A final lick of paint is drying on the donated, mismatched chairs and tables as the handful of volunteers gratefully sample the new chef’s signature dish – a chunky pork chop sandwich with apple relish.
Four years after the Blue Bell in Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, last called time, it will next month celebrate its grand reopening as a community pub, the triumphant climax of a campaign by local residents to stave off the permanent closure of the last pub in the village, which once boasted eight.
