Ickleton Lionhearted community group: How we’ll make the Lion pub roar once more
Introducing a new monthly column from Ickleton Lionhearted - the community group bringing the Ickleton Lion pub back to life. In this first piece, chair Rachel Radford brings us up to speed with the story so far.
In July 2023, the Ickleton Lion served last orders and closed its doors.
Once home to an incredible seven pubs, the grade II-listed Lion was Ickleton’s last remaining pub. The pub sits on the main street through the village and has, throughout history, been a watering hole for people from many walks of life. In World War II it was a hangout for British and US airmen based at RAF Duxford, including – it’s rumoured – RAF flying ace Douglas Bader.
In recent times, it served as a cosy meeting place for residents, an intellectual retreat for scientists at the world-renowned Wellcome Sanger Institute and a thirst-quencher for cyclists on Route 11.
The village archives trace the pub as far back as 1728. Over the 300 years that followed, it was owned and run by many different people including the aunt and uncle of Tottenham Hotspur founder John Ripsher. But now, in 2024, the pub will hopefully soon have new owners: 416 of them, in fact.
A group of residents with a passion to save the pub came together and, in April this year, created a Community Benefit Society with the aim of raising an ambitious £450,000 to buy the Lion and reopen it as a community pub.
Our hope was to secure up to half the money through a government-backed grant. But within a few weeks, the surprise election announcement scuppered that opportunity and sent us back to square one. Success would now hinge on appealing to residents, friends and pub-goers across the region to share our vision and invest. We knew that raising so much in such a short time would be a tough ask.
It's been a whirlwind few months – from formally launching our share offer in July to having our offer on the Lion accepted by Greene King at the start of October!
We’ve been blown away by the generosity of the hundreds of people who bought shares, donated money, attended our village fundraising events, delivered flyers and much more. Thanks to coverage of our campaign across Cambridgeshire and even on national BBC news, we have owners from all over the country and as far away as Wisconsin, Toronto and the Caribbean.
In 10 weeks this summer, that support raised £441,300 and brought us within touching distance of our original target. In addition, we were able to secure grants totaling £52,300 from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, a £5,000 interest free loan from Ickleton Parish Council and a £500 donation from The Communications Union. We are very grateful for their support and that of our Councilor, MP, Plunkett UK and other great advisors.
Now, we’re faced with reality! We may soon own a pub. What next? A lot of hard work….
Last year’s winter months have taken a toll on the grade II-listed building and the once-beautiful south-facing pub garden is sad and overgrown. We know it’s going to be a long road to restore the pub to its former glory, and to realise our vision of a cosy and inclusive family pub offering affordable food and drink. But we’re in it for the long haul!
Over the coming months, we’ll be taking you with us on our journey to restore the Lion to its former glory. The bar might be dry now, but the community spirit is overflowing and it’ll take all of it to get us to opening night.
