Campaigners are continuing the fight to save a town Wetherspoon pub which they described as the ‘heart and soul’ of the community.
Community leaders and residents alike were left in shock in February after it was announced that the town’s well-frequented Wetherspoon pub – The Ernehale – had gone up for sale.
The pub giant has put the spot on Nottingham Road on the market for offers in excess of £400,000.
However, the move has been met with widespread criticism, and more than 1,200 signatures have been left on a petition set up by Gedling’s Labour MP Michael Payne, who has called on the pub company to reverse its decision.
Andrew Ludlow, secretary of the Nottingham branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said The Ernehale was a popular meeting place and that it offered affordability during the cost of living crisis.
He said: “While Wetherspoon is a business entity, it is often the heart and soul of communities.
“They offer facilities for such long periods of the day, with good-value beer, wine, and cider. In places like Arnold, I doubt there are many that can open and cover all those requirements.
“The amount of times I’ve been in there and there are people sitting there having a beer and reading the paper – if the pub goes, where are they going to go?
“You’ve got company and warmth. These days we’re being bombarded by increased costs on everything. Sometimes it can be difficult to strike up acquaintances.
“You can sit there and have a good-value meal or coffee, have the advantage that it’s warm – during a bad winter you do worry about people living on their own who can’t get out and can’t afford to keep the heating on.”
Mr Ludlow called the popular chain a “magnet” for towns, helping boost the other pubs in the area, and called it a “dreadful loss”.
Gedling Borough Council leader John Clarke (Lab) said the sale of the Wetherspoon pub would be “another empty hole in the high street”.
He said: “I’m just baffled; it’s been pretty full every time I go past.
“The key thing is mental health and quality of life issues. When I was younger back [at home], every street corner had a pub or off-licence on it.
“If you wanted to listen to what was going on, [it was in a pub]. They’re great places for charities and family groups. It’s the way people can think and discuss things; it’s good, healthy debate and we’ll lose that – everyone’s now sat on their phones and taking things as gospel.”
“If you go into The Ernehale you feel safe and you actually get something to eat, and if you need to use the facilities they’re excellent – a lot of people who use it are on a fixed income, and that’s where it will have a great effect.”
Cllr Clarke says he would “encourage everybody” to get involved in the campaign to stop it from being sold.
He added: “[The closure] would probably be balanced out by the smaller bars, but I wouldn’t want to see anything else go.”
Michael Payne wrote to Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin, and the chief executive John Hutson, asking them to reconsider the decision to sell the Arnold pub, telling them he would be willing to meet in person to discuss the sale.
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We understand that staff and customers will be disappointed with the news.
“Wetherspoon does, on occasion, put some of its pubs up for sale, and this is the case here.
“It is a commercial decision taken by the company. The pub will continue to operate as a Wetherspoon until it is sold.”
In the last two years, Wetherspoon has sold off other Nottinghamshire pubs – including The Regent in Kirby-in-Ashfield and The Sir John Arderne in Newark.
