AN AWARD winning British pub has announced it will be closing its doors for the last time after 174 years.
The owners of a critically acclaimed pub in a rural Derbyshire village shared a sad message confirming plans to close in the New Year.
The Druid Inn pub in Birchover, a small village a few miles west of Matlock, announced the closure with a “heavy heart”.
Owners, the Stanton Estate, added that they were “gutted” to come to such a decision and it would be a “tough December” for staff.
A statement from the management team, Mercer and Gypsy, said: “It’s with a very heavy heart and total disappointment that I have to announce the upcoming closure of the Druid Inn on January 5, 2026.
“The Stanton Estate have made this decision and we are gutted [to say] the very least.
“It’s going to be a tough December to get through with many staff not having a job to return to after the New Year so please understand if we are not all singing and dancing for you.
“We will try our best. Times to be confirmed shortly for opening times over the Christmas and New Year period.”
Tuesday’s announcement prompted an outpouring of support online, with hundreds rushing to pass on their best wishes to the team.
One Facebook user, Nick Speed, wrote: “My favourite pub ever! So many happy memories of family trips for amazing food, some of my very first drinks, and, of course, climbing on the rocks.
“My first lasagne, moussaka and bobotie – all here. Who else remembers the Turkish lamb with cardamom and yoghurt? That was my favourite.”
Andrew J Goodwin added: “That’s awful.
“This by far is my wife and I’s favourite pub, we visited in the summer, and the landlord and staff were amazing, and the landlord told us of all the plans they had for it, and it sounded amazing.
“Our visit at the end of this month will be our last, and it makes us very sad!”
Alice Eaton said: “So sad. This has been on the maps for hundreds of years! You were doing such an awesome job really bringing it to life, becoming a great place for locals and visitors.”
The pub has glistening reviews on both Tripadvisor and Google, earning a solid 4.6/5 rating on the latter from more than 800 reviews, and, in 2017, it was named Matlock and Dales CAMRA Pub of the Year.
It isn’t just local businesses that are closing their doors.
Earlier this week, fast food chain Leon warned of possible widespread closures across its 70 sites with risk of jobs being axed after plunging to eye-watering £8m loss.
John Vincent, who co-founded Leon in 2004, said the potential changes to the business are part of a bid to revitalise the chain, which recorded a pre-tax loss of more than £8m last year.
Having sold the business several years ago to the billionaire brothers behind petrol station empire EG for £100m, Mr Vincent bought it back from owners Asda in October.
The supermarket giant had acquired the restaurant chain following a restructuring programme at EG.
As part of the move to overhaul Leon, whose slogan is “the earth’s greatest fast food”, the management team said they are planning changes to the menu and stores.
