Landmark pub finally hoping to attract a buyer

ENGLAND’S highest pub, which has been on and off the market for the past decade, is back up for sale.

The Tan Hill Inn went up for sale in 2008 but landlady Louise Peace says she took it off the market because of a lack of interest.

It had a £1.1million price tag at the time, but is now on the market for £950,000.

It is hoped a renewed push in 2017 will finally realise a buyer who will have to get to grips with snowdrifts, blocked roads and blizzards in winter.

Ms Peace said: “I think it is the wrong time to sell and the right time to buy, but my husband is 70 now and it is this time of life that we want to slow down and spend more time together.”

The couple live in Somerset and Ms Peace currently spends about ten days at the inn, then three or four days at home before returning to the pub.

Her husband Mike, a tunnelling consultant, remains at home in Somerset while his wife manages the pub.

The 56-year-old added that there is a lot that any new owners could do to develop the inn, but she has been forced to hold back because she cannot take on additional work.

She said: “I am trying not to progress because it makes more work for me. There is a lot of inspiration to be had at Tan Hill.

“My advice to any new owner is not to change the bar. The bar is the lifeblood of the inn. People come in and say it is traditional. It just needs a good spruce up without it being themed. It is spit and sawdust really.”

Additions she has held back on include extending the kitchen and adding on six more bedrooms which could accommodate a further 27 guests. Planning permission has already been granted for the extensions.

There is also permission to erect a wind turbine near the inn which currently gets its electricity supply from two generators.

Extensive work has been carried out at the inn over the past two years with the “almost full-time” handyman refurbishing several of the rooms and improving the generator and septic tank.

Another area where the inn has gained a reputation is in hosting music events, some of which are geared towards raising cash for charity.

The likes of Arctic Monkeys, Mark Ronson and Scouting for Girls have performed in Tan Hill Inn’s barn to audiences of about 200 people.

Ms Peace said: “I love music. I love listening to anything. It is just a wonderful atmosphere. They are very intimate gigs.”

The Arctic Monkeys’ gig raised in excess of £6,000 for Children in Need.

Extra work taken on includes weddings which Ms Peace uses to increase trade over the winter months. Four have been held this year and another three are booked for the coming winter.

Ms Peace said: “The books are very, very healthy. Turnover is in the £600,000 a year minimum.”

Previously in catering, Ms Peace said she has no idea why she and her husband decided to buy the pub when they did except that they had seen it on the market and her husband had suggested they have a look.

She said: “I told my husband I don’t do Yorkshire and I don’t do pubs. It has been 12 years down the line and I do do Yorkshire and I do do pubs.”