Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Delight after butcher’s move to save village pub
AVILLAGE pub locals feared could be bulldozed for housing has been saved after the local butcher stepped in to keep it open.
Mark Pearce has taken over the lease of the Village Inn, Sedbury, which opened yesterday.
Residents feared the worst when the previous landlady, Olivia Bushell, put a message on social media to say she was leaving due to ill health and the new owners wanted to sell up.
Some were worried that the pub would be bulldozed leaving a large plot for housing and this would mean them being forced to walk into Wales to get a drink.
But now Mark Pearce, who has a butcher’s shop on the opposite side of the road, has taken over the lease with Shaun and Amanda Barnsley who own the Miller’s Arms.
The Village Inn sits on the English border at Chepstow and the Millers is a few miles into Wales at Mathern.
Originally Shaun and Mark planned to re-open last weekend but they struggled to meet the deadline.
Villagers appear pleased with the move to save the pub on the English side of the border.
Speculation over the future of the pub started when Olivia wrote on the pub’s Facebook page that she wanted to thank all the people who used the pub because it was closing.
She wrote: “It saddens me to say, that on Saturday 8th October at shut tap, I will be closing the doors on the Village Inn.
“As a lot of you know I have been very ill with a long road to recovery ahead still, this matched with in the near future the owners would like to
the property so the decision was made between us.”
Many villagers feared that was the end of the pub until Mark posted: “We have great pleasure in announcing that myself and Shaun have taken over the lease of this fabulous village pub. Shaun and Amanda are bringing a lot of experience of the pub trade after running many very successful pubs in the past and are the present owners of The Millers Arms, Mathern.
“Myself and Vickie run the local butchers opposite the pub and have loved being in the village. We believe every good village needs a great local pub so we thought why not buy it.”
Mark believes the pub in Sedbury can be a success as there has been a lot of housebuilding in the area. He said they are eventually hoping to set up a small secure area in the car park for around four camper vans. There’s also talk of a B&B and a bunkhouse to cater for the cyclists and walkers flocking to the area.
“I’ve been in the pub trade for more than 25 years and Amanda five,” said Shaun. “We have a very good reputation on the other side of the water and I think people here know that. We hope to do the same here.”