Globe Inn, Hensingham: Pub of the Season The Summer Pub of the Season award from the West Cumbria branch of CAMRA has gone to a revived Whitehaven pub. The Globe Inn on Hensingham’s Main Street had been closed down for 18 months before Helen and Paul Brown took it over from its new owners. Now it’s a thriving community pub which is attracting visitors from all over West Cumbria for its warm welcome and good real ales. It’s a family business, with son Tom helping out. Paul and Helen actually ran the pub for two or three years in its previous incarnation as part of the Punch Taverns estate, but gave it up as unviable. It subsequently deteriorated and closed, and was bought by local development company High Grange. When the opportunity came up to rent the pub they jumped at the chance to run it the way they wanted. ‘It had developed a bad reputation, but we knew its potential,’ says Helen, whose day job is a driving instructor. ‘It’s taken a year to get the pub back on track’. With encouragement from local CAMRA members, they started experimenting with small quantities of real ale, and found it paid off. ‘We’ve got no brewery tie, so we can buy the beers we want.’ ‘Taking part in the Copeland Ale Trail during May bank holiday was a great idea, although I was sceptical at first,’ she adds. ‘It brought new people into the Globe who wouldn’t have otherwise crossed the threshold.’ Many of them are coming back for return visits, much to Paul and Helen’s delight. Several of the pub’s lager drinkers have been converted to real ale after trying the different styles and flavours that are on offer. Sales are going so well that they will soon be putting in a second handpump. Helen and Paul have recently started serving evening meals. The Globe is very much a locals’ pub, with a range of clientele and a friendly atmosphere. There is a regular quiz, and there are pool nights in the upstairs room. A dozen customers, including a number of police officers, cycled the C2C from Sunderland to Whitehaven in aid of testicular cancer. For Helen and Paul, turning the pub around has been a rewarding experience. ‘Receiving the CAMRA award is the icing on the cake’, she says. A formal presentation will be made on Saturday 8th August at 2pm. For further information contact: Helen and Paul Brown, Globe Inn 01946 590772