The Pumpkin Club in its 54th Year
But not at the pub again.
The Pumpkin Club held its annual meeting and weigh-in at the Marston and Hougham Village Hall on Saturday 14th Oct. Nearly half a ton of pumpkins were entered into the competition and the Bunny Cup, for the heaviest pumpkin, was won by Gareth Williams with his 14.5 stone monster! The full results can be found on the Parish Council website.
Around 90 locals packed out the hall and a great evening ensued. Money raised from the event was split between:
Tim Found, from the Save The Thorold Arms Committee, made a presentation to update everyone on the state of play of the pub. In brief:
- The Thorold Arms is owned by a property speculator based in Essex. He bought it at auction for £187,000 outbidding the local community.
- He does not want to reopen it as a pub and offered originally to meet with us in the pub to discuss a sale. However the meeting has not taken place.
- He has offered it for sale to the community for £275,000 and then, more recently, he suggested he won’t accept anything less than £225,000.
- He has twice applied for planning to convert it to residential. Both times the Council denied permission.
- The Committee has offered him £172,000 which he rejected immediately.
- There is currently an impasse. He doesn’t want the pub, we do, but he won’t sell it for a reasonable price.
Tim also thanked everyone for their unstinting support over the last 2 years and re-assured them that the lack of a pub and shop will only be a temporary blip in the history of our two villages.
