Village pub owners have taken advantage of the lockdown downtime and have been going through their memories.

Barbara Cossins, owner of the 17th century family pub The Langton Arms in Tarrant Monkton, found some pictures (see at the bottom) of the huge fire which ravaged her pub in 2004.

She said: “It is a time for us to look back and reflect at The Langton Arms this week. On March 2 2004, a spark from a chimney ignited our thatch roof and the resulting fire quickly took hold as we watched in horror as our livelihood was engulfed by flames. We remain thankful to the 80 or so firefighters from stations across Dorset that came to our aid and the support of our villagers who formed a human chain to salvage valuables. The roof and most of the first floor were destroyed and downstairs suffered extensive water damage.”

Community spirit coupled with hard work and determination paid off that week, as the Langton Arms miraculously re-opened the following weekend.

“We managed to re-open the following weekend, albeit obviously with a very limited service, using our function room as a temporary bar,” said Barbara.

“Somehow we managed to pull-off a pre-booked wedding within the first fortnight. It took six months for the pub to be completely re-built and back to a fully functioning local pub and restaurant. We rebuilt The Langton Arms and our business thankfully survived. This was by no means an easy task and was in part thanks to the huge community spirit and support we received from our locals, local businesses and villagers.”

The Cossins family are fifth generation farmers well- known in the area. Along with the Langton Arms, owned by Barbara, the family own the Rawston Farm Butchery and Farm Shop in Tarrant Rawston.

BLAZING: Fire at The Langton Arms in 2004

Rebuilding with the community

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