Happy Christmas from Cubby the Unicorn

Cubby the Unicorn lives at the Unicorn Pub in Cublington, a little village in Buckinghamshire with only 350 people. The pub has been mostly a fun place for Cubby to live for the past 250 years where he would meet his friends. The place was alive with fun and laughter. Cubby remembers when the pub was a Drovers Inn in back in the 1770’s. Animals and the drovers would rest overnight, with the animals spending in local fields before travelling on their way to the markets in London. 

In 1941, RAF Wing airfield was built just outside the village as an operational training unit, No. 26. This training facility was for pilots, aircrew and for ground crew from many of the allied countries from around the world. Cubby remembers 100’s of officers and ranks coming into the Unicorn Pub; they were all such a friendly bunch especially the Canadians, coming to the pub for a pint and a sing song around the piano.

The Unicorn Pub was then the central hub for one of the very first planning protest groups against the third London Airport. Cubby says it was a very exciting but a worrying time. Cubby would sit a listen to the plans as the protesters met in the Unicorn Pub; sometimes guest speakers spoke about protest strategies that could be used. The planned airport would have wiped out Cubby’s home and his village of Cublington, and five local villages too. The protesters were on the national television news and in the local and national newspapers, the group protested outside the national Parliament building in London, and questions were asked of the government of the day. AND, and; Cubby was so excited when the plan for the airport was cancelled, his home in the Unicorn Pub was safe and would not be knocked down. Cublington earned the title of, ‘The Village That Roared.’ 

Cubby hopes that the village will roar again soon when the local community is able to buy the Unicorn Pub. It was a very sad day when his home in the village pub was put up for sale in September 2024. But now 15 months later, no one has bought the pub, the local village have raised £435,000, but the owner says it’s not enough and wants £625,000. Cubby says his home in the village pub used to be the social hub of the village. His home is now a very cold and lonely place, no one now comes to warm themselves by the log fires, no one comes to chat to their friends and to meet new people, no one comes to enjoy a pint of beer or a glass of wine, no birthday or wedding celebrations; there are no quizzes, no music nights, no cricket or tennis club meetings, and no village pantomime rehearsals. And no damson gin competitions when vast qualities of gin, flavoured with damsons, blackberries, hedgerow fruit, and even rhubarb was marked by the judges and then vast quantities consumed. Cubby said it breaks his heart to see the village pub cold and closed especially after all the happy memories and fun times he remembers over the past 250 years. He knows that the village want to buy the pub for their community, and to make it ‘a for ever village pub,’ so that Cubby can have a ‘forever home’ too. But Cubby says he is now off travelling to search for some fun and some new friends until the Unicorn in Cublington can be his ‘for ever home’ again, when he will return to live there, happy to be surrounded by happy memories and lots of friends, fun and laughter from the locals.

Please listen to Cubby’s song: ‘The Ballard of Cubby the Unicorn.’ and watch out for news of Cubby’s travels as he searches for friendship and fun.

Save the Unicorn Working Group, Cublington