Garboldisham's The Fox Inn celebrates six successful years since its community takeover revitalised the establishment

A pub which was saved and revitalised by a community has celebrated six years since it reopened its doors.

The Fox Inn in Garboldisham was brought back to life in 2016 after the community rallied together to save the dilapidated pub through funding, donated furniture and volunteer work.

To mark the anniversary, a series of events were held over the weekend, including a mini-beer festival with ales from Essex and guided tours of the pub’s interior, with food and music also on offer.

Since it closed in 2007, the Grade II-listed pub has endured burglaries, flooding, the theft of fittings, fixtures and plumbing and even an arson attempt.

Ian Skipper, a former director for the community company who worked as an architect for the project, said: “The Fox was brought back from the dead due to its status as an asset of community value. When we took it over, much of the pub was rotting away.

“It has come a long way since it first reopened in December 2016.

“We’d been fighting for a while with authorities to be able to pick up the pub and turn it into something special again.

“Once we took over, we worked over roughly three months to give it a new lick of paint and clear enough of the rubble to have a working bar, so we could begin making profits to fund the restoration of the rest of the building.

“When we opened, we had one room and a tiny section of the bar ready for use, and worked on each section individually when he had the funds.”

Other attempts to open the pub before the new team picked up the keys in October 2016 failed, with new landlords calling it quits after a few months.

The building’s state of decay and difficulties in making the venture profitable proved to be insurmountable hurdles for its former owners.

However, with donations, the help of local business owner Richard Johnston and volunteer tradesmen, the interior and exterior of the pub – the earliest parts of which date back to the 15th century – soon began to take shape.

It took four years for the team to renovate the entire bottom floor of the pub, including the garden and car park. It has been staffed entirely by volunteers since it reopened.

Despite the work that has already been put in, there is still more to be done, with the next major area for development being the upstairs, which will require a side extension to the building.

The plan is to either rent it out to a tenant, or use it as a bed and breakfast.

Mr Skipper added: “The pub has really become a vital cog in village life. We are probably reaching the end of what we can achieve on our own and through community goodwill, however, and we will likely need to bring in contractors for the next major steps.

“A lot of hard work has gone into making the pub what it is today, and it’ll require a lot more hard work to get it where we want it to, but we’re determined to get it done.

“Having got through the pandemic, we are now looking ahead to the future and we believe this pub has an important role to play within the area. We are hopeful for its future.”