Tiny Snowy River town of Buchan to rebuild its iconic pub

IF you want to know what a pub is worth to a small town, wait until it burns down. Then it’s clear the pub was everything.

29/07/2008 LIBRARY: A pint of beer is pulled in a pub in London, England 28 Jul 2008. The iconic British pint is fast losing ...

IF YOU want to know what a pub is worth to a small country town, wait until it burns down. Then it’s clear the pub was everything.

In Buchan, a tiny Victorian hamlet around an hour northeast of Bairnsdale in Snowy River country, that’s certainly the case.

When the Buchan Caves Hotel was destroyed by fire last year, the 100-odd residents off the windy Gelantipy Rd lost more than just a place to tell tall tales and drink tall beers.

They lost the centre of town, they lost a meeting place, they lost the difference between tourists stopping in or passing straight through.

Locals started brewing their own beers and stopped talking to one another.

Buchan resident Jim Norling brews his own beer after the Buchan Caves Hotel burnt down. Picture: Jason Edwards

“The whole town died, I’m not joking,” former publican Greg Brick told news.com.au.

“Even I didn’t think that I’d miss the pub as much as I’ve missed it. It was the social hub. It was everything. It’s been missing.”

On Thursday night, the town and its supporters raised $600,000 to rebuild the iconic hotel. To celebrate, Mr Brick drank beers with mates in a tiny shed. The irony was not lost on him. Soon he’ll have a proper place to celebrate.

The remarkable fundraising campaign to bring the pub and the town back to life started two months ago. The website hosting donations crashed on Thursday night under the weight of generosity before reaching and eclipsing the goal.

Mr Brick and his wife Marg will manage the new pub. They said it will again cater to locals from Suggan Buggan in the north and Nowa Nowa in the south. The farming couple are expected to have plans drawn up within the week.

Mr Brick said he never realised that people in town “lived off the back of one another” until they stopped meeting for meals and pints and a game of pool.

“There’s not much else here,” he said. “There’s a general store, a roadhouse and a cafe. We’ve got the Buchan Caves here and they’re world renowned but the problem is there’s nothing else in town.

The pub was the centre of the Victorian town for many years. Picture: Jason Edwards

Residents in the Victorian town of Buchan are rebuilding the centre of town. Picture: Jason Edwards

“The number of campers that used to come to Buchan that won’t stay here now is hard to count. It’s just been dead.”

Buchan is known for its cattleman’s culture and it’s rodeo. But it’s also known for its hospitality and sense of community.

On a website titled Let’s Build a Pub, fundraisers including former resident Lyndel Moore promised annual profits from the business will be given back to the community. They’ll support the Buchan Primary School, the CFA and the footy club.

Former pub owner Pip Kay wrote on Facebook “I was devastated when it burnt down, now I can’t wait to see the new one”.

More than 120 years since the pub was first erected, it will rise from the ashes again.

In May, Mr Brick said he was confident the pub would be up and running by Christmas.

“As a community, we need it,” he said.

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