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Lorry smash pub to reopen in 2025

BBC The front of a rendered light brown pub with the words Three Fishes on a dark blue sign and metal fencing around the frontBBC
Black Country Ales has applied for permission to repair and expand the pub, preserving the front and making safe the rear

A pub wrecked when a lorry crashed into it last month should reopen in the second half of next year, according to the new owners.

The Three Fishes in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, was bought by Black Country Ales just before the crash, which managing director Graham Manwaring said was "very unfortunate".

But he said the events had not changed the plans for the pub, which he said he wanted to be a good, real ale venue.

A planning application to repair and extend the pub was submitted on Friday and the former landlord, James Duerden, said he was pleased to hear it would return.

Mr Manwaring said his company's plans had been made more complicated by the crash, partly because of the need to deal with insurers and loss adjusters.

After speaking to structural engineers, he said it had also become apparent that more of the building would need to be demolished to make it safe.

But he said the plan remained to keep the front of the pub looking "pretty much the same as it does", while making it larger at the back, partly to incorporate a new cellar.

The rear of a rendered pub with bricks and other rubble scattered on the ground and the insides of the building visible. The roof is hanging unsupported
Black Country Ales said work was being carried out to remove damaged parts of the pub, to make it safe

Mr Manwaring said that, subject to planning permission, the pub should reopen "worst case scenario in the last quarter" of 2025 - and sooner if all went well.

He said he hoped it would be a case of "one step backwards and a couple forward" for the venue.

A man with brown hair and a small beard wearing a blue fleece with a white hood standing on the roadside in front of a partially demolished pub with yellow walls and a blue sign on the wall
James Duerden said he hoped to one day run another pub

Mr Duerden had been preparing to hand over the pub to Black Country Ales when the crash happened in the early hours of 11 November.

He has since gone to work at The Beeches, also in the village, while he looks for another pub to run.

"I've got the bug for it and definitely want to do it again," he said.

He had been back to the pub since the crash to recover some property and said it was "heartbreaking" to see the state it was in.

But as someone who had drunk in the pub "for a long time" he also said he was delighted to hear Black Country Ales would restore it.

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