Village green pub gets ready for first beer festival in six years

Staff at a village pub are preparing for their first beer festival in six years.

At the weekend staff and regulars at the Seven Stars in Marsh Baldon near Oxford celebrated their first year since reopening.

And from July 12 to July 14 they will be hosting a beer festival featuring local ales, including those brewed by Abingdon's Loose Cannon brewery.

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Namit Julka, who runs the pub with Sinit Bansode, said: "We enjoyed the celebrations at the weekend and we are looking forward to the beer festival later this month.

"The locals tell us there hasn't been a beer festival here for about six years so they are very excited about it.

"All the local breweries will be providing their beers and ciders, the regular pub menu will be available, and there will be live music too."

(Image: Seven Stars) It's over a decade since families from Marsh Baldon and surrounding villages formed the Baldons and Nuneham Community Society (BNCS), enabling them to buy shares in the 350-year-old Seven Stars and own it themselves.

Mr Julka said earlier: "It has been a very good first year - it has been very busy.

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"The pub has a very good reputation for food - on Sunday we serve about 150 diners - and we do roasts with beef, pork or chicken supreme. There are also vegan nut roasts.

"The roast dinners cost from £17.50 to £19.50 which we think is a reasonable and competitive price.

"Every second Thursday there is a Thali curry night from 5pm to 9.30pm and we serve about 60 people."

He added: "The intention was always to give the local community their village pub back, so it could be used regularly and for different events. We have a quiz night every other Wednesday."

(Image: Seven Stars) The pub is a free house and serves local ales and Butcombe beers.

The Barn continues to be a popular feature - it can accommodate up to 36 seated guests, or 60 standing, with a bar area, main restaurant and patio stretch tent available too.

In 2013, cheers erupted when the pub was officially opened by the previous owner, London investment company Winton Capital Management founder David Harding, who had sold it to residents.

More than 70 villagers clubbed together in 2012 to raise more than £110,000, and they formed a company to buy the pub and refurbish it.

Marsh Baldon is about five miles outside Oxford and features a large village green.

For more visit sevenstarsatmarshbaldon.co.uk

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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