Delight as community's offer for pub is accepted

Following a hard-fought fundraising campaign which was backed by a number of famous faces, the steering committee for the buyout of The Fishers Arms in Horncliffe has announced that its £180,000 offer has been accepted by the owner.

They are hoping to open as soon as possible, but the appeal is still running as another £95,000 is ideally required to carry out repairs and refurbishments.

More than £210,000 has been raised since the campaign launched on January 16.

Events have also been organised to help the total, the next one being the ‘Grand Share Launch’ where pledges will be converted into actual shares, as soon as the official community bank account is up and running.

Robson Green, Hairy Biker Si King, Kevin Whately and members of the band Lindisfarne all recorded video messages in support of the Horncliffe community.

A spokeswoman for the campaign’s steering committee said: “We cannot wait for our darling pub to be open for business once again.

“We intend the pub to be not only owned by the community, but to be at the very heart of the village and accommodate locals and visitors alike.

“We aim to embrace our salmon fishing heritage within the design (a local crafter Nicola Coulter of ‘The Hare in Winter’ has designed a Horncliffe Tartan for The Fishers) as well as new technologies for the future to minimise our carbon footprint.

“Our aim is to create a traditional, warm welcoming meeting place as well as creating an efficient long-term business for generations to come.

“For more details, go to www.fishersarmshorncliffe.org and we also have an online Gofundme page – https://gofund.me/bd69e0de – for people to support us without having to buy a share.”

There has been a pub in the village of Horncliffe since 1760.

The Fishers Arms was once owned by Stuart Brown’s family. Mr Brown went on to become editor of The Scotsman newspaper and wrote fondly of the pub and the village.

In his message earlier this year, Robson Green said: “The Fishers Arms is a wonderful pub. I’ve been there many times.

“If you are successful, it will be a fantastic place for anglers from all over Britain, if not the world, to have a bit of R&R after a great day or week’s fishing.”

Si King said: “If you can help in any way, we would be very grateful because a local pub is a great asset to a community, a place where people can meet.”

The message from Steve Daggett and Rod Clements of Lindisfarne included the following: “We wish you all the best in your efforts to secure funding to re-open The Fishers Arms as a community pub.”

Kevin Whately said: “The intention of the local community is not to just have a boozer at The Fishers Arms, but to have a music venue, a coffee shop, a village hall and a storm shelter because often they lose power in the winter and they can have their own generator.”