Lord Lieutenant of Herts, Lady Verulam, will judge cakes entered in a ‘Great British Cake-off’ at a local historic pub.
Nigel Wild and Gary Hatchman, who jointly run the 16th century Rose and Crown in St Michael’s Street, are inviting entries for the Easter cup cakes section and ‘big kids entries’ category for a contest being held at the pub on Easter Monday (28).
Nigel said that as Lady Verulam would be judging from 2pm, people should bring in their entries from midday.
He added: “When we asked Lady Verulam to judge, she said ‘yes’ as she likes to show her support for the community.”
Nigel has recently put forward the Rose and Crown to be nominated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), to ensure it stays at the heart of the community.
He has been working with the South Herts CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) branch to ensure his and Gary’s pub is granted the ACV status, which gives licensees the power to safeguard valued local pubs.
The Herts Advertiser recently supported the pub’s campaign to stop the tenants being evicted, after Punch Taverns threatened to replace Nigel and Gary with its own employees.
But the chain backed down and admitted to the men that it had been a ‘mistake’ to threaten to end their lease.
CAMRA has been campaigning to protect Britain’s most treasured pubs by nominating them as ACVs, to help stem the number of pub closures which currently stands at a rate of 27 a week.
For more information on the ‘St Michael’s Great British Cake Off’ see http://roseandcrownstalbans.co.uk/events.htm
• After being closed for four weeks to allow for a major refurbishment, the White Lion in Sopwell Lane is re-opening tomorrow (Friday). About £240k has been spent on a complete overhaul, including decoration, new furniture, bar and kitchen. Landlords Andrew Meredith and Steve McConnell, who own the White Hart Tap, said: “We are looking forward to getting back into the pub.”
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