The Exeter: Background

As many of you may know, the freehold of The Exeter was put on the market in the summer. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a sale, the pub was going to close on Saturday 26^th October with no plans to re-open its doors for the foreseeable future. We’d truly like to thank Matt, Rick and their staff for putting their heart and soul into The Exeter over the past few years. We know they will be sorely missed by all of their loyal customers and wish them the very best in their new venture.

In response to the planned closure, a group has been getting together to discuss how we can possibly keep the pub up and running until such time as a purchaser can be found. In the future it may be an option to buy it as a community venture bringing the pub into co-operative ownership as has already happened in over seventy pubs across England, Scotland and Wales, many with the support of a charity called The Plunkett Foundation. There are various ways of achieving this goal but for now we need to focus on the short term.

Initially the pub would have to be run entirely by volunteers.  A lot of hard work has been going on preparing in a variety of ways for a potential handover but now that we have secured a positive endorsement from the owners we’re appealing to the wider community for help. It doesn’t matter whether you can spare a couple of hours a month or eight hours a week, we would really appreciate your support. There will be a whole range of volunteer roles needed including bar work, waiting staff, food preparation and/or cooking, cleaning, etc. No experience is necessary as full training will be given. There are other ways in which you can help sustain the pub including sending donations to the ‘fighting fund’ which is going to be absolutely crucial in getting The Exeter up and running and to cover costs, particularly in the first few months. (You will find details of how to lend your support at the bottom of this page.)

We are very fortunate in Thorverton to have two fantastic and very distinct pubs which are at the heart of village life. Much of the appeal of our neighbourhood rests on its sense of community and is the reason why many people have moved here and remain here. Whilst keeping the traditional feel and atmosphere of The Exeter that is so loved by its customers, in the future it would be wonderful if we could serve the village in other ways by making it more of a community hub. We have already lost the lending library and our village shop so the possibility of incorporating these into the pub along with a space for groups of all ages to hold meetings and socialise are some of the many ideas that have been floated so far. Again, we would love you to get involved by sharing your thoughts on what the pub/hub could offer in the future and a survey/questionnaire will be circulating soon (watch this space!)

We will be working hard to get the doors open by the first week in November, initially offering your usual drinks along with a select lunchtime menu. In the meantime, please take a minute to consider joining our friendly volunteer team.

And so, as the evenings start to draw in and the cold weather returns, let’s ’keep the lights on and the fires burning!’ We shall look forward to warmly welcoming you back to The Exeter…

Volunteer forms can be found online at www.thorvertonclt.co.uk /paper copies available at the Post Office  and “The Exeter”.