Shock for Broad as his pub goes up in flames
STUART BROAD was woken shortly after 6am yesterday by the news that one of his pubs had been badly damaged by fire.
Broad, 35, received a WhatsApp message from Harry Gurney, his former team-mate with whom he co-owns the award-winning Tap and Run pub in Upper Broughton,
Nottinghamshire. It informed him that the blaze had destroyed the building’s first floor and roof.
The Mail On Sunday columnist spent the day in the field with England in the Trent Bridge Test and claimed two of the wickets as New Zealand were eventually dismissed for 553.
‘I feel exhausted,’ he said. ‘It’s been an emotional day but thankfully no one was hurt.
‘Harry was conscious about waking me on a match day, but equally knew I would want to know. I rang him back straight away. He told me that he’d received a call from one of the villagers at about half past three because they could see smoke.
‘He immediately looked on the pub’s CCTV and got down the road as quick as he could. The response of the fire brigade once he’d informed them was incredible.’
Broad’s mother, Carole, went to the scene in his absence, as he began the second morning of the second Test sharing the second new ball with Jimmy Anderson.
‘I had loads of well-wishers at ground, which I appreciated. Of course, my mind occasionally drifted throughout the day to what was happening, but bowling needs you to be in the zone.’
Because the fire burnt through the wooden beams of the roof, firefighters couldn’t enter the building and had to pump water from the outside instead.
A structural engineer will complete an inspection before an investigation into the cause of the fire takes place.
‘This will affect people’s livelihoods in that particular community but I don’t want staff to worry,’ Broad said. ‘And I want to thank the villagers for their wonderful support.’
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said a fire in the roof was still burning by mid-morning yesterday. In a tweet issued shortly before 4.30am, they confirmed eight fire engines had been dispatched to the incident in Main Road.
‘The time of call was 3.22 this morning. It’s a public house premises and we have had eight engines in attendance, one aerial ladder platform, water carrier, command support vehicle,’ it read.
‘It was a building of two floors, 15 metres by 30 metres, the area of the building. The fire was in the first floor and roof. They have used two main jets and then two hose reel jets.’
The fire service also warned members of the public to stay away. ‘We ask you to please avoid the area if possible and for local residents to keep their doors and windows closed if affected by the smoke.’
A statement on the pub’s website said the venue, halfway between Nottingham and Melton Mowbray, would not be trading ‘for the foreseeable future’.
The Tap and Run won a Pub of the Year award in 2021. It is one of two pubs co-owned by Broad and Gurney, who also played for England before retiring last year. The other is the Three Crowns in Wymeswold, Loughborough.