First past the post

Giving a community back its post

office is the latest project successfully supported by the Pub is the Hub. Adrian Tierney-Jones went to the opening

A rare sunny day in February and a small crowd gathers outside the Mussel Inn, in the small Devon village of Down Thomas. Never has the prospect of buying stamps seemed so exciting - three years after losing its post office the village is about to get it back, with the Enterprise Inns-owned pub playing a crucial role.

Thanks to funding from various development agencies and advice and help from the Pub is the Hub, a small, unused former garage opposite the pub is about to put its stamp on village life - it is the first post office connected to a pub business to be opened with the aid of Pub is the Hub in the south-west.

South-West Devon MP Gary Streeter has been invited to cut the red ribbon to declare the post office open; he is presumably delighted to preside over a pub news story that for once isn't about binge drinking.

"Given that 2008 is when 2,000 post offices are earmarked for closure," he says, "it's good to see the village of Down Thomas bucking the trend. There are a number of institutions that have historically made up the heart of a village, such as the church, pub, shop and post office.

"The pub is now at the centre of many villages, but the opening of the post office is a tremendous initiative by licensees Lynn and Victor Walsh. Most people have mature, sensible attitudes to the pub: they walk to it and have a glass or two of beer. Now they can get stamps or their pension."

Even though Down Thomas is only a few miles from Plymouth and its satellite town Plymstock, it has a splendid sense of isolation - it is reached by winding country lanes and one of the first things you see as you enter is a name-plate on one of the houses: the Old Post Office. This speaks volumes about the way village life has changed, not always for the best.

Not surprisingly, there's a sense among those celebrating the return of the post office that another building brick has been refitted into the wall of village life.

According to Roy Fairclough, who is chief clerk to Wembury Parish Council, there was strong local feeling when the post office shut its doors.

"When it closed nearly three years ago people were forthright on the need for a post office in the village," he says. "So we went looking for different grants and then contacted Pub is the Hub about a year ago, after we had spoken to various bodies."

One of the agencies that helped with finance is Devon Rural Renaissance, whose representative Matt Parkin is at the official opening. "We generally support business and economic projects, and this one was fairly unusual," he says. "We saw the pub and the position of the proposed post office as a good combination. We are very keen to keep communities like this alive."

A cause for celebration

Regional advisor Richard Butterworth is the Pub is the Hub's man at the event. He formerly worked for Grand Met and Greenhall Whitley, but nowadays is the group's representative in the south-west.

Naturally, given that he spends his time looking for ways to encourage pubs to enrich village life, the Mussel Inn's changes are a cause for celebration.

"Victor and Lynn Walsh saw an opportunity to provide a post office and took it up with the parish council," he says. "We met and then pursued the matter, looked at the costs, which in total were £30,000. The post office came up with £15,000 and Devon Rural Renaissance with the rest, while Enterprise Inns was delighted to see the scheme go through. Successes like this rub off on other villages."

A few hours after the ribbon's been cut, Lynn Walsh is installed in the new post office, which was actually a derelict garage where husband Victor stored paint pots and ladders. She has worked in banks before, so there was no argument over who was going behind the counter.

"It's brilliant," she says, "but we had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it moving. I've had a few customers already and will get the hang of it. I've done a week's training course and then there is a week's training on site - every day is going to bring something different. This is a positive story about pubs, and benefits all the community."

Further help to the community is provided by the fact that there is a room at the back of the post office that can be used for community meetings.

Inside the 18th-century pub, which has a 35:65 wet/dry split, husband Victor is naturally pleased with the way things have gone with the project.

"The post office was definitely needed here," he says. "There is a much older community and Plymstock was the nearest place, which meant that people had to do a lot of driving. It will also have a positive effect on our trade. For a start, it might introduce people to the pub who haven't been here before."

Rural problems

With the smoke ban, the economic downturn, red tape and media hype about alcohol abuse, it's hardly news that British pubs are facing a whole raft of problems. Meanwhile, rural communities face equally challenging difficulties such as youngsters being priced out, second homeowners moving in and the loss of amenities.

Support from organisations like Pub is the Hub cannot solve all the problems, but they provide hard-pressed licensees with a motivation and the skills for moving their businesses forward.

"When opportunities such as these arise, I go along and suss it out and get a view of its viability," says Butterworth. "Then, having established links with Pub is the Hub, I start to talk to grant agencies to see what help can be given. These are not necessarily all post offices, one or two pubs have put in an IT desk, a bakery and deliver newspapers. This all echoes the Prince of Wales's belief that if pubs close, the community is doomed to die."

Pub is the Hub

When the foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001 devastated the countryside economy, and pubs and other rural businesses were closed, the Prince of Wales initiated the Pub is the Hub through one of his charities, Business in the Community.

The brief was to encourage breweries, licensees, pub companies and local communities to work together to encourage rural life by using the local pub, which is at the heart of most communities.

Pubs are offered advice by people like regional advisor for the south-west Richard Butterworth on how best they can thrive by supporting local food and drink businesses, or using parts of the pub for additional retail space, such as a post office.

Visit www.pubisthehub.org.uk or call 01423 568987 for more information.