A CUMBRIAN pub, which gained worldwide fame when locals in the community bought it back in 2003, will celebrate its 20th anniversary today.

In 2003 The Old Crown at Hesket Newmarket, near Caldbeck, became the first cooperative-owned pub in England.

It has since paved the way for other communities determined not to lose their locals.

20 years on almost to the day the pub opened, shareholders and locals will come together today, September 9 to toast to the Old Crown Inn.

Julian Ross, chairman of The Old Crown Cooperative, has been involved from the beginning and led the bid by customers to take ownership of the pub.

News and Star: The sign which was displayed outside the pub on opening day, was shown around the world.The sign which was displayed outside the pub on opening day, was shown around the world. (Image: Supplied)

He said: “I don’t think we ever thought beyond next week, all of us keep thinking how can it be 20 years, how can that have happened? It’s unbelievable.

“When we started, we were the only registered co-operatively owned pub in the country, there is now I think about 150 community owned pubs and quite a lot of those have followed us, I just think that’s fantastic.

“There is lots of communities around the country who had either lost their pub or were going to lose their pub and I think we kind of invertedly didn’t know that’s what we were doing.

“Not that our pub closed it didn’t, but I think people realised that people could achieve stuff if they band together- it’s ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

“I feel proud that we have continued the legacy of the old crown, everybody that’s ever been in the old crown would still recognise it, I like that and just very pleased that we have given hope to other communities around the country.”

News and Star: King Charles visits the Old Crown Inn back in 2007, when he was The Prince of Wales King Charles visits the Old Crown Inn back in 2007, when he was The Prince of Wales (Image: Supplied)

The last 20 years have been full of very happy memories, as well as some famous faces through the doors with King Charles visiting the pub back in 2004 and 2007 when he was the Prince of Wales.

Julian said: “We have famous popstars and tv personalities coming through to be honest the wonderful thing about the pub is nobody bats an eyelid; they can be just themselves.

“I have often said you can walk in the Old Crown in your wellies, or your best suit and you’ll be treated the same.

“The visit of HRH was something of a highlight to say the least, I thought when we started this that if it worked at all it would just be a bunch of people getting together to buy a little pub in a little village no body’s heard of and what I hadn’t realised was that it was going to become world famous, that was just astonishing really.

"Theres been some really nice memories but mainly it's just the spirit of the people."