Pub to reopen after being bought by villagers

A village pub is set to reopen after hundreds of people in the community clubbed together to help buy it.

The Samson Inn at Gilsland, on the Cumbria-Northumberland border, closed in October 2022, leaving the area with just one bar.

The asking price was £295,000 and, after raising about half from 466 shares, the group secured the venue's future this summer with the help of a government grant of £215,000.

A tenant, George Campbell, has been appointed to run it, with the relaunch taking place next Saturday.

The 45-year-old, who is originally from Annan, in Scotland, has run pubs across Britain over the last decade.

"It is the sort of pub I like running - being part of a small community and I can do lots of different events, getting everyone involved," he said.

"You can see the community is very passionate about the pub. You can see that in the number of people that bought shares in it."

Steve Rozario, vice-chairman of the Save Our Samson campaign, said it was "amazing" to have hundreds of shareholders from the community.

"They've all invested in the future of the village, to preserve the future of our pub for us.

"And there's been tremendous effort from everybody in the village - volunteers who turned out to clean and paint and do all sorts of stuff - so it's been a really good project for bringing everyone together."

The new-look Samson will provide food and accommodation with the hope of attracting some of the thousands of people who visit the nearby Hadrian’s Wall trail each year.

Clare Hawkins, who owns Dacre House guest house in the village, also welcomed the development.

She said: "It puts extra beds in Gilsland and puts it in a viable position for all of the walkers we get.

"It also helps us out because we can go back to being a bed and breakfast and don't have to do evening meals, so our workload decreases."

According to the Campaign For Real Ale (Camra), there are now more than 150 community-owned pubs across the UK.

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