For Whom the Bell Tolls

Heavily engaged in fighting to save The Bell Inn, Hook Norton, ironically the only pub of the four in or near the village not to be owned by Hook Norton Brewery. The owners Punch Taverns have shamefully tried to apply for change of use to turn it into a private home. This despite the fact that the current tenants, a cheerful Zimbabwean pair called Dave and Hilton, albeit on a peppercorn rent, have managed to turn it from a semi-derelict basket case into a flourishing local. Their window boxes and hanging baskets are the pride of the village.
The real scandal, however, is that a sub-committee of the parish council, by four votes to two, meeting over a glass of wine in a private home, declined to object to the change of use. In response more than 120 villagers signed a protest, calling for the local district council to block the change, which would mean Punch can demand a much higher market price.
The Bell is the oldest pub in the village, dating back a minimum of 350 years. The idea that it could be turned into an 'executive home' is sacrilege. The poet Hilaire Belloc wrote in 1930, "When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England." We're getting there fast!