The White Lion is a welcoming community owned village pub at the centre of the small village of Ash Magna and the adjoining hamlet of Ash Parva (collectively referred to as Ash or Ash Villages) we are located near Whitchurch in a beautiful part of North Shropshire, close to the county border with Cheshire and North Wales.
Three local nature reserves are of international importance, whilst the area is popular with cyclists, walkers and holiday makers due to its location within the Shropshire Meres and Mosses area. A touring caravan site is located within one mile of Ash.
HISTORY
In a predominantly rural, farming community surrounded by green fields and smaller villages and hamlets with many isolated farms and houses, the White Lion has served the local community for circa 250 years. Providing an important place for people to meet, to do business and to celebrate births marriages and deaths, the White Lion has been (and continues to be) at the heart of the community.
Photographs and pictures on the walls of the pub provide a snapshot of how the village looked and lived in in the past - sports clubs, traditional pub games and local agricultural scenes are all captured as well as some entertaining stories. We hope you get the chance to have a look!
SAVING THE WHITE LION
In August 2017 the then owners of the pub, Roger and Margarete Bentley, after 4 years of the pub being on the market, took the hard decision to ‘close the doors’ by the end of the year as no buyer could be found.
In response to the planned closure and united in our belief that the pub is the heart of the village a group of concerned villagers suggested that the community should buy the White Lion and so started our journey … matters moved very quickly and with local residents and customers their indicated overwhelming support and invest to ‘Save the White Lion’.
A campaign was launched with the aim of keeping open the White Lion as a successful community business and village hub with a positive impact on the local community.
A COMMUNITY PUB
With the support of the Plunkett Foundation, we launched a ‘community share offer’ on 1 December 2017 and by the end of January 2018 had raised over £200,000. Together with a grant and loan from the Government’s ‘More than a Pub’ and ‘Power to Change’ programmes we had raised the funds to buy the White Lion!
In the light of this tremendous effort the then owners agreed to keep the pub open until the process was completed to purchase the pub and, on 27 April 2018, we got the keys to our new ‘Community Pub’.
TAKING ON THE WHITE LION
The real work started on 28 April 2018 when a team of volunteers turned up to start the refurbishment work needed – thank goodness for the fantastic summer of 2018 and the 20 plus volunteers and sponsors - as over the next three months we upgraded heating, electrics and the beer cellar, put in a new commercial kitchen and log burners and decorated the pub from top to bottom, inside and out. We also opened a new beer garden and planted amazing wildflower borders.
Over the following two years we learnt a lot and faced several challenges as well as exploring opportunities and started to build the busy and thriving pub as it is today.
We added four small wooden lodges (sheds by any other name) to our beer garden that customers could book in their family groups to maintain social distancing. These small lodges have remained and are very popular with groups booking for meals and small parties. Next, we applied for grants and launched a second share offer to raise the funds to refurbish a dilapidated outbuilding which is now known as ‘The Stables’ to provide additional dining space and meeting room for local events.
THE WHITE LION TODAY
From the outset we, the committee, always planned to be ‘More than a Pub’ and, whilst the focus has been on retaining and running a traditional and successful village pub, we have kept our vision of being a welcoming place for all members of the community to meet, to employ staff from the local community and to use local suppliers wherever possible.
We continue to work closely with the Ash Village Hall and Bowling Club to further develop opportunities for community facilities including putting on events for the late Queen’s Jubilee, the King’s Coronation and currently organising the first village fair, that Ash has seen for many years!
The response to the opening of the fabulous wildflower beer garden in 2018 led to support and interest from the Parish Council to introduce more wildflower areas around Ash and the results have been spectacular.
The recent award by the Countryside Alliance of the Rural Oscar for the best British pub 2023 is a real reflection of the effort by everyone involved.
As well as loyal and longstanding customers we are delighted to be welcoming new customers who frequently comment on the great atmosphere, the excellent quality of the beer served and the friendly welcome. Walkers and cyclists are especially welcome as are well behaved dogs and we are most definitely a family orientated pub!
FUTURE PLANS
As we look to the future, we are ambitious to do more. We want to improve accessibility and disabled facilities and are looking at options to build a link between the main pub and the stables with an upgrade to the toilets to incorporate more accessible bathroom facilities and to be able to provide baby changing areas. In addition, we are wanting to increase the kitchen areas to accommodate the increase in demand.
If you would like to get involved, have any suggestions or would like to set up and run a group then please let us know.
SUPPORTING AND INVESTING IN US
We are established as the White Lion Ash Community Benefit Society and are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. It is run by the community for the benefit of the community and is protected ‘in perpetuity’ for this and future generations
The White Lion is ‘owned’ by circa 200 shareholders who invested have amounts ranging from £250 to £15,000 each. There is a Management Committee of 8 volunteer members who are responsible to shareholders for the oversight and viability of the pub. Day to day operational matters are the responsibility of the Manager/Licensee.
We are welcoming applications from people who wish to invest (or increase their investment), Each share is £250 if you are interested in owning ‘a great British pub’
If you are interested in investing in the White Lion, please contact our Company Secretary on leigh.griffin@btinternet.com or call on 01948667903.
