The Red Lion pub finished within the Top 10 of the 64 that were nominated in the Eexter Express & Echo newspaper's Pub of the Year Competition! It is great to see that the Red Lion was placed 9th in the overall Competition. So congratulations go to the Red Lion for such a strong showing in the Competition, and our congratulations must also go to the overall winnning pub the Travellers Rest in Exeter.
Even more pleasing is the fact that the Red Lion was the highest placed pub in the Competition within the Sidmouth, Sidford & Sidbury area beating off strong local competition.
With the Red Lion pub coming in the Top 10 across the whole of the wide area covered by the readership of the Express & Echo it shows that there is great support out there for the pub. It also demonstrates that there are those in the local community who value the Red Lion & who want to see it retained in the heart of the village.
Congratulations to the Red Lion & all of its supporters for the very public vote of confidence in it!
Friday, 5 July 2013
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Pubs Minister encourages campaigners to save their local pubs
Yesterday the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG), which amongst other things has responsibility for community pubs, held a seminar in London for community groups who are interested in trying to save their local pubs for their communities - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/3.7.13ListYourLocalMeeting.pdf. As this issue is something that is very dear to The Pub In The Village's heart we went along to see what we could learn.
As there is quite a lot that we can report about this seminar we will post reports of it in bite size chunks over forthcoming days. We will however start by giving a flavour of what happened yesterday below.
Don Foster MP (below), the Minister for Community Pubs, looking very dapper in his black dinner suit, welcomed us all to the seminar & he proudly pointed out that the Department was fully supportive of campaigns to save their local pubs.
The Minister also said that the Department had enabled legislation to be passed that assisted campaigns, such as allowing pubs to be listed by local authorities as assets of community value. Additionally, Don Foster underlined the fact that the Department had made money avaialble as grants & loans for campaigns to access to support their successful purchase of their local pubs.
Tessa Blunden, from the campaign that saved The Ivy House pub in south London for its local community also spoke http://www.ivyhousenunhead.com/.
Tessa spoke passionately about the camapign that had been successfully run within the community in Nunhead, south London, to purchase the pub for the local community. They have done this through bidding for grants which covered the purchase price of over £800,000, as well as issuing shares to raise the additional capital investment that will now allow the pub to soon start trading.
We also heard a great success story from Lance Doughty about the Fleece Inn at Hillesey, in the Cotswolds http://www.thefleeceinnhillesley.com/ where a community campaign led to the pub being saved for its community. Additionally, Stephen Harrod, from the Bull Inn at Great Milton in Oxford spoke about the successful campaign to save the pub for that local community.
The seminar also gave the opportunity for representatives from various organisations that work with campaigns wanting to save their pubs to speak with campaigners. These organisations included -
Further detail about the seminar will be included in later postings.
As there is quite a lot that we can report about this seminar we will post reports of it in bite size chunks over forthcoming days. We will however start by giving a flavour of what happened yesterday below.
Don Foster MP (below), the Minister for Community Pubs, looking very dapper in his black dinner suit, welcomed us all to the seminar & he proudly pointed out that the Department was fully supportive of campaigns to save their local pubs.
 |
| Don Foster, Minister for Community Pubs |
Tessa Blunden, from the campaign that saved The Ivy House pub in south London for its local community also spoke http://www.ivyhousenunhead.com/.
 |
| Tessa Blunden, Ivy House pub, Nunhead, south London |
We also heard a great success story from Lance Doughty about the Fleece Inn at Hillesey, in the Cotswolds http://www.thefleeceinnhillesley.com/ where a community campaign led to the pub being saved for its community. Additionally, Stephen Harrod, from the Bull Inn at Great Milton in Oxford spoke about the successful campaign to save the pub for that local community.
The seminar also gave the opportunity for representatives from various organisations that work with campaigns wanting to save their pubs to speak with campaigners. These organisations included -
- Locality http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/.
- CAMRA http://camra.org.uk/
- Community Shares http://communityshares.org.uk/
- The Pub Is The Hub http://pubisthehub.org.uk/
 |
| Campaigners discussing their local options |
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Red Lion poised for good placing in Pub of the Year Competition!
As the Exeter Express & Echo's Pub of the Year Competition was drawing to a close at the end of last week it was gratifying to see that out of the 64 pubs that had been nominated the Red Lion was placed within the Top 10!
The Red Lion pub is one of the smallest pubs in the Competition & to have made it into the Top 10 of the Competition would be a great achievement for a small village like Sidbury. It also looked at the end of last week as if the Red Lion might be the highest placed pub in the Competion in the Sidmouth, Sidford & Sidbury area!
So our fingers are crossed for the result of the Competition which is announced on Thursday.
The Red Lion pub is one of the smallest pubs in the Competition & to have made it into the Top 10 of the Competition would be a great achievement for a small village like Sidbury. It also looked at the end of last week as if the Red Lion might be the highest placed pub in the Competion in the Sidmouth, Sidford & Sidbury area!
