Save Our Pubs: Join our competition winners on The Telegraph’s National Pub Day
Save Our Pubs: Join our competition winners on The Telegraph’s National Pub Day
Georgia CookTue, May 5, 2026 at 1:12 PM UTC
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Collage of winning pubs
Claim your free pint of Telegraph Ale here.
An average of four pubs per day have announced their closure this year, robbing towns and villages of their community hubs. Many of Britain’s remaining pub owners now face a barrage of relief cuts, red tape and ruinous taxes.
To support this vital industry, The Telegraph launched a nationwide competition in March, as part of our Save Our Pubs campaign.
Punters nominated their much-loved locals to win a round with a 250-word entry sharing why their favourite pub is one of a kind. Our five winners, selected by The Telegraph’s judging panel, have won a £5,000 drinks tab, for patrons like you to enjoy on our National Pub Day on Saturday, May 16.
You can also claim a free pint of Telegraph Ale at each of the winning establishments as well as more than 250 pubs across the country. To redeem a pint of our limited-edition brew, click here.
William Sitwell, The Telegraph’s restaurant critic and one of the competition’s judges, said: “Pubs are the centre of communities and a cornerstone of culture and as social hubs, employers and places of fun we cannot underestimate their importance. So as Labour oversees their destruction we must fight back, but in that most British of ways: by having a pint.
“The winners of Save Our Pubs all share the nuggets of what makes a great pub: they are independent businesses, they serve great beer, they act as hubs of comfort and welcome and constantly innovate to find ways of attracting business.
“Our Save Our Pubs campaign has had an extraordinary number of entries, which shows quite how important and cherished these institutions are. The pub is not just the hub of a community and a business they are the beating heart of Britain. Every sip of beer, every crunch of a pork scratching must be our fight back to save this most precious and ancient part of our island story.”
Here are the five winning pubs:
The White Horse Inn, Stourpaine, Dorset
Five Bells, Rattlesden, Bury St Edmunds
The Three Kings, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire
Brown and Blacks, Scone, Perthshire
The Blacksmiths Arms, Lastingham, North Yorkshire
The White Horse Inn, Stourpaine, Dorset
The owners of the White Horse, Chris and Ali Sargent, hopes people who can’t always afford to go to the pub will stop by for a drink on May 16
Chris Sargent, 66, has owned The White Horse for 25 years with his wife Allison Sargent, 59, who joined him 10 years ago.
He explained how the increase in business rates and National Insurance introduced by Labour has been “a tough cookie to gulp”.
But for the couple, it’s all about the customers. The White Horse received more than five submissions from punters.
Upon finding out the news, Mr Sargent shared how he hoped people who can’t always afford to go to the pub will stop by for a drink on May 16 and enjoy the day, while encouraging others in the area to help support more pubs.
“We’re a typical English village pub. We do good food, I’m always in the kitchen, so that’s how we cut major costs down because Ali and I work there. She’s front-of-house. Expect good English food, you know, all the basic go-to meals.”
“We’ve got a loyal band of customers and they’re more than aware prices have gone up, which I think is key to this. When we put our prices up, which inevitably we do, they take it on the chin. So we’re really lucky like that in our pub.”
Five Bells, Rattlesden, Bury St Edmunds
The Five Bells in Rattlesden is open 12pm until 12am, seven days a week
Debbie Oliver has owned the Five Bells in Rattlesden for 30 years. When she bought it, she had no previous hospitality experience, so she described it as “a leap into the unknown”.
Ms Oliver was “gobsmacked” to hear her pub had won: “A customer came in on a Saturday and told me they’d enter the pub to the competition, but I didn’t think any more about it because we’re only little. I never thought we’d win.
“My favourite thing about the Five Bells are the customers. John, who nominated us, has been coming for years.”
As landlords in rural areas are being forced to reduce their opening hours to tackle high costs, the Five Bells remains open from 12pm to 12am, seven days a week.
