Battle to save historic pub in St George

The future of a historic Bristol pub that has been trading for almost 190 years hangs in the balance following its recent closure.

Once a thriving hub at the heart of the St George community, The Three Crowns now stands boarded up and empty after the landlords of 17 years were ordered to vacate the premises.

The Three Crowns has been boarded up since its recent closure

Exact details of the reason behind the Three Crowns’ closure are hazy, but the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), which is backing the bid to save it, claims a liquidator is involved.

Loyal locals are not letting their beloved pub go without a fight and have formed a committee to fight for the pub to be brought into community ownership.

Their petition has gained 584 signatures to date and has the backing of Asher Craig, a ward councillor for St George West.

Asher Craig is backing the campaign to keep the pub open for the community

“There is a lot of strong feeling in the community,” chairman of the Save the Three Crowns committee Anthony Hannan told Bristol24/7.

“The pub has been in existence since the time of George IV. It’s the oldest building in the area by a long way.”

The Three Crowns, in Blackswarth Road, has been trading since at least 1828 and still has features from before 1904, when it was rebuilt.

It has recently been awarded ‘Asset of Community Value’ (ACV) status which normally gives buildings some protection from development.

CAMRA says the pub closed because the liquidator required the premises to be vacated and claims to have found a purchaser.

Due to legislation loophole, the liquidator was not required to offer the community group a chance to bid for the pub despite the ACV listing.

Hannan says the community is determined to keep the pub open: “The firm who are handling this are dismissive of our plans to date. However, it is time that pubs such as the Three Crowns were looked after for local people and not predatory purchasers from outside the area.

“We are looking at doing things like coffee mornings so it will be a bit more than just a pub, but there for the whole community. It is very much a unique pub, the sort that you don’t see often as we have got all age groups in there.”

The Three Crowns in all its former glory

Ashley Bird’s family has been running the pub for the past 17 years. She was living there, along with her partner, Harry Shaw, and their dog before the eviction notice was served.

“We were out pretty quickly,” she told Bristol24/7. “We didn’t have time to find anywhere to rent and nowhere would take anyone with a dog so I ended up having to move into my parents’ pub.

“I miss running my own place and all my customers. The pub was a viable business, we had turned it around and it was making a profit.

“It was home to Bristol county pool teams and the main sponsor of the league and they have all had to fine somewhere else to go.

“We want it to be open as soon as possible. The longer it stays shut, the more the priority will go down in value.”

Chairman of Bristol & District CAMRA’s Pubs Group Peter Bridle said: “People sometimes comment that the pubs wouldn’t close if they were viable.

“What we often find is that such pubs are or can be viable – it is just that developers sometimes have no regard for the community and simply want to cash in on the development value of the building. We hope that the Three Crowns can reopen in the not too distant future.”

Bristol24/7 attempted to contact the company involved in the liquidation, but had not heard back at the time of publication.

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