Many of you will have been following the story of this village pub – a few years back the pub company that owned it decided it wasn’t viable with their model and put the building on the market, potentially to be converted to flats or housing, leaving the village with nothing much else there.
With some help and advice from CAMRA, a group of locals got the pub listed as an Asset of Community Value and set up a Community Interest Company to buy the pub. It is now a community owned enterprise that includes a traditional local pub, cafe and post office plus it offers overnight accommodation upstairs.
Whilst under community ownership the Anglers has successfully provided the village with a good pub, post office and cafe; however in recent times it hasn’t been financially successful as a business so they are now changing their operating model. They have undertaken a successful fundraising campaign to keep the building’s lights on and rather than run the place themselves are leasing it out to a tenant to run as their own business that simply pays rent to the community interest company.
The new management of the Anglers Rest is Atlantik Inns, a local company headed by Rick Ellison. In April this year he celebrates 15 years at the Old Hall Hotel in Hope, he’s had the Peak Hotel in Castleton for 11 years, the Miltons Tap in Buxton for 6 years and the Anchor near Tideswell since 2016. More recently he has taken over the lease of the Farmyard in Youlgreave, near Bakewell. Rick has specialised in taking on leasehold pubs in the Peak District that are under threat of being closed and boarded up and working with the owners to turn them around into a successful business.
Rick considers the Anglers as being a bit different to his usual projects – community owned since 2013 having been saved by the very same people whose homes surround it, the pub is in fine fettle and ready for a new pub landlord to hit the ground running. The Anglers currently has modern solar panels, cafe, Post Office, community meeting room and a large car park that includes bicycle parking and an EV charging station. It is also recognised for its cask ale, being in the Good Beer Guide!
A refurbishment is planned to refresh the interior, introducing a modern restaurant area, games room including a pool table, brand new bar and a cosy feel.
The cellar has already been refurbished relatively recently but will be modernised in partnership with Heineken (who Atlantik Inns lease some of their other pubs from) who will be installing their smart dispense system and a Beer Tec Smart Cellar system that cuts usage of the air conditioning. Heineken will be supplying the keg beer with well known brands like Beavertown, Cruzcampo, Hawkstone and Guinness on tap along with Theakston Old Peculiar on cask.
The remaining handpumps will showcase Peak District breweries with two ales on from Intrepid Brewing based just down the road from the pub in Brough and also two ales from Eyam Brewery based in Great Hucklow. There will also be a changing guest ale.
Atlantik Inns take over the management of the pub from 24 February but will be closed for a few weeks for the refurbishment, opening mid March.
If you fancy visiting the Anglers, as well as having a car park Hulleys bus 257 from Sheffield to Bakewell goes past the front door Monday to Saturday daytime, alternatively it is about a 15 minute walk from Bamford railway station and the 272 bus stop.
