One for the road to somewhere
By Phil Mellows
I first stumbled on the Laburnum Inn, sad and apparently abandoned, a few years ago. High up on the hill behind Matlock, tucked into the tight folds of steep streets where the village of Hackney meshes imperceptibly with the fringes of the Derbyshire mill town, it faced south overlooking pleasing views of the National Park on the opposite side of the Derwent Valley.
Yet, on the road to nowhere, it seemed to me at the time a reopening of the pub was unlikely. Who was going to go there, save the odd stray band member from Talking Heads?
But I reckoned without the local community. And without a certain virus then incubating in Asia that enabled the Laburnum Inn to seize its moment.
Lockdown forced people to look to the resources on their doorsteps, and with a bit of vision pubs could establish themselves at the heart of their localities once more. And in July 2020, thanks to furloughed marketing consultant turned licensee Giles Shepherd, the Laburnum miraculously reopened its doors.
I didn’t go back there till last month, when the first spring sunshine was soaking the front terrace and all the way along the straggly beer garden that must have served the business well during Covid restrictions – along with a bottle shop and delivery service.
Inside, the bar was bright and airy and, just to confirm exactly which part of the country you’re in, had both Derby’s Dancing Duck Ay Up and Chesterfield’s Silver Brewhouse Eyup Cocka on the handpumps.
It’s true that many pubs have been lost to the pandemic, and many more are staring at hardship in the coming months as they’re squeezed between soaring running costs and customers with less cash to spend.
But there are also a lot of examples like the Laburnum Inn that have gained new life as people have rediscovered the local and learned to value it once more. Recent analysis of Companies House data by Instant Offices suggests as many as 1,841pubs were opened in 2021.
And for those who love good pubs and good beer where ever they are, it means there is much to seek out and discover, travelling the road to nowhere.
Do you have a recommendation for a new or reopened pub? Share it in the comments…