Pub’s New Community Kitchen Garden Aiming to Grow Food and Friendships
A North Yorkshire pub is enhancing its role at the heart of its local community by establishing a community kitchen garden to help bring locals together through a shared interest and to grow produce for the community-owned pub’s shop.
The new community kitchen garden at The Black Lion in Skelton-on-Ure, near Ripon, which opened last year and is community-owned, features several planters and a greenhouse to help support growing throughout the seasons. The pub was previously closed for six years until it was bought by the community in 2024 and underwent extensive renovations.
Plants and cuttings from allotment holders in the village, which has limited public transport, are helping to get growing underway in the garden, which has been established on land behind the pub.
The Black Lion is run by a small committee of volunteers, supported by a bar manager and a team of around 30 other volunteers.
The garden will be looked after ongoing by the pub’s volunteers, as well as attendees of a new gardening club that is being set up.
With expert guidance and access to a grant from Pub is The Hub, supported by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST), the new community kitchen garden has further strengthened The Black Lion as a community hub for local people and is helping to combat social isolation in this rural area.
A box of gardening tools and essentials to help support the pub’s community garden was also provided to The Black Lion team by Pub is The Hub who teamed up with Horticap, a horticultural charity based in Harrogate for adults with learning and other disabilities, to create the gardening boxes.
David Horn, chair of the Skelton-on-Ure Pub & Hub Ltd, said: “This wonderful kitchen garden is another way our community pub supports the wellbeing of local people. It has been brought to life through the collective efforts of volunteers and will provide a positive way for villagers and people from neighbouring areas to connect around a shared interest, while its produce will also provide a small revenue stream for the pub.”
He added: “It’s also a great way of maintaining the involvement of volunteers who are keen gardeners in the pub’s projects, and we hope it will continue to widen the range of people who get involved in supporting The Black Lion.”
Regional Advisor for Pub is The Hub Nigel Williams said: “The new garden will complement and build on the strength of the pub’s thriving community café, shop and other regular activities to help grow social connections further.”
Minister for the Future of Work Kate Dearden said: “Rural pubs like The Black Lion are vital to communities like Skelton-on-Ure. Whether it’s by creating jobs or providing locals with important public services and activities, it’s crucial for them to have a place to come together and socialise.
“This is exactly why we are working to secure the future of rural pubs and venues through our Hospitality Support Fund. On top of the £4.3bn support package announced last year, we’ve slashed business rates for pubs by 15% and are boosting this to 20% from April.”