🍺 HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY TO THE OLDE ENGLAND 🍺

October 2011 – October 2026

Fifteen years ago, a little micropub opened on Kettering Road.

There wasn't a large bar or an enormous drinks range. Beer was served from a small hatch upstairs, the cask ales came straight from the pin and the cellar below was still waiting to be brought back to life.

What followed was something none of us could completely have predicted.

The cellar was rebuilt. Sunday lunches arrived.

The range of ales, ciders, fruit wines and meads grew. There were quizzes and folk nights, medieval feasts, games, music and more conversations over a pint than anyone could possibly count.

In 2013, we were incredibly proud to be named Northamptonshire Community Pub of the Year, just two years after opening. Further recognition for our cider followed, including local CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year honours.

But the last fifteen years haven't always been easy.

We've changed the building, moved the bar and adapted more times than we probably care to remember. We survived the long closures and enormous challenges of COVID, eventually reopening fully in July 2021. Then came rising costs and some extremely difficult years for pubs everywhere.

By March 2025, there was a very real possibility that the Olde England story might finally be coming to an end.

It didn't.

People stepped forward. Customers supported us. Conversations happened, paperwork was completed, there were plenty of sleepless nights, and in April 2025 Olde England began another chapter as a community-run pub.

And that seems rather appropriate.

Because buildings don't make pubs.

People do.

So this isn't simply a birthday message to Olde England.

It's a thank you.

To Paul and everyone who helped create the place in the first place.

To every member of staff who has stood behind the bar, worked in the kitchen, looked after the cellar, carried barrels, washed glasses, cooked Sunday lunches and stayed long after closing time.

To everyone who has run a quiz, played a song, organised an event, supplied a beer, shared an idea or simply helped when help was needed.

To the people who helped save the pub when its future looked uncertain.

To our regulars, former regulars, occasional visitors and the people who haven't discovered us yet.

And to the friends who were part of the Olde England story but are sadly no longer here to raise a glass with us.

We remember you too.

There have been thousands of pints, countless conversations and probably a few stories best left within these walls.

Through fifteen years of change, however, one thing has remained constant:

Olde England has always been about community.

From being named Community Pub of the Year in 2013 to becoming a community-run pub in 2025, perhaps that's what this little place on Kettering Road was always supposed to be.

So please raise a glass.

To everyone who built it.

To everyone who worked here.

To everyone who supported it.

To absent friends.

To the people carrying it forward.

And to whatever comes next.

🍻 Happy 15th Birthday, Olde England.

2011 • 2026

Still here. Still different. Still ours.