£485 and counting for pub’s first pint indoors

THE most expensive pint in the UK is going to be poured near Bath on Monday, May 17. The Packhorse, a 15th-century tavern in South Stoke, is auctioning off its first poured pint inside after the coronavirus lockdown and it has already reached a seemingly recordbreaking high number.

Across the West punters are desperate to get back inside and enjoy a pint at their favourite watering hole.

Many may have joked about how much they would pay for that first indoor pint – but at The Packhorse the privilige of enjoying the first pint is going to cost almost £500.

As we went to press last night bidding for that first drink had already reached £485.

100 per cent of the proceeds are going towards Dorothy House Hospice Care based in Bath, and The Mountain Way charity which helps former military personnel overcome PTSD.

The Packhorse is beloved of its local community, as a group 400 volunteers and investors fought to save it from development in 2012 and since then its gone from strength to strength reopening after a refurbishment in 2018.

Phill Legard, 58, who volunteers as the pub’s press officer, said: “We are pretty amazed that the number has got so high. We were impressed when it topped £200 but now this is incredible.

“We obviously want to get it as high as possible because it is for two great causes. We were just sat round thinking what could we do to get people involved in our reopening and struck open this one and clearly has some wings.”

Mr Legard explained that whoever places the top bid on eBay will get the choice of whichever drink they want but that the group would “love” it to be a pint and hope the person is local enough to attend in person.

He said: “We’d love it to be a local who supports us who gets the top bid as it would be great to have them there when we reopen at 12pm on Monday.

“We have really missed our customers and I think that they have really missed us too. This is a destination pub that means a lot to all of us.”

Mr Legard said the team have been “chomping at the bit” to reopen inside on Monday and that all the social-distancing measures have been set up ready to go.

The pub did open for outside trading on April 12 and hordes of people pitched up to enjoy a pint and a similar occurrence is expected this Monday.

Bidding at packhorsebath.co.uk on the pint stops just before the pub opens on Monday.

Pictures: Nick Smith/Camra/PA Wire > The inn, below, was saved from development in 2012 by locals, far right inset