Pontefract Corner Pub
The latest pub to be rendered flat is the Old Mill in South Kirkby, Pontefract: https://planning.wakefield.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails 
This pub has piqued my interest as it occupies quite an awkward site on an acute corner, and brings together the two branching streets very neatly. It reminds me that pubs were often a hub of a community positioned at confluences like this. Not an ancient building by any means but the interesting frontage with high chimney flues and large bay windows demonstrate the right balance between modesty and ostentation that is difficult to get right. Sadly the replacement buildings do not acknowledge this form at all, completely ignoring the corner which is actually an asset to this site, and offers the constraint needed to produce an interesting architectural solution.
Warehouse in Bradford conservation area
A grand imposing industrial building on Vincent Street, Bradford is about to be demolished:
Permission was in fact granted in 2013 to demolish this building in a conservation area. If only councils would understand that a conservation area requires all of its component parts to be protected to preserve the aesthetic of the area. Bradford’s industrial history had a statutory protection here, offering a window into how the brutal architecture of the city was an industrial necessity. And now these robust megolithic buildings have acquired a timeless quality, they are to be lost.
Please Bradford, understand that the difference between a listed building and a conservation area is that within a conservation area, it is both the buildings and the spaces between the buildings that need to be preserved.
Two Sheffield pubs
The Arbourthorne Hotel in Sheffield has had an application for demolition submitted against it:
Not an ancient building by any means but I thought it worth documenting another loss of a pub. Built within an array of red brick housing for a mining community, these pubs/working mens’ clubs are a clear continuation of Victorian utopianism and philthanthropy in the wake of TItus Salt, Robert Owen et al.
Another pub in Sheffield soon to be lost is the Mason’s Arms:
Another pub that has lost its relevance as the surrounding industry waned. Quite striking quoining and a generally robust building that could be key to a regeneration in this area, but alas it is presumably just an asset in the portfolio of a brewery.
Branshaw House, Keighley
Planning has been granted for the demolition of this manorial house in Oakworth, Bradford:
Initial masterplanning Incorporated the building into the new scheme, but someone with a spreadsheet has made the decision to chuck another three houses in there instead. Crazy really, when you consider the value that would be added to the new development if the elegant Victorian house was to act as a lynchpin to the streetscape. People would pay significantly more to be within this setting.
Former Talbot Hotel and Pub, Batley
A very tired looking old pub looks to be lost soon in Batley;
http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2015%2f90204
Drinking Establishments often sprung up in industrial areas, to be populated by thirsty mill workers. Yet with the demise of industry, these public houses have become obsolete. It always ignites my imagination when I come across an old pub in a derelict former industrial area and consider how it would thrive.
There wont be too many of these pubs left now, which is a shame, because a resurgence in niche pubs that are removed from the bustle of the town centre are slowly becoming popular. Sometimes people like to drink beer nestled within a landscape of iron and brick.
Substation and Switchgear, Huddersfield
Most people will find this building diminutive, but every time I drive past it, it captures my imagination, simply wondering why an electric substation and switchgear house would be build to resemble a chapel. A testament to the care that was offered to everything that would happen to be created.
http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2014%2f93973
Not much remains of the industrial infrastructure that would line the network of streets coming off Leeds Road in Huddersfield, and I will be sad to see this last allusion to the civic pride of West Yorkshire’s industrialists.
Whitcliffe Mount School, Cleckheaton demolition
Another application to flatten a Victorian school in Kirklees;
http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2014%2f93877
The school covers a large site, and is for once not being sold off in the bonfire of the assets, but is being rebuilt.
Much of the current building is from the 1960s onwards, but the southern wing of the building is from a much earlier date and is once again an important testament to our social history. Opened in 1910, a brief history of the school can be found here:
https://www.whitcliffemount.co.uk/information/default.aspx
Echoing the demolition of Penistone Grammar School, opposing an application by the local authority is a none starter, Yet it would be great to see a local campaign to try and halt this unnecessary loss. Incidentally, from the indicative plans it looks like the footprint of this building would serve only as a car park. I am not against building and upgrading education facilities, but retaining some of the schools history can only make the establishment more prestigious, surely?
The Old Roundabout Pub, Stanningly
A large site clearance in Stanningly, Leeds will involve the demolition of The Old Roundabout pub:
Although only in outline application stage, I assume that the extent of the redline boundary will be cleared if permission is granted, which in the east Leeds housing market is almost certain.
If only planners had the power to add conditions to planning permissions that stipulate the retention of historic assets within a site, I’m certain development would still occur, but with a vital allusion to our history still visible.
Bonfire of the public assets
Another school building owned by local government, being expedited through the planning system and sold to a housebuilder with full permission to demolish.
http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2014/91795
Of all the school buildings West Yorkshire is set to lose this is possibly my favourite from a design perspective.
Only Victorian Britains would deem it necessary to erect an ornate bell tower on a school building, presumably to instil pupils with a sense of pride – modern buildings tend to be predicated on function alone.
Robust and esoteric, this building would make a great conversion into flats. This road is going to appear odd without this school. We are fools to knock down these monuments to our golden age.
Remind me to laugh at Kirklees when in years to come they complain about not being able to afford to build schools for a ballooning population in years to come.
Tramway Pub. Sheffield
A nice little corner site on London Road in Sheffield was once home to this thriving pub. Long abandoned, it is a shame the premises can’t hold out a little longer for some gentrification, and a new lease of life as a wine bar.
At present there are no plans to build here, so I am assuming the land will be utilised as a car park. This is a high street, and bit by bit it will be pulled down, leaving nothing. Planners need to figure out how they can stop wanton demolition. Lets get something enshrined in law soon.
The Demolition Register 