If you do, then the 'Inns on the Edge' team would love to hear from you. Come along to an open day at Batemans Brewery in Wainfleet between 11am – 4pm on Wednesday 15 September.

Ian George, historic places manager at Lincolnshire County Council, explains: "We'd love people to come forward and share their memories and relics from pubs along our amazing coast so we can record and celebrate them.

"It is part of a project funded by Historic England, where we are researching historic pubs valued by local communities and visitors along the coast between Boston and Grimsby.

"Over the past few months, we've already heard from a descendent of a former landlord of The Vine at Chapel St Leonards and a former employee of Soames Brewery in Spalding who has shared hundreds of photos of pubs across the county from the 1940s and 50s.

"It is wonderful to see how important these venues were to the local community."

Cllr Colin Davie, executive councillor for environment, comments: "Pubs are deeply rooted in the communities they serve.

"This project is an exciting opportunity to record these valued historic buildings and capture some of the wealth of intangible heritage, traditions, and social history associated with them.

"As well as researching their history, we're working with landlords and breweries to investigate the issues facing the area's hospitality sector. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, it's important we understand what is needed to help pub businesses thrive."

Tim Allen from Historic England, added: "Rural pubs are a key part of the English landscape and they've been under a lot of commercial pressure in recent years – worsened by the impact of Covid across the hospitality industry.

"Sometimes the historic significance of old pubs is only revealed when they are demolished or converted to new uses, at a point where the intangible significance of a pub as a place where community comes together, a place hosted by the landlord, is already lost.

"Historic England is funding two projects to investigate the significance of rural pubs in the contrasting landscapes of coastal Lincolnshire (Inns on the Edge) and rural Shropshire (Inn Sites); these projects will also use specialist commercial expertise to understand the pressures on these businesses and the opportunities for them to thrive and innovate in a challenging environment.

"The Lincolnshire Project will also explore the context of place and community in which historic pubs existed – the relationship of a pub to community and landscape is crucial to understanding how they and the people who run them make local identity.

"These projects are intended to help pub operators, communities and local authorities to sustain rural pubs as going concerns, not frozen in time but with the physical and social things that make them special better valued and understood."

Pubs recorded as part of the project will be added to the Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record, which is managed by the County Council. It is used by local authorities, developers and researchers to help manage the county's heritage.

To find out more about the project please contact [email protected].

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