The Eagle Inn, Skerne

The pub finally closed in 2003 following Roy Edmond's retirement due to ill-health. It was purchased by a local builder, who planned to refurbish the pub and re-open it for trade. Controversy then arose when CAMRA applied for, and was granted, a Grade II listing order on the building, which meant that no structural alterations or changes to the interior layout of the property could be made. As such, the new owner was unable to see a viable future for it, so it was once more put up for sale. All the while, sadly, the property was falling into a state of dereliction and decay.

In June 2009 a group of Skerne residents put together a proposal to make an offer for The Eagle with a view to re-opening the pub after a full but historically sympathetic (CAMRA approved) restoration, that it might continue to serve the local community with 1900's type service and appeal  It had been my hope that the venture would succeed, and the villagers of Skerne would see The Eagle recommissioned as a pub once more.

Had the plan come to fruition, my view was that the Eagle's restoration would not be complete without its Victorian beer engine being reinstalled back in its original context where it belonged and could be appreciated by all, rather than remain in a private collection. I indicated to the group's organiser at the time that I would be only too happy for them to have the beer engine for nothing, save reimbursement of the cost to me of the restoration work carried out on it. It will have pulled its last pint of Cameron's back in 2003, however, and could serve only a non-functional, display-only role now. The leather seals inside the pump cylinders have long since perished, and its lead pipework and chromed brass taps do not meet with modern Health & Safety regulations.

Sadly, two years on, those plans failed to materialise. The present owner could not see a viable future for the property to be refurbished and reopened as a pub. An application for planning permission to convert the building into a private dwelling was submitted on 27 May 2011, and was approved by East Riding of Yorkshire Council on 7 September 2011.

Prior to its redevelopment, the Eagle featured in CAMRA's Inventory of Heritage Pubs. Of particular interest were the photographs it included of The Eagle's interior layout, including the cellar with its Victorian beer engine (which was donated to me after the pub's closure and which I have had restored). It is clearly evident from that photograph that the beer engine was in a rather sorry state when still in situ and in everyday use. Its condition was not, as I had previously assumed, due to the effects of it having been stored for several years in a garage after being removed from the pub, but more the honest legacy of nearly 150 years' loyal service to its customers. For the full story on The Eagle's Victorian beer engine, click here.

Acknowledgements - My thanks to Sue and Norman Harris, who kindly provided the information and photographs shown above, and for their generous donation of the Eagle's beer engine. Also to Tony Fisher, an erstwhile regular of The Eagle, for supplying the 1976 EYGBG photo.