Villagers raised more than £311,000 to save a Cheshire pub shut for 12 years, combining community shares with £360,000 in government grants

For 12 years, the Golden Lion in Ashton Hayes, Cheshire, stood closed after the village pub shut in January 2013. Residents spent years campaigning to protect the historic building from redevelopment and return it to community use. Their efforts culminated in the purchase of the pub in June 2024 by Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd, a community benefit society. The project received £360,000 in government grants, while the society’s first annual general meeting report recorded £311,250 in community-share investment by early 2025. The building then underwent extensive restoration before reopening to customers on 7 August 2025. The campaign brought a long-closed village pub back into operation through a combination of public funding, local investment and sustained community organising.Golden Lion history: how Ashton Hayes campaigned to save its village pubThe Golden Lion closed in January 2013. Residents sought to protect the property from redevelopment and secure its future as a village pub. Its designation as an Asset of Community Value gave the community a route to pursue a purchase through the Right to Bid process. In 2016, residents formed the Golden Lion Working Group and began developing a plan to bring the property back into community ownership. They received guidance from the Plunkett Foundation, a charity that supports community-owned businesses. Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd was registered as a community benefit society in November 2017.An early attempt to buy the pub came in 2018. The society’s share prospectus records that an offer to the owner was supported by £196,100 in pledges from prospective investors. The offer was refused, and the pledged money was returned. The campaign continued for several years. After securing government funding and launching a new community-share offer, the society completed the purchase of the freehold on 14 June 2024 for £342,000, according to the society’s reports. The funding included a £250,000 capital grant and £92,000 from community-share funds.How community shares and £360,000 in grants funded the purchaseThe project combined government funding with investment from residents and other supporters. The government’s Community Ownership Fund awarded the society grants totalling £360,000. The funding table in the share prospectus breaks this down into a £250,000 capital grant, £60,000 for additional capital projects and a £50,000 revenue grant. The community-share offer launched at a public meeting on 2 May 2024. The society’s prospectus set an overall funding requirement of £625,000 to cover the purchase, refurbishment and initial operating costs. Its original minimum community-share target of £250,000 was subsequently reduced to £180,000 in an addendum, allowing the purchase to proceed while fundraising continued. The maximum subscription remained £420,000.The society’s website reported that the initial share offer had raised about £243,000 by August 2024, prompting an extension. Following that extension, the society’s first AGM report recorded a cumulative total of £311,250 by early 2025. The building’s condition created further challenges once restoration began. The society’s early-2025 report described structural problems and the need for additional funding. Work included stripping and re-slating the roof, addressing structural issues, adding insulation and replastering.The society’s chair’s report identified a funding shortfall of about £130,000 in early 2025 for the kitchen, cold storage and ventilation. The society’s website later reported that share funding had addressed the final funding gap needed to complete the kitchen, fire doors, lighting and furnishings. These costs added to the financial pressure as the society worked to bring the building back into use. The original prospectus also budgeted for replacement windows, electrical work, heating improvements and upgrades to the toilets and beer-pumping equipment. The early-2025 report does not confirm that all these budgeted items had been completed.The Golden Lion reopens after restorationThe pub reopened to customers on 7 August 2025, as reported by ITV News Granada and What’s Brewing. Its return followed more than a decade of closure and a restoration programme funded through the community purchase and subsequent fundraising. Lance Warburton became the tenant. The Chester Standard described him as having extensive experience managing pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country. The tenancy allows Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd to retain ownership of the building while a tenant manages its daily operation.The restoration also included improvements to the building’s access and infrastructure. In its early-2025 report, the society said a new pedestrian access path was in place and that the first-fix installation of the IT infrastructure had been completed. At that stage, a contract for the solar installation was about to be signed.Community investment and recognitionAshton Hayes Community Hub Ltd operates as a community benefit society. Interest is proposed by the Management Committee and put to a vote at the annual general meeting. Withdrawals, which can be requested after three years with three months’ notice, remain at the committee’s discretion. A tenant brief published by property agent Legat Owen reported that the society had more than 370 shareholders. Later coverage in 2026 described the number as having grown to more than 400.The project has received recognition beyond Ashton Hayes. CAMRA’s What’s Brewing covered the Golden Lion’s recognition as a runner-up in its Pub Saving Awards in January 2026. The awards coverage highlighted the community’s efforts to preserve the pub and restore it to use. The Golden Lion’s revival took years of campaigning, a government grant, community investment and extensive building work. Its reopening returned a historic pub to Ashton Hayes after 12 years of closure, with the building now owned by a community benefit society rather than dependent on a single private owner.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.