About us: Rich and Becks
We have been given the green light by the landlord to become the new licensees of The Chequers! As passionate local residents we bring our love for the pub, village and community into this planned new phase of The Chequers. With a clear vision to reopen The Chequers as a welcoming community pub for all, we are dedicated to creating a space where everyone can come together to enjoy great company, food and drink, local events, and a warm, friendly atmosphere. 
Some of you may rightly ask, "why would we donate money to you? Its your business after all!"
The answer is a simple one. We are not wealthy people but we passionately love this pub, village and its residents. The unfortunate history of the pub means we are starting in a difficult position with significant startup costs. Yes it is a business in essence and structure but we are putting everything we own into this, and we look forward to dedicating our lives to keep this village asset open and available to all through sheer hard work. These are our values.
You may not know, but the margins are very tight in pubs and the government are making it harder every year. In fact, around 150 pubs close every month.
To clarify, we will not be making money for ourselves for the foreseeable future. We plan to earn a reasonable living wage and will live in the pub to keep costs down. Virtually all money we make in profit, when this positive position arises, will be put back into the pub and community; so The Chequers can continue to grow and become successful. In essence, we believe this is your pub not ours. Simply put, we are simply the custodians serving our much loved community.
We promise to listen to your ideas and will have a section on our menu for 'local's choice' (voting for dishes through our social media pages)
Together, we can bring The Chequers back. Donate today and be part of a bright future for The Chequers!
Let's raise a glass to exciting times ahead for the village!
A Rich History:
With its origins dating back to 1137 when it served as a manor house. The Chequers became a public house in 1414, making it one of the oldest pubs in Kent. Over the centuries, The Chequers has been a cornerstone of Lamberhurst, serving as a meeting place for locals, visitors and traders. Steeped in history, this beloved pub with its traditional charm, cozy atmosphere, and strong sense of community have made it a favourite for generations. We are excited to have this opportunity to preserve this piece of history and ensure that it continues to thrive.
Why It Matters:
The Chequers is more than just a pub—it’s where we celebrate together, support each other, and keep the spirit (pardon the pun!) of Lamberhurst alive. Without it, we lose an irreplaceable community hub that has been at the heart of village life for generations.
Our Vision for The Chequers:
We want to restore The Chequers to its rightful place as the beating heart of the community. Our vision is to create more than just a pub—we want it to be a thriving community hub that brings people together. From hosting local charity events and markets to providing a welcoming space for clubs, workshops, artists, remote workers, and social gatherings, The Chequers will serve as a vital meeting point for everyone.
Our goal is to provide a warm, family-friendly, vibrant environment, with affordable food and drink, live music, quiz nights, and seasonal celebrations that everyone can enjoy.
We also plan to introduce community initiatives, such as coffee mornings, community garden club, book clubs, and games evenings ensuring that The Chequer remains inclusive and accessible to all. With your support, we can make this vision a reality.
How Your Support Helps: Your contributions will go directly towards:
- Restocking the bar and kitchen – Ensuring we have a fantastic selection of drinks and food to welcome our community back.
- Repairs and maintenance – Making necessary improvements, tidying the outdoor spaces and ensuring a cosy, comfortable space for all.
- Restoring our community hub – Bringing back live music, pub games, quiz nights, and the lively social events that make The Chequers a home away from home.
How You Can Help: Every donation, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to reopening our doors. If you can’t donate, please spread the word—share this campaign with friends, family, and anyone who loves a great local pub!
Join Our Checkmates membership scheme!
For those who’d like to contribute a little more, we’re introducing our Checkmates membership:
- Gold mate (£250 donation) – Receive 10% discount off all food and drink for one year, and a special invitation to our Checkmates reopening event. (Date TBC)
- Platinum Mate (£1,000 donation) – Receive 15% discount off all food and drink for one year, and a special invitation to our Checkmates reopening event. (date TBC)
- Legend Mate (£5,000 donation) - receive 15% discount off all food and drink for life, an original 100cm x 100cm landscape painting by Rich, a room in the pub named after you or a much loved family member and a special invitation to our Checkmates reopening event. (Date TBC).
- Please See the 'Rewards' tab for further offers.
