Community hopes to buy village pub

The centuries-old Plough Inn at Fadmoor has been closed since 2011 but attempts to get the once popular eating house and hostelry since then, have failed.

Listed formally as an Asset of Community Value, The Plough, owned by multi-millionaire Peter Wilkinson, could now be bought through a compulsory purchase order says Gerry McMahon, administrator for Fadmoor Community Pub Ltd, a local organisation backed by residents in the village’s Parish Meeting.

An offer by the parish meeting to buy the pub on behalf of the community asset group for £350,000 was turned down because the asking price was £495,000 said Mr McMahon.

The Plough is currently boarded up but Mr McMahon said residents are even more determined to see it re-open, not just as a pub but as a multi-activity community facility.

They have drawn up a catalogue of potential uses among them a library, a centre providing educational and social amenities, a shop selling local produce, cafe, tourist information centre, meeting point, mother and toddler group, IT music nights, and a haven to give local young people work experience and training.

He said: “The Plough has been a pub for 300 years, survived numerous recessions and two world wars. Most of the community wants it to remain a pub and has the ability to finance its purchase and the enthusiasm to run. It profitably with no private gain.

“In that capacity it will serve the local and wider community and remain a valued asset to Ryedale and the North York Moors National Park.”