In many small towns, the humble country pub is more than just a building, it’s part of the town’s fabric.
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A host to celebrations and commiserations, standing strong and often dominating main streets – the cornerstone of a town.
But as populations dwindle in small towns and more shop windows become boarded up or empty – can the humble country pub, that backbone of rural life and friendship, survive?
For many owning an outback pub is a long-held dream and across Southern NSW, the Riverina and North East Victoria that ambition is within reach with at least 13 country pubs up for grabs.
Before she saw a pub for sale in Morven – a smaller-than-small town between Culcairn and Holbrook – Jo Kollard had never heard of the town, let alone considered moving there from Far North Queensland.
But nine years on the cheery publican is close to celebrating a decade behind the bar at Morven’s Round Hill Hotel.
Ms Kollard said despite the many pubs up for sale, she doesn’t think there’s any shortage of people willing to pull up stumps, move to the country and buy a pub.
“A lot of the people over the bar say ‘I’d love to retire and have a little pub’ but I don’t think they realise how much work it is,” she laughed.
“They just see me standing around having a chat and think that’s it.”
Ms Kollard said with the drought there was less money to throw around in pubs which could be a factor in the sales, but she suspects people were selling hotels in the region simply because of changes in their own lifestyle.
She said people with children who haven’t yet become adults often found it hard juggling commitments.
“It can be tiring,” she said.
“Especially if you’ve been in it for a long time like myself and run it on your own.
“Being a husband-wife team in one way could be easier because one can get away, but having a family, the pub can be constraining if you can’t get away.
“I’m not sure you could do it as an investment, it’s a real lifestyle.
“I’m very passionate and very attached, I take a lot of pride in what I do.
“It’s really about the people and community you meet.”
Earlier this year, owners of Henty’s Doodle Cooma Arms Tania and Josh Corrigan announced they were putting the pub on the market, in the hopes selling it would allow them to spend more time with their young children.
“While the children are still young we want to be there for them more,” Mrs Corrigan said in April.
The cheapest pub in the region, according to online listings, is the Whorouly Hotel for sale via leasehold for $85,000; followed by the Doodle Cooma Arms leasehold in Henty for $100,000; the Tangambalanga Hotel leasehold for $110,000; the Grand Central Hotel, Cobram leasehold for $125,000 and the Telegraph Hotel leasehold in Chiltern for $200,000.
For those looking to buy freehold, the Cudgewa Hotel is available for $290,000; the Albion Hotel, Finley for $460,000; the Walbundrie Hotel for $385,000 or the Mangoplah Hotel for $400,000.
Investors looking for a freehold passive investment can buy the the Royal Mail Hotel, Mulwala for $1.1million, the Tintaldra Hotel for $430,000 or O'Mailles Pub, Wodonga for $1.1 million.
Ms Kollard said when you buy a country pub, you’re buying much more than a venue people drink in – you’re buying a part of a town.
“Here in Morven we don’t have anything else,” she said.
“There’s no shop or hall, we do have a church down the road that still has services on the fifth Sunday of the month. But the hotel acts a lot like a community centre.
“We have a book exchange and a book club, Tupperware parties, market days.”
The Round Hill Hotel is a place to meet and relax Ms Kollard said, but also somewhere you can keep an eye on your neighbour.
“People know they can meet without being judged,” she said.
“It can almost have a cathartic effect.
“People can talk about any issues they’re having, especially at the moment with the drought people get together and talk.
“It sounds ridiculous to say but I really feel that the hotel does have a positive role in mental health because you can meet up with people in your area and talk about your problems.
“It’s important to have somewhere you can come together and talk and somewhere you feel OK talking.
“In a hard time, that’s important.”
Publicans Trine Browne of Mangoplah and Chris Langridge of Walbundrie know the pull of a country pub, having packed up their lives and travelled from various corners of the state to own and run their own hotels.
Now after a combined 18 years behind the bar, Mrs Browne and Mr Langridge are two of the region’s hotel owners looking to pass their prized establishments to the next generation.
Mr Langridge moved from Traralgon six years ago to run the Walbundrie Hotel, but after some health problems has put his beloved pub on the market.
He said pubs were hard work but very rewarding for those willing to take on the challenge.
“We’ve got a good business going,” he said.
“Hotels are everything, they’re a big social point, a gathering point.
“Farmers and workers, all get together and that’s what it’s all about, getting together as a community, you have to have that.
“We can’t lose ‘em.”
Mr Langridge said even though he was looking to sell the pub, he would be remaining in the area.
Mangoplah Hotel owner Trine Browne also believes the future of country pubs is safe, as running a hotel remains a dream for many people.
She said after 13 years she’s ready for a new dream.
“For some owning a pub is a dream, it’s not for everyone, at one stage we were like that, still are really, but it’s time to move on,” she said.
“You can make [owning a pub] as hard or as easy as you want.”
Mrs Browne said the pub has been on the market for a couple of years.
“For us it’s just time to go, I know a few other [pub owners] are the same, they’ve been there a long time and you can’t do it forever,” she said.
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