Hesket Newmarket

Hesket Newmarket village green

Hesket Newmarket is a small village in Cumbria, on the opposite side of Skiddaw to Keswick in the North West of England. It is famed for two social enterprises, a co-operatively-owned pub, the Old Crown Inn and a co-operatively-owned brewery, the Hesket Newmarket Brewery. The village was also the home and birthplace of Carlisle Based Haulage Giant, Eddie Stobart.

Etymology

The name is recorded in 1227 as Eskeheued, pointing to Old Norse eski = ash (tree) + Anglo-Saxon hēafod = "ash-head" = "hill with ash trees on", and not the usual origin of placenames Hesket and Hesketh.

Brewery

The Hesket Newmarket Brewery was founded in 1987 by Jim Fearnley who converted the barn at the back of the Old Crown Inn. The first beer, Blencathra Bitter, was launched in March 1988. A telex message sent by Chris Bonington from Katmandu[1] and delivered by his wife Wendy, officially opened the brewery in April that year.

One of the brewery's most popular beers, Doris' 90th Birthday Ale, was officially launched on 12 September 1989 to celebrate the birthday of Jim's mother-in-law, Doris Blackwood.[2][3] The original intention had been to name the beer after a local fell, but the "temporary" name used at the party has remained.

Keeping the brewery, the Fearnley's sold the Old Crown to Robert Robson, who later sold it in 1998 to Kim and Lyn Matthews. By 1999 Jim wanted to retire from brewing. Worried that their beer might disappear and the barn be converted into a holiday cottage, local and distant customers alike asked if it was possible to buy the brewery as a group. Two options were discussed: 1. a public limited company where voting power went to those who had most cash invested or 2. a co-operative of equal shares with each member having one share and one vote. The co-operative option was adopted largely due the efforts of Kim Matthews, the landlord, and a very active Brewery Committee. With the help of Lancashire Co-ops and Cumbria C.C., Hesket Newmarket Brewery Co-operative Ltd was established by 58 people to take over the ownership of the brewery. Day-to-day management was placed in the hands of brewer Mark Graham and later Mike Parker, who reported to the committee. The community buyout received national media coverage. Kim Matthews, in recognition of his work on this rural cooperative, was invited to a reception at Downing Street honoring those who had contributed to rural enterprises. Mr. Matthews was also invited to Highgrove to meet the Prince of Wales, where the Hesket Newmarket Brewery Cooperative was cited as an exemplar for the Prince of Wales' Pub is the Hub Campaign

In 2001 the Old Crown was hit by a double blow. In February, the livestock disease Foot and Mouth rampaged across Cumbria, closing all walking access to the fells and quarantining many farms, resulting in a loss of half the pub's business overnight. Then the Old Crown's landlady, Lyn Matthews, died in April after a short illness. Kim Matthews overcame both disasters and the Old Crown remained open throughout and continued to thrive. When it came time to move on and sell the pub, following the example of the brewery coop, a group of 125 customers under the leadership of Julian Ross, formed a second cooperative to buy the pub. Staying true to cooperative principles Kim Matthews turned down other higher offers and this enabled the coop group to complete the purchase of the Old Crown in August,2003.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery and the Old Crown remain successful cooperative businesses and they help others who want advice on how to stop their village pubs and businesses from closing. Many of the locals who were sceptical about the coop idea, and others who voted for the public limited company, are now committed coop shareholders taking their annual dividends in liquid form. The Prince of Wales visited the pub in 2004 to honour the shareholders' achievements.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Hesket Newmarket | Breweries | Campaign for Real Ale Cumbria
  2. ↑ Doris' 90th Birthday Ale | Beers | The Old Crown Pub
  3. ↑ Hesket Newmarket Brewery | Caldbeck Area On-Line
  4. ↑ Village clubs together to save tiny brewery The Guardian

External links

Media related to Hesket Newmarket at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 54°44′N 3°01′W / 54.733°N 3.017°W