Express & Star

Different beer each week and great atmosphere helps bring new life to vicarage-turned-pub

Opening a micropub is a new and modern way of taking a building which has fallen into disrepair or has seen better days and giving it a new lease of life.

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Buildings which once hummed with life as a bank, butchers, church or some other part of public life, but have laid dormant through closures have been transformed into places full of people enjoying a beer, a chat and a cob.

One place which has created a buzz is the Olde Vicarage Ale House in Bilbrook, which turned a former vicarage into a pub for lovers of ale in May last year and, since then, has enjoyed becoming a focal point of the community.

The pub is the latest thing in the building, which has previously served as a vicarage and child’s nursery and had been a restaurant and events place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a moment in time which led to the demise of the restaurant.

Karl Thomas and Andy Evans show off some of the beers on offer

Andy Evans, who has been the mastermind behind the Codsall Beer Festival, said that he and co-owner George Price had met with a few other people to talk about turning it into a micropub, with Andy invited to be the person responsible for choosing the beer.

Mr Evans says he’s worked in pubs previously and gained a lot of experience from running the beer festival, so feels the time was right to do it.

He explains: “In January 2023, we all got together and because of my history running the beer festival for the last eight years, I was asked to do the beer side, which meant looking at the beers and choosing the right ones for the pub.