Gas Club, Huddersfield
Plans to demolish the iconic Gas Club, and last gas holder in Huddersfield:
An application has been submitted by Northern Gas Networks to clear their site off Leeds Road, Huddersfield. The route, which is populated by thousands of Huddersfield Town fans on match day is known by everyone in the Town, and the Gas club is the most important fans’ pub being tantamount to a club house. The gasholder is likely a liability as it is no longer used. But the demolition of the pub is a default inclusion in their asset management strategy. Its a popular venue with a large thriving community that is also home to Rawthorpe Boxing Club.
Local and national media have covered the plans in detail and there is universal lamentation over its proposed loss. Planning Officers now need to negotiate the retention of this icon using whatever legal instrument they can summon.
The site which will be infilled and tarmacked is a fascinating insight into the town’s industrial history. The service railway is still visible, set in the cobbled yard. An overlooked artifact that has survived for over a century.
I sincerely hope the correct decision is made, as there is no justification for the demolition of the Gas Club.
Veterinary surgery, Ilkley
Plans to demolish a beautiful Victorian House in Ilkley for three houses:
Currently operating as a vets, this late 19th century house is to be demolished to make way for three new townhouses.
The proposal is a good design, albeit lacking chimneys. However, there isn’t a need to demolish the existing building at all. Hardly any old buildings are still standing in Ben Rhydding – the Eastern suburb of Ilkley. Its not a notable building by any means, but it is the type of building that will be missed by the locals that walk past it each day. When there is no need to demolish a building, why not keep it and convert it creatively? Those stones benefit from over a century of weathering. That is a long wait to see the character of a building begin to reflect its relationship with nature. A century of storms, snow, sun, all captured in the stone.
The Old Red Lion, Whinmoor, Leeds
Pub to be demolished for a McDonalds Drive-thru:
Seacroft was a rural village beyond the city limits of Leeds 100 years ago, until it was subsumed into the Council Estates of East Leeds in the 1960s. A couple of the buildings from the old village remain but they are slowly being picked off.
This 260 year old pub, to the North of Seacroft in the former hamlet of Winn Moor is the last surviving old building for miles around. Open until 2021, the pub has been shuttered now for a few years and looks likely to be demolished by McDonalds to make way for a drive-thru. Just what the deprived communities of East Leeds need.
The pub was a hub of anti-social behavior and subject to police action that resulted in its license being revoked. Regulars described it as a lifeline for the community when threatened with closure, as there are no other pubs left in the area. Predictably, and arson attack earlier this year preceded the submission of the planning application.
Clearly the demand for a pub is there. It is not the pub that creates the anti-social behavior, and its closure will not address the violence that belies this community. It has however resulted in the loss of a community hub for the elderly locals that patronised the Old Red Lion for over 40 years.
The age of the pub alone should pique the interest of Heritage England who should immediately intervene. To demolish this building and replace it with a grey box that serves fast food would be criminal.
Whinmoor, before and after the social housing revolution of the mid-20th century
The Demolition Register 