to save the historic Drewe Arms.