A few years ago, the Radnor Arms, an advertising of almost 200 years located in a town of Wales fell into ruins: the water oozed along the walls, the ivy won the broken windows and the skeletons of the rats covered the ground. Today, the establishment is reborn and laughter resonates again between its walls, thanks to the determination of some inhabitants who have managed to raise the necessary funds to save it.
Opened in the 1830s in New Radnor, a picturesque town in southern Wales, had closed in 2016, due to lack of profitability.
A destination shared by tens of thousands of pubs in the United Kingdom, under the effect of increasing operating costs and falling in alcohol consumption. After reaching a peak in the early 2000s with an average of almost 12 liters of pure alcohol consumed by adult, the decrease has been very sensitive for two decades. In 2023, 9.3 liters fell according to the British Association of Beer and Pub, a fall of more than 22%.
Result: More than a quarter of the 60,800 establishments identified in 2000 have put the key under the door for the last 25 years.
And the trend continues: 378 pubs, more than one per day, they should still close their doors this year, of the 45,000 still in activity at the end of 2024, according to the British Association of Beer and Pub (BBPA), its main union.
“People’s heart”
At one time, the 438 inhabitants of New Radnor could choose from six establishments to meet around a drink. The closure of Radnor Arms in 2016 had deprived them of their last meeting place.
“It was a place where anyone could enter. We have experienced births, deaths and weddings here,” said Sue Norton, a retiree who became president of the public safeguard collective.
To give her a second life, she and her group asked “community property funds,” a government program to buy the purchase of threatened pubs or businesses.
A collection of funds organized last year made it possible to collect 200,000 pounds (around 230,000 euros), a double sum thanks to the Government’s help program, complemented by another subsidy of 40,000 pounds.
With 440,000 pounds in their pocket, the villagers were able to buy, renew and reopen the announcement, asking the volunteers to work behind the bar.
“Place to share”
Among them, Eugene Marchenko, a 44 -year -old Ukrainian refugee, organized by an villager with his wife and son. This Dnipro lawyer, in eastern Ukraine, says that his new activity has allowed him to meet almost all the inhabitants of the village.
Created in 2021 under Boris Johnson, the community owned fund made it possible to save 55 pubs throughout the country, according to Plunkett UK, an association that supports commercial projects in rural areas.
But the program was closed in December by the Labor Government, which came to power in 2024, which invoked the financial difficulties “bequeathed” by the conservatives.
Although relieved to have been able to present their files on time, the inhabitants of New Radnor regret that others are not so lucky. Even if for the moment, they savor their victory. Because far from being a simple ad, Radnor Arms aims to accommodate a variety of activities, from the mornings for mothers and their babies to the assistance sessions with Alzheimer’s disease and those who accompany them.
Source: BFM TV
