NORFOLK NIPS | Locks Inn Community Pub, Geldeston
Locks Inn Community Pub, Geldeston The hospitality industry has been rocked to its core with the pub trade being one of the hardest hit. So when you hear of a success story involving a community bought and run pub, it warms your heart and gives us all hope for the future! The Locks Inn at Geldeston went up for sale by auction in September 2020 after the lease held by Grain Brewery came to an end. In stepped Graham Elliott and a new management committee who, with help and guidance from the Plunkett Foundation, purchased the pub to run as a community enterprise. They have been blown away by the response to their efforts to bring this iconic pub into community ownership and have successfully secured the long term future of this pub. Graham hopes to create a social, community and cultural hub for the entire Waveney Valley and beyond. Much of the needed purchase and refurbishment costs have been generated by donations and by inviting shareholders to invest in the project. To date over 1,400 shareholders have invested in the Locks Inn and are happily involved in this success story. All of these logistic feats organised, put into action and completed while in lockdown! Graham said ‘This is a place to meet friends and to make friends. For many people this project has been the light at the end of a very long tunnel. Some people said this was not the time to be buying a pub, but I think this is precisely the time for a community to do so.
The team at the Plunkett Foundation has been amazing. They have provided us with so much support and encouragement. They weren’t just providing advice, they were willing us to succeed! So a big thank you to the whole Plunkett team for your help, especially Alan Collard.’ There is still a fair amount of work to be completed, this was always going to be more of a marathon than a sprint, and the management team wouldn’t be happy with quick fixes! The kitchen is still a work in progress with outside catering food stalls operating in the garden for another few weeks. Jodie, who’s leading the returning management team, opened the garden to the public on 13 May and invited people inside the Locks Inn on 17 May. Come and enjoy a pint of well kept ale at this lovely 300 year old pub by the Waveney River. Don’t forget to give a grateful nod, pint in hand, to the local community for saving the Locks Inn! The Locks Inn is open daily from 11am to 7pm with hours extending as lockdown regulations ease. Q Photos: © Simon Buck/www.simonbuck.com
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