Hare and Hounds – 6 month moratorium update

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Dear WACA Supporters,

As many of you will know, it’s now six months since the Hare & Hounds Inn came back onto the market. On 27th September, the moratorium period ends — that’s the statutory period intended to give eligible community groups such as WACA time to prepare and submit a bid.

Whilst the six months has been useful (vital even) to us in taking steps towards purchasing the pub, passing this point doesn’t mean that everything stops. We want you to be reassured that we remain in positive and constructive discussions with the current owners about possible next steps and will report back to you when there is an agreed way forward.

We would also like to make it clear that the current owners have cooperated with the process throughout, providing access to the Hare & Hounds Inn for us as requested, as well as giving timely access for our surveyors and professional valuers.

We’ve said it before – putting together a community acquisition of this scale is complex and time-consuming, particularly for a volunteer-led organisation, and some elements of the process have taken longer than we originally anticipated. We’ve made the decision to take our time and do this properly on your behalf.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

All the best,

Helen

Chair of WACA

The True Tale of the Old Town Murder House

– told by Matilda Wilding and with music from local folk band Pica Pica

This is the true story of a local murder, so there will be discussion of themes of violence, as such the event is not suitable for children. 

By staging the event in the approach to Halloween, we hope to tap into an older traditon of oral storytelling when, as the nights drew in (adult) folk would gather around the fire and tell tales about how things were in the olden times…

From the Chartists to the Suffragettes to the Ten Hour Act, the Calder Valley has a history of speaking up for the oppressed. It is a history we cherish and rightly so. Local historian and writer, Matilda Wilding suggests the valley’s response to a 1933 murder, is a moment in that history of which we can be proud.

“History is the closest thing we have to time travel.” says Wilding; “The True Tale of the Old Town Murder House allows us to hear the voices of the likes of Irish emigre Elizabeth Agnes Rhodes and her unlikely champion, neighbouring disabled farmer, John Arthur Gill. These were people from the working class farming community, whose voices would otherwise almost certainly be lost to time. Often courageous and community-minded, these were real people, surviving against seemingly impossible odds, with a strong sense of social justice and a campaigning spirit.”

The True Tale of the Old Town Murder House is told as a fundraiser in aid of our campaign to keep the Hare and Hounds Inn (a stone’s throw from Snow Booth) in the community.

Quiz and Sausage Night with Dave

For one night only, original Hare and Hounds Quizmaster Dave is back for Quiz & Sausage Night!
Gather your team and sharpen your brains. Expect laughs, bragging rights, and plenty of sausages.
Ticket price (£7) includes sausages (and will help our dear volunteers estimate how much food to prepare, so we avoid waste). Meat and vegetarian/vegan options available. Please specify preference when purchasing tickets.
Funds raised will go directly towards WACA running costs supporting two vital community projects.

Owter Zeds: Live at Wadsworth Community Centre

An Evening of Ska, Rock & Reggae

Local legends Owter Zeds bring their signature danceable rhythms and grooves to the Community Centre for an unforgettable night, all in aid of Wadsworth Area Community Assets (WACA).

Formed in 1984 during the Miners’ Strike, the Owter Zeds were born out of a desire to raise money for Yorkshire’s striking pit workers and their families. Over 40 years and 80 musicians later, they continue to deliver their trademark blend of ska, rock and reggae – guaranteed to get you moving.

Funds raised will go towards WACA’s running costs as we support two vital community projects:

  • Saving the Hare & Hounds Inn in Old Town
  • Restoring the Playground in Pecket Well

Come for the music, stay for the community. Every ticket makes a difference.

WACA to investigate purchase of Hare and Hounds Inn

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This is a significant milestone in our journey to reopen the Hare and Hounds Inn as a community pub!

Statement from the WACA Board — April 2026

The Board of Wadsworth Area Community Assets (WACA) has formally resolved to proceed with investigating the community purchase of the Hare & Hounds, Old Town, for operation as a community freehouse pub. This decision is founded on a substantial and consistent body of evidence that the community of Old Town and the surrounding Wadsworth area wishes to see this pub saved, reopened, and sustained as a community asset.

