Through a post on social media, the owners of the Blighty Hotel last week announced the pub’s last trading day would be March 20.
The owners have declined to make further comment at this stage, but in the online announcement they said “this has not been an easy decision”.
“The pub will remain on the market, and we remain hopeful that it may find new ownership and a new chapter in the future,” the announcement read.
“However, for now, we want to focus on celebrating everything this place has meant to our community.”
Based on research provided to us by local historian Ian Lea, the Blighty Hotel has been part of the district’s social fabric for more than 80 years.
But its story begins well before the first beer was poured from its Riverina Highway position.
The hotel’s licence was originally held by the Morago Hotel, operated by the Davie family.
By 1940, publican James Davie was 66 and facing the reality that the Morago building had deteriorated beyond repair.
Licensing Inspector Sedgwick described its condition as “impossible,” recommending it be delicensed as soon as possible.
Rather than rebuild, Davie, encouraged by family, sought permission to transfer the licence to a new hotel at Blighty.
Both police and the Closer Settlement Board supported the move, and when the Licensing Board met in Deniliquin on May 9, 1940, Police Magistrate Mr Beavers agreed the licence “was of little or no use” at Morago but would “serve a much more useful purpose” at Blighty.
Approval was granted, though construction took longer than expected due to wartime shortages of materials.
When the new hotel finally opened, James Davie and his wife Constance Beryl Kyte took on the running of what would become a long‑standing community meeting place.
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