One unique Pub, 500+ careful owners wanted...
I can still remember vividly my first clandestine visits to the Locks Inn at Geldeston in Norfolk in the late eighties. As underage drinkers in search of cider and an amenable Landlord we would hike across the mist-shrouded marshes, or down the long gravel lane that traversed them, telling each other tales of ‘Black Shuck’ the infamous local Hellhound rumoured to haunt the lowlands of the Waveney River Valley to terrify ourselves in the disorientating foggy darkness.
And then, crossing the footbridge over the water you could spot the soft twinkle of candle-light through the wisteria-draped windows of the pub. Around the roaring fire of what was once the old Lock-keeper’s cottage, turned entrepreneurial boozer three hundred years ago to make a passing buck from thirsty wherrymen, we would grab a table and hunker down in the Tolkien-esque glow of the tavern. Sipping our pints of rough Suffolk cider and enjoying the atmosphere of intrigue and mystery that is inevitably drawn into remote hostelries in isolated locations. This was never a pub for passing trade. You came here with purpose. You had to. It was, as they say, in the middle of bloody nowhere!
Literally ‘off-grid’, which back then seemed a quaint throwback not an aspect of pioneering self-sufficiency, the absence of mains electricity meant only hand-pumped and gravity poured ales, and we made our own music. Almost every night an itinerant local musician would pull out a guitar for a sing-song, and when that cosy room was full, a box of percussion instruments would appear from behind the bar and we would all join in the accompaniment of the singer’s song with raucous rhythms and voices.
In my teenage years I na?vely thought that this was what a pub was. A hearth-led home from home of camaraderie and conviviality, a place for music and stories, of welcoming strangers, and ephemeral friends, bonding beautifully and sometimes boisterously over beer and cheer – the essence of a ‘public house’. How wrong I was!
And now this precious pub, this history-steeped, ale-soaked and deeply-loved hub is being bought by the people, for the people. After a magnificent success to save the pub from auction and a possible property developer’s appetite to convert it into some fancy riverside residence, we are now inviting hundreds of shareholders to invest in what we hope will become one of the greenest, fairest and best pubs in Britain, if not the world!
If you love what the irreplaceable heritage of a centuries old pub represents. If you are drawn to open-fires and candle light, live songs, tales and ales. If you like a walk to and from the pub to constitute a timeless adventure over marsh and through mist. Then we want you!
The bar to entry is low (it’s a pub after all!). For just ￡50 you can become a co-owner of one of Britain’s best local pubs, no matter where you are from in the country or the world. We’re seeking 500+ careful owners to secure this unique premises and keep the glasses and spirits being raised for the next three hundred years. It’s time ladies and gentlemen please!
Full Community Share Prospectus and Business Plan and 'How to Invest' guidance here: https://www.savethelocks.com/
And please do share with any other lovers of the Locks or great traditional pubs that you may know...and I'll see you over an ale in the Locks Inn before too long...Cheers!