Wiltshire village aiming to see pub reborn as community asset
Heddington's The Ivy Inn closed in May 2024 - but it could be close to opening its doors again thanks to the efforts of local people
A Wiltshire community is moving ever closer to reopening a village pub as a community asset.
In May 2024, The Ivy in Heddington closed it's doors, but locals are pushing to get them open once more, with fundraising efforts closing in on the £350,000 target.
Dr Paul Moyle-Harris is spearheading the drive to get the venue operating again, insisting the model with be about being sustainable going forwards, while providing several community groups with a space to work in.
"I think the only model that works the community pub, where it's owned by the community and works for the community," he said. "Yes, we still have to be commercially successful and we will have to employ professionals, but we won't have shareholders and bankers and so on to support, so it will be more sustainable going forwards."
He added that The Ivy is part of the fabric of the village, and would allow local groups, such as the Royal British Legion and Amateur Dramatics, a warm and welcome space for their meetings, warning that without such provision, these organisations "wither on the vine and gradually pass into history".
Before it's closure, many of the groups in the village had used the pub as a base for meetings.
Dr Moyle-Harris said the pub can bring a benefit to younger people.
"They've had it tough since Covid," he said. "We keep hearing about the fact that they struggle with social interaction, that they interact primarily on tablets and phones. We want to change that.
"We want to get generations mixing together and talking to each other rather than just exchanging messages."
He told us that a survey of young people in the village revealed that a board games evening would be a popular event.
"We need a little bit more to get over the line"
In September, it became possible people to buy shares to support the project, with almost £300,000 pledged so far. To buy the pub and insure it requires £350,000.
Paul said that locals have offered "in their droves" to volunteer support in various forms, with offers to cut the pubs garden grass and to clear the pub out once it is eventually purchased.
He said that support hasn't been limited just to the village, Wiltshire, or even British shores, with donations arriving from America, Japan, Australia and Germany.
"We've recently been contacted by the Patton Foundation in America, set up by General Patton's granddaughter because there is a very strong likelihood that General Patton stayed in the village in 1944 as part of the run up to D-Day.
"So they are very interested in supporting the legacy of where he once stayed. The farmhouse for where he stayed, the room that he stayed in has not changed since 1944 effectively, so there's a lot in the history of it."
The campaign has also had support from celebrity names, such as ex-F1 Grand Prix driver, David Coulthard and former Top Gear presenter, Tiff Needell, who've both shared the campaign on social media.
Paul said getting the pub open again would be "one of the best days of my life", saying he knows what The Ivy can be for the community.
Shares to help The Ivy reopen can be purchased here.