Pubs are Closing. Pubs are still struggling. Pubs are going to over taken by coffee shops by 2025. These are things we hear all the time, but what people don’t think about is how important pubs are to people and more importantly to communities.

Pubs are, and always have been, the epicentre of all life, a place to truly relax – they are particular to us the British.

Yes, undoubtedly they’ve lost their way a little bit, but with some imagination, some good old fashioned hospitality and a new way of looking at the pub business, they can very much thrive.

This ‘new way’ isn’t about looking futuristically forwards, installing screens, having a theme, using iPads to take orders! No, sometimes it’s about looking backwards to what pubs and inns were originally for. To allow people to take a break from the world outside – a microcosm where everything is all fine and dandy, the beer flows and theirs a comfy chair to forget your woes.

In a world that’s forever expanding and becoming more complicated to live in – the simple pleasures of good food and nice beer become ever more important.

We as a business aren’t focused on profits; more the people, and saving pubs.

They are an endangered species, and I personally cannot imagine living without “a local” to call my own.

Eynsham is a true village, (you have to cross a toll bridge to get to it) with a lovely church, a butchers shop, a post office, and several pubs – it’s a buzzing little place with events to bring everyone together throughout the year.

The welcome we’ve received from the good people of Eynsham has been incredible.

Anthony the old fella who wanders the square, Martin in the Butchers, the Talbot brothers (potentially the only hipsters in the village), the girls in the sandwich shop opposite, and Mark at The Queens Head up the road – have all been brilliant. It’s a place that seems like home to us already.

The Red Lion is our first pub outside of Oxford, having between us previously set up The Jolly Postboys in Florence Park – a community-focused pub that serves great food, independently brewed beers and puts a huge emphasis on our guests’ experience.

It had been on a pub company disposal list but is now a thriving local.

The Red Lion is a perfect example of a village pub, and we hope our pub can be part of many of Eynsham’s annual events from May Day to the infamous Carnival – to bring people together.

Be that over a coffee and cake in the day, a lovely glass of wine in the afternoon or a beer after the football. We can’t wait to be part of this thriving community.

The floors have been stripped, the walls painted, the beer ready and our chef is already living onsite enjoying the sights and smells of historic Eynsham.

DREW BRAMMER