Village will turn into a pub for a day

Stoke Ferry no longer has a pub but residents are making plans to raise glasses and toast their bid to bring a local back to the village.

Campaigners hope that everyone will turn their homes and gardens into a pub for families and friends as part of a village ‘takeover’ on bank holiday Monday.

There will be a day of activities to celebrate the best of the village and Norfolk as a whole, including naming their lockdown hero.

A campaign is already under way to try to reopen the Blue Bell, which closed in 2018, as a community-owned and run pub and as a community hub and this event will demonstrate the village’s enthusiasm for the project.

On Monday, August 31, villagers in Stoke Ferry are being invited to turn their homes and gardens into a pub for their family and friends as part of village-wide activities that are family friendly, inclusive of the entire community and celebrate the best of Norfolk in the shape of lockdown heroes, home baking and outstanding beers.

Chairman of the Campaign to Ring the Blue Bell Again, Stephen Ward, said: “Stoke Ferry has said loud and clear that it wants a pub for the entire village that is a community hub as well as serving great value food and drink.

“The Bank Holiday Takeover will give us a taste of what that could be like and make the case for investment to develop a community pub and hub as a focal point and resource for all villagers.

“We might not have the premises yet, but we can still deliver the kinds of things villagers said they wanted in our survey this spring.

“We’re going to celebrate the local lockdown heroes nominated by the community, taste outstanding local beers from the Duration brewery, enjoy tea, cakes and live music around the church, sell beers and wines from a stall in the centre of the village for people to take back to their pop-up home pubs.

“There’s even a family treasure hunt all around the village. And everything will be COVID safe.’

Chairwoman of Stoke Ferry Parish Council, Sue Lintern, said: ‘I urge everyone to think about who they should nominate as a lockdown hero.

“We saw fantastic community spirit this year as friends and neighbours pulled together to help each other out and local businesses went the extra mile.

“Now it’s time to celebrate the best of Stoke Ferry and to think about what more the village can achieve together.’

The Campaign to Ring the Blue Bell Again has teamed up with Duration Brewing in West Acre to run an online beer tasting as part of the day and with Bobbin’s Bakes, who are providing sweet treats for everyone.

There are full details of all the day’s activities to be found online at www.bluebellstokeferry.org