Pub Heritage Bulletin 275 Feb 2026

Staffordshire, VINE, Stoke-on-Trent. The Vine is a rare surviving example of a well preserved small back street Victorian local, consisting of three small rooms off a central corridor. The pub had been owned by the same family since 1939 until its closure in 2021, leading to grave concerns over its future.
New owners Steve Burke and Lisa Combes bought the Vine at auction in November 2024. Steve, a self-confessed real ale fanatic, was determined to save the pub, despite never having visited before it was advertised for sale. The pub reopened in June 2025, following repair and restoration work, with the aim of bringing it back to its former glory and preserving the historic interior.
Steve & Lisa have maintained and developed the community focus of this special pub, making a welcoming place for its local customers and hosting events including the reintroduction of traditional pub games. Special thanks to Steve and Lisa on their fantastic effort in bringing this historic gem back to life.
View the Pub

Greater Manchester, CROWN, Stockport. The Crown, a 19th Century pub with a still discernible multi-room layout, was considered the finest real ale pub in Stockport for many years, culminating in it being awarded runner up for the CAMRA National Pub of the Year award in 2009. A period of decline followed, with a number of short-term licensees running the pub. The interior also suffered in this period from unsympathetic refurbishment. Fortunately, in 2025 the lease for the Crown, which is owned by Red Oak Taverns, was taken on by Alan and Chris Gent who run Stockport’s highly award winning Petersgate Tap (CAMRA North West Region Pub of the Year 2025). Following a sympathetic and well received refurbishment the Crown re-opened in August 2025 and, with eight cask ales from independent brewers now on offer, it has regained its rightful place at the heart of Stockport’s real ale and pub scene.
View the Pub

Three Star Heritage Pubs

Greater Manchester, TOLLEMACHE ARMS, Mossley. This end terrace pub, owned by Robinsons since 1926, has been put up for sale with an asking price of £175,000. The interior dates to a 1920s refit undertaken by Robinsons. See: The Correspondent. Thanks to Chris Morris and John Clarke for this news.
View the Pub

South Yorkshire, BIG GUN HOTEL, Sheffield. Some bad but not unexpected news to report from Sheffield where the retrospective planning application to convert the Big Gun has been approved. The upper floor is to be an HMO and the ground floor pub area divided into 3 commercial units. The owner had already gutted the interior with the intention of turning it into a pizza outlet as reported in the May 2024 bulletin. Thanks to Dave Pickersgill for this update.
View the Pub

Norfolk, EARLE ARMS, Heydon. This picturesque village pub, which was originally a coaching inn, dates back to the 18th Century and is owned, along with the rest of the village, by the Heydon Estate. Licensee Andrew Harrison, who has run the pub for 26 years retired at Christmas. The Earle Arms is due to reopen with new tenants in the spring after a planned refurbishment with a promise that that they ‘don’t want to change too much’. See: Eastern Daily Press. Any updates once it has reopened would be welcome.
View the Pub

Alan Canvess
We reflect with great sadness on the loss of one of CAMRA’s most hard-working and talented regional activists whose great contributions to Pub Heritage campaigning, especially in his Yorkshire homeland, command our lasting gratitude. In Hull, where he lived all his life, Alan was a major figure for his local CAMRA branch from the 1980s onwards, with long spells as its Chair and its magazine Editor and always as a passionate campaigner for historic pubs. Often outspoken, but ever sincere, polite and friendly, Alan had a mature awareness of the ‘professional’ approach required to promote and protect them. He immersed himself in providing heritage advice on many planning proposals affecting pubs, often spending long hours on research or liaising with like-minded colleagues and local historians to present well-reasoned evidence to official bodies. He helped secure early statutory listing for National Inventory mainstays like Hull’s Olde Black Boy, Polar Bear and (his much-loved) St John's, plus the Eagle at Skerne and, quite audaciously, the entire railway station at Bridlington to help protect its unique Buffet rooms. From the 1990s onwards he was not only a core member CAMRA’s national Planning Advisory Group but also of the team compiling the Yorkshire Regional Inventory, where his contributions included a first comprehensive appraisal for the whole of East Yorkshire. Alan died on 30 December 2025 aged 68, after seven years of cruelly-worsening health challenges, all faced with an incredible determination to stay engaged and helpful to others in the causes, like our own, which were dear to him (Dave Gamston)