Campaigners who fought to make a Suffolk pub their own are raising a glass in celebration today.
Dozens of volunteers rallied around to find more than £300,000 to buy the Duke of Marlborough in Somersham after it shut its doors to the public on Christmas Eve in 2014.
Their ambitious goal was eventually reached in October last year, allowing the group – called the Save the Duke committee – to buy the pub as a community.
Now the campaign has reached a new milestone, with keys to the pub being handed over to Save the Duke leaders James Batchelor-Wylam and Sarah Caston this week.
“We raised the money, we negotiated the purchase and now we have the keys,” said James of the campaign, which even won backing from Framlingham superstar Ed Sheeran.
“That’s a massive milestone. This really is a huge achievement, made possible by the fantastic people who invested in shares – 230 of them so far, and numbers still rising.
“It’s not only the shareholders we have to thank. It’s also the many organisations and individuals who have given us time, advice, grants and support in kind.
“Soon we’ll be celebrating with them – and offering the public recognition they deserve.
“In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get the pub open. The place has been closed for 26 months.
“The cellar needs re-fitting, the rooms need a lick of paint and the outside needs some TLC.”
The group will also need to find managers for the pub before re-opening it to the public.
Ms Caston kicked off the campaign two years ago by holding a crisis meeting over the future of the pub.
Delighted that the group now have the keys, she said the pub she fought so hard to save is “treasured” by the Somersham community.
She said: “The Duke had been offering hospitality for well over 500 years. We just wanted that to continue.
“It’s a beautiful, rural, historic inn, treasured by the community – and with potential to offer something special to people from further afield. It was clearly worth fighting for.”
Manager-chef duos interested in running the Duke should email marlboroughsomersham@gmail.com
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