The Sun Inn, Leintwardine
A remarkable survivor
On the 13th June, 2009 we learned the sad news that Britain’s longest serving landlady, Florence Lane, had died in Leominster Community Hospital following a short illness at the grand age of 94. Known affectionately to her loyal locals as ‘Floss’ or ‘Flossie’, she was a remarkable lady who ran a remarkable pub - the Sun Inn at Leintwardine. Such was her reputation that her death merited substantial obituaries in both The Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers. Located in the north Herefordshire border village of Leintwardine, the 200-year old, Grade-II listed, Sun Inn is a throwback to a simpler, less hurried time – when many rural communities would have had a pub not dissimilar to the Sun. Listed on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, the two-bar pub is considered by many to be the best example of an unspoiled pub in the UK - and a pub of national importance to boot. It is one of the last few remaining ‘parlour’ pubs, and is almost certainly the last where the landlady’s parlour (living room) doubles as one of the pub’s two bars. The pub has no bar or serving hatch, beer was brought from a stillage in the kitchen by Floss herself. 
The Sun Inn doesn’t pretend to offer the visitor any frills, its endearing charm is its simplicity and timelessness. You enter the hallway of this stone-built cottage inn through an old latch door: To the left of the hallway through another door is Floss’s cosy parlour, complete with her personal effects and family mementos. This room is where she would have once held sway with her locals during her 74 continuous years as landlady. Beyond there is the kitchen, complete with beer stillage. To the right of the hallway is a more basic red-brick public bar. This larger room has old tables, bench seats and an unassuming fireplace. One can imagine the many generations of locals who would have enjoyed whiling away their time in here after a day spent toiling in the fields. 
In recent years Floss became less mobile and her locals rallied round to help keep the pub running. One new development was an annual beer festival at the Sun - which immediately became popular with both villagers and the handful of visitors that happened to hear about it. This one-day event was first organised in 2006, and is held in the pub’s splendid Victorian walled garden: a garden complete with overgrown beds, mature fruit trees and a view out across the cottage rooftops towards the distant wooded Shropshire hills that has probably altered little since Houseman’s day. The atmosphere of this festival is what you might have imagined a rural beer festival would have been like in the early nineteenth century. Presently, the pub is still open and is being operated by the locals on a temporary licence. But for how long? |
An uncertain future
The future of this remarkable survivor is now very much in the balance. On the 27th August 2009 it is to be sold to the highest bidder at an auction to be held at Kingsland, near Leominster. It should be acknowledged that the sales particulars from Herefordshire-based selling agent, Bill Jackson, make reference to the pub’s special history and situation, but a guide price for the property up to £300,000 and mention of ‘development potential’ in the same document gives serious cause for concern. CAMRA understands that there is a serious expression of interest in buying the Sun Inn from a local consortium who would like to run the Sun as a pub in the future. It is still hoped that a deal might be struck that could see it stay as a pub for the benefit of both its community and the nation, but the fear is that the consortium may be outbid at the auction by a property speculator, who only sees the pub and its garden as a potential development site. Mark Haslam from Herefordshire CAMRA explains: “We believe that the £300,000 guide price doesn’t stand scrutiny when compared with selling prices from a number of other freehold pubs recently sold in and around Herefordshire. We don’t decry the family seeking to get a fair price for the Sun, but it is our considered view that this sale is being pitched towards property development. “The owning family have publicly stated that they would like to see it remain as a pub, and this sentiment is shared by the local community. It is now vital that measures to help make this ‘win-win’ situation a reality are taken.” Whilst the possibility exists for the Sun Inn to continue as a pub, CAMRA will not stand by and allow property speculators to bid up the price at auction to a point far in excess of its market value. Should this happen CAMRA will vigorously contest any planning application that might subsequently be forthcoming form a developer that threatens the existence of the Sun Inn as a pub. 
Mark Haslam adds: “Herefordshire CAMRA has an excellent track record with fighting planning applications to convert pubs into housing. Many pubs in the county that were previously threatened have since re-opened and are now trading strongly, including the Live & Let Live at Bringsty Common.“We wish to have no quarrel with the owning family and believe it is fair that they get a fair price for the property, however should the circumstances prevail that those interested in buying the Sun Inn as a pub are put at a disadvantage by the actions of property speculators seeking to outbid each other, then CAMRA will act decisively. We will contest any subsequent planning application they might submit, and believe we have strong grounds for such an objection.” Save the Sun!How can YOU help secure a viable future for the Sun Inn? Sign up for our ‘Save the Sun’ campaign. Add your voice to saving an important part of our national pub heritage. By signing up you are agreeing to let us contact you if there are any major developments, including any planning application to develop the pub in the future. |