1st December 2008

Longest Serving Hook Norton Licensee Passes Away.

The Brewery’s staff are mourning the loss of Chas Finch who was landlord of the Elephant & Castle, Bloxham for 34 years. Born in 1932, Chas joined the Navy at the age of 15.

He started working in pubs in 1966 and together with his wife Betty took on the Elephant & Castle in 1974. Chas always ran the pub as a traditional local and was very proud that it was a long term entry in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide.

Passionately interested in trade issues he was a Chairman of the local branch of the National Victuallers Association and was a senior trustee of Licensed Trade Charity

. Hook Norton Managing Director James Clarke said: “Chas worked with my grandfather, father and myself. He will be much missed. “Highly professional, he embodied the best traditions of the pub trade, which he clearly loved.

” The funeral will be held at the Bloxham Parish Church on Friday 5 December at 12:30pm. The service will be followed by cremation at the Oxford Crematorium.