So our fingers are crossed for the result of the Competition which is announced on Thursday.
Thursday, 20 June 2013
I support the Campaign - join me! Poster now available
A new Save The Red Lion Campaign poster is now available at - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/ThePubInTheVillageJoinMePoster.doc,
Please download the poster & display prominently to raise awareness of the Campaign.
If any of your friends, family or neighbours want to become a Campaign Supporter & receive direct email information about the Campaign they can either send their details to our email address ThePubInTheVillage@gmail.com or download the form that they can complete & return at - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/ThePubInTheVillageCampaignGroupSupportersDetailsProforma2.doc,
This is what the poster says -
Please download the poster & display prominently to raise awareness of the Campaign.
If any of your friends, family or neighbours want to become a Campaign Supporter & receive direct email information about the Campaign they can either send their details to our email address ThePubInTheVillage@gmail.com or download the form that they can complete & return at - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/ThePubInTheVillageCampaignGroupSupportersDetailsProforma2.doc,
This is what the poster says -
I SUPPORT
Save The Red Lion Campaign
Join Me & Become
A Campaign Supporter TODAY!
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Vote NOW for Red Lion in Express & Echo Pub of the Year competition!
The Exeter Express & Echo newspaper is running its first Pub of the Year competition and the Red Lion has been nominated by some of the paper's readers which is great news! However, so have another 62 local pubs! It would be great publicity, not only for the pub, but also for Save The Red Lion Campaign, if the Red Lion was to win the competition. We have enough Campaign supporters to achieve this if we all vote NOW!
Unfortunately the Express & Echo have identified the Red Lion as being located in Sidford! But don't let that distract you it is really the Red Lion, Sidbury - honestly!
Supporters of their nominated pub are able to vote in the Pub of the Year competition in two ways. Firstly, you can vote for the Red Lion by voting on-line by following this link to the competition's page at the Express & Echo -
http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Vote-today-Echo-s-Pub-Year-competition/story-19261730-detail/story.html
Once you are into the Express & Echo's on-line page headed "Vote today in the Pub of the Year competition" you need to scroll down past the story about the competition, past the list of pubs which have been nominated & past the various comments left by readers, until you reach the foot of the page. Here you need to vote in the box headed "Add your comments". Please insert "No. 63 Red Lion, Sidbury". You have then voted on-line for the Red Lion!
Alternatively, if you go to the Express & Echo's website & type in "Echo Pub of the Year" into the search facility it will take you directly to the relevant page to allow you to vote.
Secondly, please purchase the Express & Echo, published each Thursday. Fill in the voting coupon in the paper by identifying your Pub of the Year competition choice to be " No 63 Red Lion, Sidbury". Having completed the coupon you need to return it to the newspaper at the address on the coupon.
You can vote both on-line & by completing & returning the coupon. Your on-line & coupon entries need to be received by midday on 1 July.
Please take the time to vote both on-line & by coupon. It would be a wonderful vote of confidence in the Red Lion if it won & it would show its owners Punch Taverns, that local people care about the pub. It would also show any potential buyer(s) who might be thinking about taking on the pub that there is local support for it.
The winning pub will have an in depth article written about it in the Express & Echo. That really would be great publicity for the Red Lion. It would also allow the Camapign to showcase the local support that there is for the Red Lion.
Please vote today for the Red Lion, both on-line & by coupon. Ask your friends & family to also vote for the Red Lion. As the old adage goes - vote early, vote often! Vote to support the Red Lion!
Unfortunately the Express & Echo have identified the Red Lion as being located in Sidford! But don't let that distract you it is really the Red Lion, Sidbury - honestly!
Supporters of their nominated pub are able to vote in the Pub of the Year competition in two ways. Firstly, you can vote for the Red Lion by voting on-line by following this link to the competition's page at the Express & Echo -
http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Vote-today-Echo-s-Pub-Year-competition/story-19261730-detail/story.html
Once you are into the Express & Echo's on-line page headed "Vote today in the Pub of the Year competition" you need to scroll down past the story about the competition, past the list of pubs which have been nominated & past the various comments left by readers, until you reach the foot of the page. Here you need to vote in the box headed "Add your comments". Please insert "No. 63 Red Lion, Sidbury". You have then voted on-line for the Red Lion!
Alternatively, if you go to the Express & Echo's website & type in "Echo Pub of the Year" into the search facility it will take you directly to the relevant page to allow you to vote.
Secondly, please purchase the Express & Echo, published each Thursday. Fill in the voting coupon in the paper by identifying your Pub of the Year competition choice to be " No 63 Red Lion, Sidbury". Having completed the coupon you need to return it to the newspaper at the address on the coupon.
