Raising a toast to planned reopening of historic March Hare pub in Dunton

The pub, which has been closed since December 2024, will be reopening on May 5 with a new husband and wife team, Jenny and Craig Mackie, behind the bar.

The couple announced they would be taking over the pub initially to serve drinks and snacks, but with plans to refurbish the kitchen and offer a traditional food service towards the end of the summer.

Other plans include bringing live music back to the pub and possibly running a small shop from the High Street premises.

Jenny and Craig are delighted at the move and look forward to welcoming customers. They said: “Thank you to all those who have made us feel so welcome in Dunton already. We look forward to meeting more of you over the coming weeks.

"We’re so excited for this new journey, and can’t wait to open the doors soon and welcome everybody into The March Hare.”

The March Hare closed on December 3 2024 following the retirement of owners Janice and John Pritchett, who were keen to see it continue serving the community. The village then got behind a campaign to find a new tenant and keep the village pub tradition going.

Councillor Adam Zerny, who was behind the campaign, said: “"It's great to see the March Hare will soon be open again. There is a huge amount of community support and I'm certain Jenny and Craig will make a big success of the pub.

“Back in October, I mentioned how the owners of the pub were looking for new tenants – more than 50,000 people read the post so it certainly showed there is a strong wish to protect and support our rural pubs.

“The March Hare had been closed since December 2024 but if all goes to plan in the coming weeks, it should be re-opening on May 5.

“This will be down to the hard work of a dedicated new husband and wife management team in the form of Jenny, and Craig who have great hopes for the pub.

“Jenny is originally from Leyton and has already been dubbed ‘Peggy Mitchell’ by friends, after telling them of her new role. Craig is from just down the road in Baldock, and is a former lorry driver. Both look right at home behind the bar.

“The couple will be looking to start up food again this summer, if all goes to plan, and recognise the strong history of live music in the pub. They also note the village does not have a shop and while it will depend on how everything else goes, they don’t rule out the idea of selling household essentials as was once the case here.

“It was a pleasure to meet with Jenny and Craig this week, and I know they’ll be pulling out all the stops to make the relaunch a big success.”

The March Hare, which dates back to the 1800s, was almost derelict before John and Janice bought the pub in 2010 and turned it into a real ale award winning freehouse.

As an authentic real ale pub the March Hare earned the title of East Bedfordshire CAMRA rural pub of the year 2024, East Beds CAMRA pub of the year 2022 and 2023 and Bedfordshire CAMRA pub of the year 2002.

The pub will be open from midday to 11pm daily with a 10pm close on Sundays.