{"id":332389,"date":"2025-10-25T21:31:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T21:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/332389\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T21:31:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T21:31:19","slug":"farmers-buy-local-pub-to-help-foster-connection-in-country-nsw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/332389\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers buy local pub to help foster connection in country NSW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Operating a pub is no mean feat, but try doing it while running a farm at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is exactly what farmers Karen and Rowan Alcock have done in their town of Bemboka on the New South Wales far south coast.<\/p>\n

The local pub, based nearly 500 kilometres south of Sydney, spent nearly six months on the market without a buyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rowan Alcock says the pub has not been this busy in 30 years. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Bemboka has about 600 residents, with the next closest pub in Bega, 35km away.<\/p>\n

Locals fears their pub would not reopen, until the Alcocks decided to take it on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This community needs this. Do we need it? Probably not. But let’s just give it a crack and see how we go,” Ms Alcock said.<\/p>\n

“What’s a town without a pub?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Loading…Having a crack<\/p>\n

The Alcocks run a 526-hectare beef cattle farm, just 10 minutes from the pub.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their workload has significantly increased as they continue to juggle jobs on the farm.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of catching up to do because that pub has eaten a hell of a lot of time,” Mr Alcock said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“Over the last three months, we’ve spent very little time here on the property,” Ms Alcock said.<\/p>\n

“Absolute essential things only.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Work on the family farm has taken a back seat since Karen and Rowan Alcock bought the pub. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)<\/p>\n

A primary motivator for the Alcocks in taking on the pub was to ensure there was a place for locals to gather.<\/p>\n

Many businesses in Bemboka’s main street have closed over the years, including petrol stations, cafes, a grocer and a bank.<\/p>\n

The Bemboka pie shop and post office remain open, but many locals have to drive to Bega to do their shopping.<\/p>\n

“The town used to be really booming,” Mr Alcock said.<\/p>\n

“It had a lot of shops, had service stations, had a grocery store, but over time, things have just gone backward.”<\/p>\n

Bemboka and the surrounding area have also experienced back-to-back bushfires.<\/p>\n

The Yankees Gap bushfire swept through the region in 2018, burning along the Alcocks’ boundary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

The Yankees Gap bushfire in 2018 was followed by Black Summer in 2019. (Supplied: Rachel Helmreich)<\/p>\n

Then came Black Summer in late 2019, which burnt all but 4 hectares of the Alcocks’ property, costing $1.3 million in damages.<\/p>\n

The disasters have given the Alcocks further motivation to ensure the pub stays open as a place for locals to feel connection and find support.<\/p>\n

“Some of the fellas that come in of an afternoon, they just want to talk about anything,” Ms Alcock said.<\/p>\n

“Whether it be a disaster, or how dry it is or how wet it is or what the footy’s doing.<\/p>\n

“They don’t have to spend a fortune, but they have a coffee, or a beer, a glass of water and a yak.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Two bushfires swept through the Alcocks’ property in two years. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)<\/p>\n

A family affair<\/p>\n

Their daughters, Tash and Jacinta, have even come home to help.<\/p>\n

Tash, a 27-year-old agronomist, and her fiance Sam are back in Bemboka full-time to lend a hand both on the farm and at the pub.<\/p>\n

They recall how their mother Karen first raised the idea to buy the pub.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tash Alcock has returned to Bemboka to help on the family farm and at the pub. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

“Mum always came up with the crazy idea that we’d buy a cafe or something in town and we all had the skids on,” Tash said.<\/p>\n

“We were like, ‘No, we’re not doing that. It’s a terrible idea.’ But when it all came down to it, we thought we really should do this.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes I wonder whether we’ve lost the plot.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is echoed by Karen and Rowan, but they say the work gets easier everyday.<\/p>\n

“We probably should have done it 10 years ago when we were a bit younger,” Rowan said.<\/p>\n

“We’re in the groove a little bit more every day,” Karen said.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

The Alcocks have opened a cafe at the pub. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)<\/p>\n

Their other daughter, Jacinta, flew home from Darwin to help with opening night.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old said she was proud of her parents for taking on the pub to support the town’s social life and help combat loneliness.<\/p>\n

“We’re 40 minutes from Bega, but it can feel a lot further away then that,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jacinta said.<\/p>\n

“You can very easily get isolated, very easily.<\/p>\n

“Especially since COVID and during the bushfires, places like the pub were just integral.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jacinta Alcock, 29, flew home from Darwin to help with the pub’s opening night.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)<\/p>\n

To the rescue<\/p>\n

The pub has stood in the town for decades, but the Alcocks decided to renovate the building and make it a cafe as well.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The pub is a long-standing business in the town. (Supplied: Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)<\/p>\n

Locals, such as Jenny Anderson, said this provided more options for residents in the area and tourists passing through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Communities like this need to have somewhere to gather,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Like many locals in Bemboka, Jenny Anderson is thankful the pub has reopened and includes a cafe. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)<\/p>\n

“You don’t need to be a drinker, you might enjoy a good meal, you might enjoy a cup a coffee.<\/p>\n

“And to be able to have that choice is really important in a community like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“To have a local farming community come in and rescue us all has been really great.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The pub has been described by some locals as feeling like “home”. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Another resident, Julie Ringland, said the pub’s reopening had been a lifesaver for the town.<\/p>\n

“We’ve all missed it, and [were] waiting for this day to come,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s just got a beautiful vibe. If you walk into it, it’s home.”<\/p>\n

Watch ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on <\/strong>ABC iview<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Operating a pub is no mean feat, but try doing it while running a farm at the same…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":332390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,164883,164882,164887,64,36072,164888,164886,103349,164885,164881,50,15959,164880,44317,164884],"class_list":{"0":"post-332389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-bemboka-hotel","10":"tag-bemboka-pub","11":"tag-bushfires","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-cattle","14":"tag-country-pub","15":"tag-country-town","16":"tag-farm","17":"tag-jacinta-alcock","18":"tag-karen-alcock","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-renovation","21":"tag-rowan-alcock","22":"tag-save","23":"tag-tash-alcock"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115436945215484648","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}