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.
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