Village Swan, Ivinghoe Aston

In 1997 a planning application to turn the Swan Fish Restaurant in the small village of Ivinghoe Aston into a private dwelling was rejected by the local council after a group of residents from the village objected. As a result a number of the villagers banded together and came up with a plan to buy the restaurant and run it as a pub themselves. Enough interest was created from within the village itself and, with the help of friends and families of the residents, sufficient money was raised to purchase the premises and in November 1997 the aptly renamed The Village Swan pub reopened. It quickly became, and is still, the focal point of the village. It was one of the first pubs in the country to be saved for its community by its residents and 15 years on it has been running successfully as a friendly neighbourhood pub ever since.