Ms Oliver and her staff know customers by first name and the pub prides itself on being a pillar of the community – hosting a myriad of events from bike shows, carol singing at Christmas, charity fundraisers and beer and cider festivals. The pub even hosts a visiting barber to save locals travelling miles into town.
As the winning entry describes: “If you need a plumber, electrician, mechanic or just a shoulder to cry on Debbie and her team will be there!”
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The Three Kings Inn, Hanley Castle, Worcester
The Three Kings Inn in Worcestershire represents the quintessential traditional English local - Jay Williams
The Three Kings Inn, tucked away in the medieval village of Hanley Castle in Worcestershire, is housed in a 15th-century building. Its punters describe it as a pub which represents the quintessential traditional English local.
For Sue Roberts, 62, the landlady, the news of her pub winning came as a complete shock. “It was a great surprise because I knew nothing about it at all,” she said, describing herself as “highly delighted” to hear the pub had won.
The Three Kings has been in the Roberts family for more than a century. “My parents ran the pub and dad’s parents ran the pub, so the family has owned it since 1911,” she explained. Ms Roberts herself has spent her whole life there, gradually taking over as her mother became less able to manage day-to-day operations.
Little has changed at the pub since the Roberts family first took over, something Ms Roberts believes is key to its appeal. “We’re really old-fashioned, like pubs used to be many years ago. People like stepping back in time, don’t they?” she said.
That sense of tradition extends to its role in the village: “It’s a great community. The regulars all know each other and see each other every week.
“Local pubs are the heart of the community in many cases. We do village events, charity events, raising money locally for various causes.”
Brown and Blacks, Scone, Perth
From morning French lessons, to afternoon teas and sports sponsorships, the Black & Brown in Perth is ‘the heart of the community’
Katie Long, 45, was brought to tears and took a large sigh of relief when she found out the pub would be one of the winners.
She said: “I’m delighted to get it because it just felt like I needed a bit of a boost, probably emotionally and mentally because I think for the first time in three years I’ve just been able to breathe again.”
Ms Long has owned her business for 12 years and relocated it to Scone, near Perth, six-and-a-half years ago – transforming a derelict building through a £140,000 refurbishment.
From morning French lessons to afternoon teas and sports sponsorships, the pub is “the heart of the community”.
Ms Long shared: “I’ve always been so appreciative of every person that comes through the door. I’m delighted that I can get customers in and just say thank you for always being there and supporting me.
“I want people to understand how difficult it is. I’ve launched an appeal and I’m going to keep fighting.”
She has big plans for National Pub Day, hoping to “go to town with it”. From The Telegraph merchandise and a barbecue to bouncy castles for families.
The Blacksmiths Arms, Lastingham, near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire
Ali Moran, the owner and head chef of the Blacksmith Arms, describes it as ‘what people imagine a Yorkshire country pub to be’
Born and raised in North Yorkshire, Ali Moran, 33, the landlord and head chef, describes the Blacksmiths Arms as “what people imagine a Yorkshire country pub to be”.
Speaking from the small village of Lastingham amidst the rugged beauty of the Yorkshire moors, Mr Moran described what it meant to him and his staff to win the competition. “It makes it all worthwhile,” he said. “Times aren’t easy for the hospitality industry so any kind of acknowledgement like this shows what we contribute.”
“I was thrilled because we’ve got a team that works hard, so to be recognised for that speaks to the community and our customers,” he said.
Having worked in kitchens since he left school, hospitality is Mr Moran’s passion. He’s owned the Blacksmiths Arms for the last five years having bought it at the tail end of the Covid pandemic.
Mr Moran described the importance of the pub as a social hub, especially after the isolation experienced by many during the pandemic.
“When you’ve got people in these small communities some of them live on their own, some of them are farmers who work on their own. They need somewhere to come at the end of the day or the weekend and socialise and get that interaction,” he said.
“The Blacksmiths Arms is a place that they know they can come any time of the day and there’s always someone to talk to.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
