Pub loses prestigious title because of highly offensive displays on its walls
A Cornish pub which was named Pub of the Year has been stripped of its title after it was found to have Nazi memorabilia on display.
The Hole in the Wall in Bodmin was awarded the prestigious CAMRA award on multiple occasions due to its unique layout and impressive display of curiosities sprinkled throughout the premises, which include vintage guns, a stuffed lion and an old picture of Winston Churchill.
But nestled in amongst the bric-a-brac is a more sinister souvenir- a Nazi swastika armband which is hung in a glass case on the wall of the pub.
Landlord Steve Hall has come under fire since a complaint was made about the armband, which led to CAMRA promptly stripping the pub of its title and cancelling the award for the rest of the year.
But Steve has responded to the criticism and says the display was ‘taken out of context’ and not meant to glorify the Nazi’s in any way.
‘This is really upsetting,’ he told CornwallLive. ‘I’m upset and annoyed about this and so are my staff. It has really tarnished my image when that piece of military memorabilia has been in the pub since it opened 80 years ago.
‘There are a lot of curios in the pub. There’s a lot of stuff on display. The item is no longer on display. I took the decision to remove it as soon as this complaint was shared with us. I’m not even sure that the person who complained ever set foot in the pub. He must have seen it online,’
Steve and his team had been due to celebrate the award this weekend, but now the event hangs in the balance.
It’s ironic that the Hole in the Wall has been stripped of its Pub of the Year title, he said, after the venue had previously won the award on two previous occasions- when the swastika was still on display.
He added: ‘It’s been taken out of context completely by CAMRA at national level. It has nothing to do with CAMRA Kernow. Bodmin was a garrison town. These soldiers came back from the war with spoils of war memorabilia. It was not to hero-worship Hitler or the Nazis but to celebrate the victory over fascism and to remember their comrades who died fighting against evil. You can’t whitewash history.’
‘It’s not my memorabilia. It belongs to the pub. It’s been here for longer than I have. If I had put it there myself, Camra’s decision would be justified. But this has not been seen in context’.
The Nazi armband, which is four inches by one inch, was brought back by a soldier from the Duke of Cornwall’s Regiment and has been on display in a glass case for decades.
A spokesperson said: ‘CAMRA’s National Campaigns and Communications Committee has taken the decision to withdraw the Cornwall Branch Pub of the Year award for 2024 to the Hole in the Wall. In the light of this, there will now be no Cornwall Pub of the Year Award made for 2024. This follows a complaint relating to an item on display.
‘The item has now been removed by the pub owner, but it did contravene nationally agreed CAMRA policies. On this occasion, CAMRA volunteers did not spot the item at the point of judging.
‘However, national policy states no pub or club should be considered for an award if it displays signs or objects that could be offensive to consumers due to their discriminatory nature.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.