Victory for villagers as pub re-opens

Article from EDP24.co.uk

01 December 2006 13:22

Villagers will be toasting victory tonight after a six-year battle to reopen their local.

The first pints are being pulled at the Dabbling Duck - formerly the Rose & Crown at Great Massingham - after a complete refurbishment.

The pub was saved after villagers objected to plans to close it down and convert it into housing.

Local councillor Mike Tilbury lobbied West Norfolk council, which agreed to buy the pub and try to sell it on as a going concern.

Earlier this year, the pub was bought by four locals - Dominic Symington, Mark and Jessica Lapping and Steve Kilham.

Today final preparations were under way with equipment and furniture still arriving and Jerome Mason and his team of builders and electricians frantically finishing off the bar.

Centrepiece of the pub is the bar itself - a counter made from a single slice cut from a 250-year-old Norfolk oak which was felled near Lenwade.

“We scoured Norfolk for the right bit of oak,” said Mr Mason, who normally renovates houses in Chelsea and Belgravia.

Mark Lapping, who lived next door to the pub with his wife and family when it closed down, said: “We lived in the village and like everyone else we thought it was a crying shame when it closed down.

“We've given it a complete refurbishment, we had to completely gut it.”

The Dabbling Duck came about after 120 villagers replied to a survey asking them what sort of pub they'd like to see in the village.

Family-friendly, with reasonably-priced home-cooked food was their response. After a party for 100 or so invited guests tonight, the pub opens to the public tomorrow.