VILLAGERS are bidding to reopen an historic pub more than a year after it shut.

The Lord Raglan, in Walmersley Old Road, Nangreaves, has stood empty since October 2017 when it closed after landlord, Terry Leyden, retired.

Prior to the closure, a group of residents banded together in a bid to rescue the former community hub, known locally as ‘The Rag’.

Residents say they made an offer to buy the pub, but it was turned down by the owners.

The building has since been deemed an asset of community value by Bury Council, meaning that its owners must delay any sale until the community has been given the opportunity to buy the site.

And in a bid to buy the pub, which is currently on the market for almost £485,000, the Raglan Community Hub group is currently in the process of putting together a business plan

They hope to launch a community share venture at the end of January.

Paul Robinson, chairman of the Raglan Community Hub, said: “The aim is to buy the pub and run it as a co-operative, non-profit organisation, but along similar lines to what it was doing before. There has been a definite change in the community since it closed. We have lost touch with people because we do not have a community hub. The village has always been a strong one, but it is breaking down. The pub was the only thing and now it has gone.”

When the venture is eventually launched, investors will be able to make a minimum purchase of 100 shares, at a cost of £1 each. The group hopes the venture will help raise the funds to purchase and renovate the site, which they estimate will cost between £300,000-£500,000.

During the 19th century, the historic building was home to a butcher’s shop, which was a popular stopping off point for merchants and travellers on the main pack horse route from Manchester to Burnley.

It later became a pub and was given the name ‘The Lord Raglan’ after the Commander of the British Army during the Crimean War.

The pub previously had its own microbrewery, Leyden Brewery, which shut down in early 2017.

Mr Leyden was unavailable for comment.