For three years the 18th Century Swan Public House on Mill Lane in Clewer has been closed. The future looked grim, with the owners appearing to let the building be sold for redevelopment. But then a group of locals teamed up to buy the pub as a community resource.
A fundraising drive resulted in enough interest to allow the purchase of the semi derelict property.
A team of volunteers and craftspeople have spent many months stripping, sanding, cutting, building, plastering and cleaning and at 2.00pm on 20th July 2019 a big crowd gathered as the Swan was officially reopened by Chris Brown, the Town Crier.
Outside the pub, ‘Major’ and ‘Ivan’, the Windsor and Eton Brewery Shire Horses arrived to a big round of applause with the first delivery for the pub cellar on the dray wagon.
The heartfelt speeches by the management team were followed by the unveiling of the new pub sign after which, the oldest and youngest members of the crowd were invited to step across the threshold and claim the first glass of beer.
The new Swan will be a pub, but will be much more than that. The Green Room School will be holding classes in a purpose built classroom. There will be a community Café. There are plans for a bicycle workshop too.
This is a great event for the Clewer community but the work isn’t finished yet. If anyone wishes to join in with a bit of DIY, there is still much to be done. To volunteer some time, just pop in and speak to the bar staff.
The post Swan Pub Reopens appeared first on Windsor Berkshire UK.