Villagers near to hitting fundraising target to rescue Devon pub made famous by landlady of 75 years

• ITV West Country's Graham Lewis went to meet the people trying to save the pub

A community in Devon is trying to raise enough money to save one of the most iconic pubs in the county.

The Drewe Arms at Drewsteignton became famous due to its management under the same landlady, Mable Mudge, for 75 years.

She retired in 1994, aged 99 - holding the record as the oldest pub landlady.

The pub closed last year, a victim of the cost of living crisis, and is now up for sale after local people formed a campaign group to purchase it on behalf of the community.

Henry Hassell, 16, has adapted a Sam Fender song, as part of the campaign.

He’s hoping to sing it in the pub on opening night.

Although he is too young to buy a pint for himself, he understands the value of the pub to the local community.

Mr Hassell said: “It's just a place where everyone comes together. Like at Christmas, everyone goes for a walk and then comes back for drinks.

“All the kids of the village come and like in the song, everyone goes and plays in the churchyard while the adults go and drink inside.

"And then we all come in and meet, with a fire in the main room, and it's just a nice hub for the village and community to meet.”

Villagers have formed Drewsteignton Community Society and are crowdfunding to raise £600,000 to buy, and re-open, the pub.

One of the campaigners, Imogen Clements, said: “Since it's been closed for over a year now, you've kind of really felt it.

“You can feel how the village has just sort of died. it just goes quiet, tourists come in, get out their cars, get back in and it feels like a bit of a sort of ghost village without its life and soul, which was most definitely the pub.”

The campaigners have already had an offer to buy the pub accepted, but they also need funds to refurbish the grade II listed building.

Toby Rubbra, Chair of Drewsteignton Community Society, said: “The idea is to create a community kitchen that not only supplies food for the pub but can outreach meals for the elderly in the community.

“We also want to create Mabel's store, which is where people can come and buy fresh produce that we will be using in the pub as well.”

Campaigner Liz Wiseman said: “It's been very dark walking past on a winter's night, not having our pub awake and alive.

“Everybody's sort of been hibernating and as soon as we've got this pub back to life, we will get back those friendships.”

The villagers have already raised £480,000 and hope they can hit their target in the next few weeks and open in time for Christmas.

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