A Shropshire micro-brewery has stepped up to save one of the UK's most historic pubs — where beer was served directly from casks and money paid into a row of jam jars.
The Grade II listed Sun Inn at Leintwardine, near Ludlow, Herefordshire, was run by Flossie Lane for 74 years, until her death in June.
The pub was expected to fetch up to £300,000 at auction in August, but this was delayed to allow locals to raise funding to buy it.
The Morning Advertiser reported that the pub had been saved by a group of locals at the start of September, but more details on the consortium have emerged.
Gary Seymour, who runs the Fiddler's Elbow chip shop next to the pub, has teamed up with Nick Davis of Cleobury Mortimer-based Hobsons Brewery to buy the pub and secure its future. Hobsons is home to many award-winning beers, including 2007's Champion Beer of Britain, Hobsons Mild.
The pair have now exchanged contracts through agents Jackson International, and completion is scheduled for 6 November.
Seymour told the Shropshire Star: "We are delighted to be able to retain the pub's character. Clearly we need to get it on more of an economical foothold but without spoiling what is clearly a unique pub."
The pub, a large 18th-century cottage, went on the market following Lane's death, at 94, in June.
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