Six vital months in the history of 450-year-old pub

THE next six months could be the most important in the 450-year-old history of the Raven Inn at Glazebury, Warrington.
This is the view of Peter Sturman, spokesman for residents campaigning to save the old pub.
He said: “This is not as ‘over the top’ as it might sound.
“This time next year the Raven could be operating as a community pub, or it could be there but unrecognisable, or it could be gone forever. Anything is still possible.”
The residents have secured the Raven as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), persuaded the developer to withdraw and seen the pub go on the open market.
But the ACV only gives them six months to move on to the next stage in safeguarding the Raven for future generations – raising enough money to buy the building.
Mr Sturman said: “Let’s be clear, the Raven is far from saved. Any bid we make is just that. If we are unable to negotiate a purchase, we could be back to square one in January.
“Now is a pivotal time. The major means of purchasing a community pub is by offering community shares, alongside various loans and grants.
“We held a very successful public meeting, in January. A lot has happened since then. We are holding our second public meeting on Thursday September 5 at 7pm at Culcheth High School. “This will be a hugely important meeting. It will be an opportunity to update everyone on what has been achieved, up to now. We will outline the way forward and answer any questions anyone may have.”
Mr Sturman said the campaign group would shortly be conducting a leafleting campaign of every household in Glazebury and Culcheth in order to ensure everybody was informed of both the public meeting and the proposed share issue.