Camra campaigns to re-open seven Bristol pubs

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has begun a campaign to re-open seven well-known Bristol pubs that are currently boarded up.

With the motto 'Love a Local Pub', the Bristol and District branch of Camra have spent the past week writing to local breweries, pub chains and operators in the hope they will reopen the seven empty pubs.

Peter Bridle, chairman of the Bristol and District CAMRA Pubs Campaigning Group, told the local newspaper: "Currently there are quite a few boarded up pubs within our patch. They often make a very sorry sight.

"We believe that, with the right customer offering, there could potentially be tremendous opportunities for someone to acquire one or more of these pubs and turn them into thriving community pubs once again. Even better if they could be genuine free houses."

The pubs are: the Phoenix on Wellington Road, currently owned by Bristol City Council; the Plume of Feathers on Hotwell Road, a freehold with a reduced price; the Bell in Redcliffe, which was recently sold privately; the Rummer on the High Street in the city centre, a historic building which has been partially re-opened; the King Charles on King Square and Bell in Stapleton, which are both for sale; and the Printer's Devil on Broad Plain, to let. Bridle says many pubs previously considered unviable in the past by large operators have turned into very successful pubs.

Both the current South West Regional Pub of the Year and the national winner are pubs that had been discarded by national brewers.