Locals celebrate day Lionhearted vision becomes welcome reality

GLASSES RAISED AFTER MUCH-LOVED VILLAGE PUB IS OFFICIALLY RE-OPENED

- By SIOBHAN MIDDLETON

GLASSES were raised in Ickleton on Sunday (June 29) to toast the re-opening of the village pub.

The Ickleton Lion, in Abbey Street, was put up for sale by Greene King in 2024 but saved by locals.

One year later, owners, volunteers and villagers celebrated the return of the much-loved pub. Unable to turn their back on their local, volunteers raised more than £440,000 to buy the pub themselves, having formed a community benefit society.

Raising money was not the only hurdle over the past six months, more than 120 volunteers rolled up their sleeves to completely refurbish the pub and garden after it had sat empty for almost two years. The pub will be open to the public from Wednesday (July 2), in a gradual re-opening as the bar and kitchen becomes fully staffed.

Betty Willmott, Ickleton's oldest resident, has lived on the same street as the pub all her life. She was invited by incoming pub committee chair Eric Burrows to pop the cork on the fizz used to toast the pub.

South Cambridgeshire MP Pippa Heylings, who supported the 'Ickleton Lionhearted' campaign from the start, also addressed those gathered to praise the "community spirit" revealed in the re-opening.