Thank you for supporting our vision, here's what a few community people have said about us:
Testimonials - Since its closure, we have received over 40 testimonials supporting us which we are eternally grateful for each and every one. Here is a small sample.
Dear Richard and Becky,
We were saddened to hear about the possible closure of the chequers and would like to support you in your endeavour to save it and to carry on managing it.
The Chequers is a prominent part of village life and is the back bone of certain events like the Halloween trail supporting the hospice in the Weald to bonfire night, scrabble and quiz nights knitting the village together. The summer program of live music was great fun and the new monthly market was creating a bustle of activity for the village.
You have both brought a new lease of life to the pub and I hope you get the opportunity to take it further.
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I believe that Rich and Becky have been the most successful management partnership that we have seen for some considerable time.
Under their management, the pub itself has flourished and they have created a welcoming and warm environment. Had they been able to continue, I have no doubt that this would have resulted in increased visits from existing customers and encouraged a net new customer base from outside of the village. They have been creative in their introduction of new events such as the regular pub quiz/scrabble nights and have begun to build a solid reputation as a destination pub for public holidays through the introduction of musical and food events.
A good pub is an important part of a village and the Chequers central position in the High Street makes it a focal point for the community indeed under their tenure they’ve raised substantial amounts of money for local charities (Torchlight for the homeless in the area and Kent Air Ambulance)
Becky and Rich completely understand this responsibility, creating a real community hub for all ages, engaging the local school in Christmas decorations, hosting local carol evenings for the church and being a home for many local societies.
I truly hope that you consider keeping the Chequers pub open under Becky and Rich’s management. Financially this will allow time to realise the returns from all their hard work and locally will allow the Chequers to remain as the heartbeat of Lamberhurst.
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We are writing in support of Rich and Becky who have been running the Chequers. We can truly say that in all the years we have lived in Lamberhurst (over 15), it has never been as busy and vibrant as it is today. There have been many owners and managers over the years and Rich and Becky are the only ones who have managed to create the right atmosphere for the pub to become a real hub and corner stone of the village.
Rich and Becky have built a strong team who deliver amazing customer service and outstanding food which always gets rave reviews and people seem to come back for more. They are such welcoming hosts and are constantly coming up with new ideas to attract locals and people from a surrounding villages as well as tourists.
We believe that their passion and energy is what has helped the transformation to what the pub is today (before closing). In our opinion, it is the best pub in the area. Our hope is that it can continue to be!
We love Rich and Becky and would be so delighted to see them continue with what they have started. We believe that that they have what it takes to continue to grow the business and take it to the next level.
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I’ve lived in Lamberhurst for nearly 30 years and in that time have seen many couples come and go, who have attempted to run the Chequers. These people run the pub as a business and have done ok but the pub never felt part of the community.
Enter Richie and Rebecca.
On the first day Rich came and sat down and we just chatted about the pub, its history, previous landlords the village and its people. I remember thinking for the first time in many many years we have someone who cares about the pub and the village, who wants to make the Chequers a village pub and not a soulless corporate bistro that sells fancy beers at crazy prices. Rich and Rebecca have done a fantastic job running The Chequers and have made it a great pub selling great food and beer because they care for the pub and Lamberhurst.
It will be so sad to see the pub go. Richie and Rebecca have done so much and certainly don’t deserve what’s happened to them. They have bought the village together and have contributed greatly in making Lamberhurst a special place to live.
I wish we could find a way to keep our village pug with Richie and Rebecca at the helm. They deserve every success for there effort.
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My family and I live in Lamberhurst, and we have been regular customer to the Chequers over many months.
We cannot express our gratitude and appreciation to both Richard, Becky and the wonderful staff for making every visit memorable.
We have always been welcomed in the warmest and friendliest of ways and it is clear to see the huge endeavour and passion that both Richard and Becky have invested in making the Chequers a vibrant and important place to meet within the village.
We have recommended the Chequers to many of our friends and the feedback from their experience has been outstanding.
In short, the Chequers is the beating heart of the Lamberhurst community, and this wonderful village asset can and will be a great success with the leadership of both Rich and Becky.
The service has always been impeccable, professional and we have always been greeted friendliness and a mile unlike so many other establishments that have no soul.
Let’s keep this wonderful venue alive and kicking for the future as it is truly special but more importantly it will be a great success with Rich and Becky at the helm.