A campaign fundraiser for Maryport’s cottage hospital will double as a tribute to a popular pub landlord who died recently.

The Feel The Blues gig will be held in Maryport’s Thomas Henry pub today to raise awareness and money for the Save Our Beds campaign.

It will also be dedicated to John Hunter, former landlord of the Crown Inn pub at Ellenborough, who died aged 57 last month in the hospital after a cancer battle.

Organiser Graeme McGrory was close friends with Mr Hunter and said he would have been first at the bar at anything for such a good cause.

He said: “John supported lots of things in town and it was just sad to see him go downhill once the cancer took hold.

“He was definitely someone who cared about Maryport.

“The important thing for me to remember is despite what he was going through he supported my wife Ann, who has a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, in every way he could.

“His funeral at Distington Hall Crematorium was packed so I think he was a popular guy around Maryport. People had known him for years.”

Headliners Albany Down will play at 3pm then the Ash Wilson Band, who wowed crowds at the town’s blues festival last month, will follow them at 5.30pm.

Signed posters, Save Our Beds wristbands and CDs from other local bands will be available to raise money for the campaign and Graeme expects the venue to be packed.

Graeme started organising fundraisers for charity last year but decided to hold the one-off gig to support the town’s fight to save hospital beds.

He thought the hospital was especially important to Mr Hunter as both his parents had died there.

He added: “John had been in and out of hospital but he was found at home not well and he ended up at the cottage hospital, which was where he died.

“It’s so important to the local community to have somewhere where they can go when family or friends aren’t well.”

Mr Hunter worked in Greggains garage in Maryport before training apprentice mechanics in Carlisle, where he met Graeme.

He later worked at the Old Mill Inn in Dearham before taking over the Crown, where he stayed for 10 years until illness forced him to close last year.