Pubs saved from closure by regulars in the running for UK's best local accolade

A number of pubs rescued by locals are among those vying for the prize of the UK's best boozer.

Those in the line for the Campaign for Real Ale ’s 2026 Pub of the Year prize include the Northumberland Arms, in Marple Bridge, on the edge of the Peak District in Greater Manchester .

Known as “The Thumb”, it was saved from permanent closure in 2017 after a successful campaign by the community who have worked hard to restore it to its former glory.

“It’s surreal,” was pub manager Phil Jarvis’s reaction on hearing it had been shortlisted, despite already notching-up a number of local prizes already.

“It’s just a local village pub at the end of the day. When people come in they say it’s a proper old-fashioned pub. The bar staff are really good too, they’re always happy and smiling. They know the score,” added Phil who, despite the challenges elsewhere in the sector, said the 'wet led' pub was "thriving".

It is among 16 winners announced by Camra for the England regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They will now go forward to the next round of judging. A final four will be announced in October, ahead of the revealing of the overall National Pub of the Year in January next year.

Clinching the North East prize is the Olde Cross, on the village green in Old Ryton Village, in the Tyne Valley, which is also owned by the community. It closed in 2019 but, just 18 months later, the Edwardian half-timbered hostelry reopened again.

The pub hosts events and local activities, including street food vendors on the weekends, as well as pop-up supper club events. “The pub is very much intended as a centre for the local community,” saud Camra.

A third is The Railway Arms, in Saffron Walden, Essex, a lovingly restored Victorian pub s saved by its local community six years ago. Standing opposite the Essex town’s former train station, it closed in 2017 and was threatened with becoming yet another pub destined to be turned into flats.

Instead, locals decided to band together to help save it. They formed a campaign group and, after a fundraising drive, they managed to buy the pub in October 2020.

After renovations, it reopened in April 2021. Camra said the Railway Arms “combines traditional character with a lively, welcoming atmosphere."

A fourth free house owned by the community is the Countryman’s Inn, in Hunton, Yorkshire.

The success of community saved and run pubs comes in the face of a wave of closures in recent years, in many cases ripping the heart out of the area where the pub had become a vital meeting spot.

The Mirror has long championed the sector with its Your Pub Needs You campaign, with one of its key demands being targeted support to help communities rescue at risk pubs from being lost forever.