Malt Shovel, Lambourn

A Grade II listed pub that used to be the old village bakery and is now popular with the racing fraternity. The large beer garden has views over adjacent fields. Up to three cask ales are served. The pub reopened after refurbishment and under new management on 1 October 2015. Locally sourced fresh British food served daily. A planning application was validated by West Berkshire Council on 2 Aug 2016 with a determination deadline of 27 Sep 16 - 16/02023/FULD | Proposed change of use and conversion of Public House (A4 use) to 6 dwellings (C3 use) | The Malt Shovel Upper Lambourn Hungerford Berkshire RG17 8QN. Conversion to flats planning application withdrawn late 2016.

30/7/2017 Newbury Today reports:

Upper Lambourn’s ancient Malt Shovel pub is doomed.

Its death knell was sounded at a meeting of West Berkshire Council’s western area planning committee on Wednesday last week, when permission was granted to convert the Grade II-listed building into flats.

The applicant, owner Roger McCabe, had claimed the business was no longer viable and instead wants to convert the property into six flats with a combined total of nine bedrooms.

Local resident Vivian Griffith maintained: “This Malt Shovel is central and vital to Upper Lambourn.

“It really is the heart of the racing community and was run successfully until the present owner bought it.

“I lived opposite for three years and know only too well how very busy and vibrant it was.

“When the present owner bought it, it was excellent at first, but quickly declined through almost wilfully bad management – at times no beer, no food, no chef, no wine; consistently poor service, and then the first application was made to convert it into flats... the Malt Shovel is very much missed.”

Another objector, Robert Balin, told the meeting: “It’s the only focal hub that Upper Lambourn has. Clearly the business was viable before its sale [to the current owner].

“Bad commercial practice shouldn’t be rewarded in this way.”

Mr McCabe’s agent, Chris Parker, told councillors his client was “a man of the people”, and added: “He understands how the community feels.”

But the racing community had moved on and no longer supported the pub, he maintained.

The committee voted five to three in favour of granting planning permission.