You can vote both on-line & by completing & returning the coupon. Your on-line & coupon entries need to be received by midday on 1 July.
Please take the time to vote both on-line & by coupon. It would be a wonderful vote of confidence in the Red Lion if it won & it would show its owners Punch Taverns, that local people care about the pub. It would also show any potential buyer(s) who might be thinking about taking on the pub that there is local support for it.
The winning pub will have an in depth article written about it in the Express & Echo. That really would be great publicity for the Red Lion. It would also allow the Camapign to showcase the local support that there is for the Red Lion.
Please vote today for the Red Lion, both on-line & by coupon. Ask your friends & family to also vote for the Red Lion. As the old adage goes - vote early, vote often! Vote to support the Red Lion!
Saturday, 15 June 2013
Cycle track can give Red Lion a lifeline
An excellent letter in the latest edition of the Sidmouth Herald (14 June) which on page 10 highlights the need for urgent action to be taken to create a cycle track/footpath between Sidbury & Sidford. Follow the link to the letter from Campaign Steering Group member Andy Webb (he of vintage bikes fame!) - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/14.6.13SidmouthHeraldLetter.pdf.
Andy argues that not only is the A373 from Sidbury to Sidford dangerous for perestrians and cyclists, and therefore much needed for safety reasons, but he also makes the case that a cycle track/footpath would benefit the trade at the Red Lion in Sidbury. It would allow cyclists and walkers to come into the village & its environs more readily.
Correctly, Andy's letter also makes the point about the problems of parking in the village. Elsewhere in the Herald on page 9 in an article "Sidbury speedsters subject for concern" the paper reports about local concerns about the high speed that many drivers go through the village at. This article's link is -http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/14.6.13SidmouthHeraldSpeedstersArticle.pdf
So, not only would a cycle track/footpath between Sidbury & Sidford make sense from a safety point of view, it would also make economic sense to the Red Lion & Drew's the butchers in the village. As Andy Webb says in his letter "..there seems to be a lot of promises but no action". More power to Andy's elbow!
Andy argues that not only is the A373 from Sidbury to Sidford dangerous for perestrians and cyclists, and therefore much needed for safety reasons, but he also makes the case that a cycle track/footpath would benefit the trade at the Red Lion in Sidbury. It would allow cyclists and walkers to come into the village & its environs more readily.
Correctly, Andy's letter also makes the point about the problems of parking in the village. Elsewhere in the Herald on page 9 in an article "Sidbury speedsters subject for concern" the paper reports about local concerns about the high speed that many drivers go through the village at. This article's link is -http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/14.6.13SidmouthHeraldSpeedstersArticle.pdf
So, not only would a cycle track/footpath between Sidbury & Sidford make sense from a safety point of view, it would also make economic sense to the Red Lion & Drew's the butchers in the village. As Andy Webb says in his letter "..there seems to be a lot of promises but no action". More power to Andy's elbow!
Friday, 14 June 2013
15 June - Sidbury Village Fete
Tomorrow, Saturday 15 June, sees the annual Sidbury village fete taking place in the village school grounds. The fete starts at 2.00pm, and get there early to beat the rush! The fete is an important event in the village calendar which raises much needed funds for the village church - St Giles- as well as the village school - Sidbury Primary. See the article in today's Sidmouth Herald which publicises the fete - http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/14.6.13SidmouthHeraldSidburyFeteArticle.pdf
The village fete is a fun packed afternoon for all. Make sure that you go with a few pence in your pocket to buy from a stall one of those things that you never thought, until tomorrow afternoon, that you wanted or needed. You can also try your luck and/or skill in picking out the winning pigs in the pig races. Save The Red Lion Campaign is proud to be a sponsor of one of these pig races.
Save The Red Lion Campaign also has a stall at the fete, for which we are grateful to the organisers for allowing. If you have not yet signed up to be a Campaign Supporter then tomorrow afternoon's the time & the place to do so! All your friends & family are welcome to sign up too!
Fingers crossed that the weather is kind to the fete & to our Campaign Supporters who will be running our stall. Have a flutter in our Campaign sponsored pig race! Enjoy your afternoon out.
The village fete is a fun packed afternoon for all. Make sure that you go with a few pence in your pocket to buy from a stall one of those things that you never thought, until tomorrow afternoon, that you wanted or needed. You can also try your luck and/or skill in picking out the winning pigs in the pig races. Save The Red Lion Campaign is proud to be a sponsor of one of these pig races.
Save The Red Lion Campaign also has a stall at the fete, for which we are grateful to the organisers for allowing. If you have not yet signed up to be a Campaign Supporter then tomorrow afternoon's the time & the place to do so! All your friends & family are welcome to sign up too!
Fingers crossed that the weather is kind to the fete & to our Campaign Supporters who will be running our stall. Have a flutter in our Campaign sponsored pig race! Enjoy your afternoon out.
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