The Butchers Arms, in Crosby Ravensworth, is a community-owned pub going from strength to strength.
An historic pub which can trace its origins back to 1773, the Butchers Arms was bought in 2011 by more than 300 people who wanted to bring it back to life as the beating heart of the community.
“Nobody invested for financial reasons — they did it to keep the pub going,” said Jon Metcalfe, who moved in and took over the running of the public house in March, 2017.
He said they were so lucky to have got such a large group of followers.
In the run-up to Christmas, when cancellations came in, they were “filled up thick and fast”, and he said they were really pleased to be able to put on a New Year’s Eve event, given the uncertainties which existed over whether further COVID restrictions were going to be brought in at the last minute.
Being community-owned makes a big difference, explained Jon, as everyone then has a vested interest in wanting to see the pub thrive.
It has a real community feel and everybody supports it as much as they can, including chipping in to help with the renovation work which has been ongoing.
Following a really busy festive period, the pub is set to reopen with a new carpet and menu next week following a short closure to complete its refurbishment.
As well as a resanded bar floor, new flooring has been laid on the stairs and a new bookcase is being built as part of the modernising refit.
The 10-day period which includes Christmas and New Year usually forms part of “biggest week of the year” for the pub and Jon said it was very nice to have it back following the years lost to coronavirus.
Head chef Jim Hudson said it had been a crazy past few months following the reopening of the pub after lockdown.
“As soon as we were open, we were busy again,” he said.
During lockdown they were kept going by takeaways and, in total, dished up about 14,500 meals for people from the local vicinity as well as Penrith, Appleby, Tebay, Shap and even Kendal.
Some of these were new customers who had never previously dined at the pub. “Because there were no takeaways open, they were coming to us,” said Jim, who will have been working at the pub for five years in April.
Priding itself on being a gastro pub which likes to “put a twist on things”, Jim said their pork belly and chicken dishes were particularly popular, as well as staples like fish and chips.
