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Ambitious plans for community pub after first year

Steve SilkSuffolk
News imageSteve Silk/BBC The manager of the pub, Maria Swanscott, standing at the bar of The Framsden Greyhound next to hand pumps. She is wearing an orange top and is smiling.Steve Silk/BBC
Maria Swanscott is the manager of The Greyhound which reopened last Christmas

Volunteers celebrating the first anniversary of the reopening of a community pub say they have ambitious plans for 2026.

The Framsden Greyhound in Framsden, Suffolk, had been closed since 2016 before it threw open its doors again last Christmas.

The pub - which is run as a co-operative with 190 members - now offers food as well as local beers and runs charity quiz nights, bingo sessions and petanque competitions.

Director Brian Cox said the next stage was to re-route a stream behind the pub, to create a larger garden for outside events.

News imageSteve Silk/BBC The rear of The Framsden Greyhound - with pink stuccoed walls - backing onto a stream with a concrete retaining wall between the building and the waterway. The area is a little scrubby and messy.Steve Silk/BBC
The volunteers have talked to the Environment Agency about re-routing a stream further away from the rear of the building.

"The pub was flooded during Storm Babette in 2023, so it's partly about better flood defences and partly about providing a bigger pub garden and car parking," Mr Cox said.

"The sun sets in that direction and we have a vision of families enjoying themselves out there, kicking a ball about.

"The first year has been much more successful than I dared hope for.

"The campaign was stressful at times, but it all came together in the end."

After temporarily welcoming drinkers for Christmas 2024, The Greyhound fully opened in the spring of 2025.

Maria Swanscott, the pub manager and only paid employee, said she had been keen to listen to local people.

"It turns out they wanted a proper old-fashioned pub where you can have a drink but also enjoy good homemade food at reasonable prices.

"Our pies are a big favourite. We compare it to going home for dinner at your mum's."

News imageSupplied Picture shows a black and white image of the pub with a thatched roof, a sign advertising Cobbold ales and stout as well as a hanging sign saying Greyhound Inn, Framsden.Supplied
For most of its life, the Grade II listed pub was known as The Greyhound Inn

According to Historic England, the Grade II listed building dates back to about1600 - with evidence that it has been a pub since the 1700s.

In the years before it closed, it had been renamed as The Doberman.

Villagers say it was in a poor condition when it was finally bought, following a long fundraising campaign and a grant from the government's Community Ownership Fund.

Volunteer Helen Morton said: "There was a hole in the roof, soggy carpets and and an overgrown garden.

"But lots of people came forward to help in whichever way they could."

News imageSteve Silk/BBC Picture shows volunteers Helen Morton, Pat Mason and Brian Cox standing next to manager Maria Swanscott outside the pub.Steve Silk/BBC
From left to right: Volunteer Helen Morton, board members Pat Mason and Brian Cox and manager Maria Swanscott

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