A FORMER landlady said that it is 'very very challenging' for the pub trade currently after the closure of famous Great Urswick pub The General Burgoyne. 

The General Burgoyne, which is owned by Robinsons Brewery, shut its doors on Wednesday, March 20. It will mark the third time in as many years that the Church Street pub has closed. 

The current management took over from the pub after it last closed in May 2023. 

They said that they have 'struggled to garner sufficient support from the community.' 

It had been previously run by Claire Farrell and her partner Kevin, who said when they left in May last year that they could not keep up the workload between The Burgoyne and The King's Arms, which they run in Ulverston. 

Before that, Urswick man John Oldfield left the pub in October 2022 because of 'personal circumstances.' He had taken on The Burgoyne aged 19 in 2018 because he refused to see the business 'join the worryingly long list' of pubs closing down in the area. 

Lynda Johnson, who is the branch chairman for CAMRA Furness, and has years of experience in the pub trade said: "It's costs - it's energy costs, costs of staff. The young people have got minimum wage, it's very very challenging for public houses to make money."

When asked if people in the area are supportive of their locals, Ms Johnson said 'it varies.' She pointed to applying for Assets of Community Value as an example of what locals can do if they want to preserve a building from development. If a pub is listed as such a community has six months to raise money to buy it if it goes on the market.  

The Prince of Wales in Foxfield was accepted as an Asset of Community Value in 2022. 

Mrs Johnson said that the supermarkets are selling a much better range of beers than they did ten years ago, which gives added competition to pubs. 

"I really do feel for the pubs at the moment," Mrs Johnson said. 

This publication attempted to contact The General Burgoyne.