Replacing a roof, especially if thatched, is a big decision

Licensees of the many pubs around the country with thatched roofs believe their outlets would not be the same without it. Yet at around £20,000 a time to replace, together with the possible disruption to trade while the work is done, thatching is an expensive business. Work to replace the 20-year-old thatch on the Brakspear-owned Six Bells at Warborough, in South Oxfordshire, has recently been completed, and licensees Ben and Libby Salter are delighted with the finished product. Ben says: "The old thatch was looking the worse for wear. Some of the straw had started to slide and it was collapsing in places. It needed doing badly and I believe the state of it was starting to affect business. When you have a lovely old pub on the edge of a village green, it needs to look appealing to customers. "But some were starting to comment on the state of the roof and it was certainly distracting customers from our hanging baskets in the summer. I've been pestering the brewery for some years to replace it and was delighted when agreement was reached." After Brakspear gave the go-ahead, Ben looked at thatching work done on other pubs in the area before selecting master thatchers Russell and Bucking-ham of Eynsham for the five-week project. Soon after, a team of thatchers descended on the pub and lorry-loads of straw filled the car park. Ben recalls: "I began to wonder what we had done. The place looked like a tip and customers faced quite a battle to get into the pub because there was so much straw piled up outside. However, we managed to keep trading throughout. We kept the thatchers supplied with coffee and drinks, and they were as tidy as they could be. "It was all done with the minimum of disruption, but, try as we might, we couldn't stop customers bringing straw into the pub on their feet." Master thatcher Nigel Russell says he and his team have thatched everything from a manor house to a bird table in the 16 years his company had been trading. He remarks: "You would be surprised what people want thatched, but pubs are very straight forward and we try to get in and out and complete the job as quickly as possible without causing too much inconvenience. "Initially, it is a matter of stripping off the layers that have decayed. In most cases we don't need to strip the thatch off completely ­ just the amount that has deteriorated ­ and then build it up again. "A good thatch will last between 25 and 30 years, while half-way through that period we will go back and replace the ridge which takes the worst of the weather." Thatchers have to work closely with the local council on re-thatching work, as almost all the buildings are listed and officers insist that the thatch is replaced with the same materials that have been taken off. Russell explains: "They want it restored to its original look, so a lot of the individuality that thatchers have given to their work has tended to disappear. "We do give the thatch a trademark signature with a certain style of ridge pattern, but these days they tend to be fairly standard instead of the individuality which enabled anyone to see which thatcher had done the work. "When we are working on a thatch, we get a lot of interest from people. If we are on a main road, we often get coach-loads of people pulling up and asking questions." At the Six Bells, children from a local primary school visited the pub to see the thatching work in progress and studied the craft as part of a school project. Russell says thatching is an all-year round activity. "In the summer, the work can sometimes be too hot and uncomfortable and the materials are difficult to work with. A nice crisp day in the winter with no wind is ideal, and if the straw is slightly damp, it is more pliable and easier to work with." Both Brakspear and the Salters say they are delighted with the finished product. Ben says: "It is just like running a new pub all over again. We took a lot of photographs of the work and they are being incorporated into a display in the pub to interest customers. "Operating a pub with a thatched roof does make the insurance premiums expensive because of the fire risk, but when you look at the newly-thatched roof it is all worthwhile." Best roofing practice Thatching is a skilled job and thatchers have to complete a four-year apprenticeship. Only one in five makes the grade. Thatchers tend to use one of three different types of material for the work. Water reed, otherwise known as Norfolk reed, is imported from France or Turkey, while long straw is the traditional, old-fashioned material that once used to be commonplace. Nowadays, coned wheat reed or wheat straw from Devon, Somerset or Hampshire, is often favoured. Nigel Russell observes: "We tend to be governed by what is on the building to start with. You cannot replace straw with water reed, for instance. You have to go with what's there.