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.
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.
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.
