Ribble Valley villagers hoping to buy local pub and create a community hub

Community efforts are ongoing to buy the Bayley Arms, Hurst Green. Pic: Blog Preston.

A community-led campaign is seeking to safeguard the future of a pub at the heart of a Ribble Valley village.

The Bayley Arms, Hurst Green, has been closed for the past 12 months after the previous tenants left the business, which is owned by Star Pubs. The once thriving establishment has struggled in recent years and seen a series of landlords come and go.

Now, however, local residents are seeking to raise in the region of £600,000 to buy the Bayley Arms and, if successful, they hope to make it the centre of the village once again.

Hurst Green resident Barry Wood, who is part of the committee bidding to buy the Bayley, said it had been listed as an asset of community value which meant they had six months in which to make a bid. And this deadline is looming large on 22 May.

Barry said: “If we are successful then we would rent the restaurant side of the business out to someone with expertise in that area and we would look after the letting rooms and wet-led trade.

“We would also look to open a community shop in the pub, as we don’t have one in the village, and we are thinking of putting a community library in there as well. The thinking is that people could come in and do some work and grab a coffee at the same time.”

Barry said the committee is setting up a share scheme in which people can buy shares ranging from £250 to £20,000. They have had the property valued at £500,000 and would then pump another £100,000 into updating the building.

Up until 1978 the Bayley Arms was owned by Stonyhurst College and has acted, over time, as a hub for Hurst Green Football Club and the clubhouse for Stonyhurst Golf Club, amongst other things.

Hurst Green is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts and is home to the Tolkien Trail walking loop, not to mention several popular wedding venues in the form of the Shireburn Arms and Hobbit Hill, which bring people into the village on a regular basis, often needing accommodation.

If you are interested in finding out more about this community project email bayleyarmscommunitypub@hotmail.com

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