That evidence is both broad and deep. Across multiple independent channels — including a validated online petition of over 1,265 signatures, two rounds of public consultation meetings attended by more than 260 people in total, an anonymous questionnaire showing 93.3% support for proceeding with a purchase, over 320 formally verified planning objections to the proposed change of use, and an earlier online survey returning 98.4% support for protecting the pub — the community has spoken clearly and consistently.

That mandate has been independently corroborated. Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council formally listed the Hare & Hounds as an Asset of Community Value in March 2026, recognising its importance within the statutory planning framework. WACA has received written support from local councillors, Wadsworth Parish Council, the majority of local community groups, CAMRA, neighbouring local pubs — both privately and community-owned — and local businesses.

WACA operates as a Community Benefit Society within the established frameworks provided by Co-operatives UK and the Plunkett Foundation, both of which exist specifically to support communities undertaking exactly this kind of project.

We are grateful to every member of this community who has made their voice heard — through petitions, surveys, planning objections, public meetings, and messages of support. The mandate we carry into this next stage belongs to you. We will pursue it with care, transparency, and determination.

You can read the full proposal here.

WACA in dialogue with the owner of the Hare and Hounds Inn

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We have some good news to share!

WACA is now in positive and constructive dialogue with the current owners of the Hare and Hounds Inn.

We have registered our interest with CMBC to work with the community to put together a bid to purchase.

Over 120 people attended our Consultation Meetings. We’re collating the responses to our Questionnaire and will report back on what we plan to do next.

You can still give your views here Community Consultation
And you can read the notes from the meeting here

At the end of March, we were contacted by the owner of the Hare and Hounds Inn who let us know that he has triggered the Community Right to Bid process with Calderdale and will soon be putting the property up for sale. This is a very positive step for us and we thank him for his offer to open discussions with WACA over a community purchase of the pub.

After a quickly arranged emergency Board Meeting, as you would expect we responded positively to set up a meeting, and we have also formally expressed an intention to bid for the property with Calderdale.

Representatives of the WACA Board have now met with the owner and agreed Heads of Terms – a nonbinding agreement providing a framework for constructive negotiations. We are very pleased to announce that the 2 parties are now in constructive and positive discussion.

You can find our more about the Community Right to Bid process, and see the live Hare and Hounds Inn listing at new.calderdale.gov.uk/communities/community-facilities-and-activities/community-right-bid

We are looking for members and volunteers, and we’ll soon be sharing our plans for how people can get more involved.

We recognise that the process of community fundraising and public campaigning can involve strong views. WACA is committed to ensuring that all such activity is conducted in a positive and respectful manner at all times, and trusts that all supporters of WACA and members of the wider community will do the same.

The Hare and Hounds – how the story started

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When we heard the Hare and Hounds at Lane Ends was for sale back in July, the WACA Board agreed we should investigate the risk of the pub and B&B ceasing to be a going concern, so we met with the agent who showed us around.

At the time, we had been reassured that it was very likely that the pub would be sold as a going concern, but we are now aware that it has been sold, and a Change of Use application has been submitted to Calderdale Council Planning Department. We’ve set up an initial consultation to guage support in WACA challenging this (you can still respond here if you’ve not already done so), and have received very positive feedback in the vast majority of responses. As a result, at the end of 2025, we submitted a Community Right to Bid application to register the Hare and Hounds Inn as an Asset of Community Value, as an initial statement of intent to challenge any Change of Use applications.

As of Tuesday 13th January the Change of Use application has gone live and appears here on the Calderdale Planning Portal. So now the clock is ticking, with a deadline for objections of Tuesday 3rd February.

Following more than 315 responses to our online survey, with an overwhelming 98.4% support for WACA to take action, we have been researching and collating evidence. We believe we can make a very powerful objection to the Change of Use application, evidencing what we already know – that the Hare and Hounds Inn would, indeed, make a viable and successful community pub. 

Thanks to all who attended out public meetings.

About 140 people in total attended, which shows great local support for our fight to save the Hare and Hounds Inn.

Here you can read WACA’s Objection against Change of Use.

Please join our mailing list on our Contact page if you would like regular updates.

If you’d like to get more involved or have suggestions for WACA to follow up please get in touch by email to info@WACAcoop.org.uk