Merry Christmas!
On Christmas Eve the Foresters Arms will have been open for business for eleven years as a community owned pub, such a fantastic achievement. Once again, we can all look back and reflect on the hard work put in by the original Committee back in 2011, and the sheer joy of the official opening by Alistair and Jonathon Brownlee, which took place on 10th November 2012.
On the 24th September 2022 the CCP Ltd celebrated 10 years of the Foresters Arms trading as a community owned pub. A marquee was erected in the car park, where live music was enjoyed by those attending during the afternoon and evening. An outdoor bar was set up and barbequed food was served throughout the celebrations. The event was very well attended and a great time was had by all.
The Foresters Arms appeared on TV on 26th October. Look North ran a feature calling for government support for pubs and the hospitality business in general. Our MP and Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said in the feature that he had previously carried out a survey of almost two hundred pubs in his constituency, mentioning specifically the George and Dragon at Hudswell and the Foresters Arms. Paul was seen pulling a pint whilst explaining how the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy costs were impacting businesses like the Foresters Arms.
There is no doubt that the hospitality industry is being hit hard, many pubs closed their doors permanently during the last year. However, “the community owned pub sector grew by 11% in 2021, with 15 community owned pubs having opened, bringing the total to 146 by December 2021” (Plunkett Foundation).
A famous face was seen in the Foresters in October, non-other than the chef Marco Pierre White, who was staying in Coverdale. Paul and Diana ‘fed and watered’ him, receiving positive feedback from him. See more on Paul and Diana’s Foresters Arms Facebook page.
Christmas events and opening times can be found on the Foresters Arms website www.forestersarmscoverdale.com and also on
Paul and Diana’s Foresters Arms Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Foresters-Arms/100084124423853/
We send our good wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year.
Thank you for being shareholders in our community owned pub, your continued support is much appreciated. If you have changed postal address, email address or telephone number please inform John Watson our membership secretary, his contact details are at the beginning of this newsletter. If you have received this newsletter as a hard copy by post and are willing to receive future communication from the CCP Ltd by email, please email your consent to John at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.