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 Prospect pub, Bradford
Beautiful stone pub to be demolished in Bradford:
I can’t stress this enough. Just keep the pub. The proposed plans submitted have nothing on the footprint of the former Prospect, so why demolish it? Bradford Council Conservation Officers, this is why you’re there. A non-designated heritage building and an asset of social value, but no justification for its loss. No public benefit. No net gain in dwellings. Step in.
This is an extremely beautiful Victorian building, stemming from an urban tradition that anticipated neighbours, hence the unadorned potential party walls to the sides. This was built in Bradford’s gilded age, when the city had aspirations for an urban culture tantamount to Rome.
The proposal, regardless of the iconoclasm, is a design that says nothing of or to Bradford. The design and access statement goes heavy on the heritage analysis, yet concludes with the gesture of retaining the pelmet, possibly in the garden somewhere.
And the flanks have windows. unlike the pub, they don’t invite neighbours to come and join them in the creation of a high street.
Trams, pubs, industry, houses – an urban street in Bradford, eroded to nothing.
The Cricketers Arms, Keighley
Plans from Aldi to knock down a previously saved pub:
An extremely cute back alley pub in Keighley is to be dropped by Aldi, who have assembled a swathe of land in the area to provide a huge surface car park for their second store in Keighley Town Centre.
The pub closed and has been deemed unviable. I’d argue that when Aldi want to buy your pub, you will do what it takes to demonstrate it is unviable.
The pub was squeezed in between a mill (now gone) and a terraced row. Blink and you miss it. Its exactly the sort of place you’d discover serendipitously on a wander, and add it to your mental map of the town’s cultural circuit.
A lot of effort previously went into retaining this pub, and it is a shame that all that work will have been for naught. Another nail in the coffin of Yorkshire’s culture, and sadly one of hundreds like it nationally.
The Monkey Pub, near Barnsley
Appearing on maps from the turn of the (last) century as The East Field Inn, The Monkey is a classic English Country pub, and famously featured in Last of The Summer Wine.
Sadly the demolition has already taken place so there is no saving this one. South Yorkshire’s cyclists will miss this halfway house between Barnsley and the Peak District.
I sincerely hope this undervaluation of pubs to cultural heritage will eventually be recognised by the planning system. Every pub in the land would generate a huge pay-out if the land is redeveloped for residential use. The market would see them dropped relentlessly, and so planners must do their job and protect assets that benefit communities and culture against market forces.
Cross Roads Inn, Keighley
Application to demolish a pub for a housing site for 11 dwellings:
The attractive stone pub above will be lost to clear a site for 11 dwellings, the elevations for which can be seen below
While I admire that the development would turn the corner of the roundabout and create a strong street frontage (unlike most residential developments which have no concern for the surrounding built form), intensifying the built form to deliver 1 homes, the elevations are a bit bare. A lack of chimneys, quoins and roof detailing in general would result is a somewhat stark frontage in this village centre location.
And the loss of such a beautiful and robust pub is never acceptable. It would be simple to integrate the pub into a residential scheme and achieve the 1 1 units. The Local Authority Planners should also take note of the increase in scale to a three story building. Its not quite right for this street. A better proposal is possible and ten minutes of well-deployed negotiation would achieve this.
As a local authority planner I know this is eminently possible, and if this landed on my desk I’d be certain to secure the longevity of the pub, whilst delivering homes in this location. Intensification is good. Erasing social institutions is not.
Halfway House pub, Wyke, Bradford
Outline application for the demolition of a pub to make way for a vehicle service yard:
The Halfway House pub managed to reopen again after Covid-19 lockdowns and was serving the local community well until quite recently at which point the pub suddenly closed, presumably to create a vacant asset ripe for a demolition application.
Clearly a pub in this location is viable, and its demolition would represent the loss of a vital community facility, further eroding the social capital of this already struggling old mill town. Pubs close and reopen all the time. To have been shuttered for 12 months is no indication that it is redundant.
Particularly concerning would be the building’s replacement with a tarmac hardstanding and industrial utility for car repairs and cleaning. This is town centre street, which is characterised by dense built form and elevations facing the road. A mechanics workshop would see a large hole cut out of the urban fabric of central Wyke.
The fact this in an outline application to test the water suggests the applicant knows that this is folly. I hope the Council agree.
An image of the pub from 1908 shows how the pub contributes to the attractive townscape of Wyke.
The Beehive Inn, Salford
A community owned pub in Salford to be bulldozed:
This pub, themed on the iconic Manchester Bee (albeit in Salford) was saved from conservation to flats in 2016 by a Norwegian Manchester City fan.
Described by the Salford Star as the last pub in the area, its loss would resonate through this beleaguered community. ‘This community needs this pub, there needs to be something for the community, you can’t take everything away from it’ one resident commented when the pub faced closure in 2016.
Closed in march and quickly sold to a developer, there is no evidence to demonstrate the lack of demand for a pub here. Quite the opposite in fact.
I hope the planning officers engages the full arm of planning policy, now that the demolition of pubs have been removed from the general permitted development order – with good reason.
The pub shown in red, was once surrounded by industry and housing, but now is within a desolate urban edge
The Brewers Arms, Ladybarn, Manchester
Suburban pub in south Manchester to be demolished for 3 houses:
Closed since late 2019 and yet to reopen following Covid, the pub is up for demolition with the developer arguing that the windows would be inadequate for residential conservation. I don’t see it myself.
The only pub in Ladybarn, this charming building with an unmatching gable pair would render this area of the City without a local. Once unheard of, swathes of residential suburbs are losing their local hubs, be it shops, pubs, or banks. Houses and Lidls are the future it would seem.
Amazingly, this street is just around the corner from a student area. Students still drink occasionally don’t they?
The last social media post suggests the pub closed because the landlord left for an adventure. No evidence to suggest that a pub is not viable here. Its another example of a brewery cashing in on their assets for a quick balancing of the books after a tough year.
George Hotel, Hull
Pub to be lost just down the road from the KC stadium in Hull:
This late Victorian Pub has been subject to arson in the l last few years, leaving it bereft of a functioning roof. Its location, near the football stadium, would see a decent footfall here if properly enticed as there is no doubt about a demand for pints in this location.
Left redundant since 2016, the pub has been inevitably been vandalised and set ablaze. A few years ago the demolition would not have required planning permission, so it is good to see a full application subject to the Conservation Officer’s consideration come in. Unfortunately the building is now a hazard and the demolition is likely to be given the go ahead.
The first of many pubs to be flattened this month…
Wybourn Hotel, Sheffield
Pub to make way for a car wash:
Its been a quiet few months in demolition terms, which is good news for Yorkshire’s built heritage.
Sadly this month sees a charming pub in Sheffield up for the chop to make way for a concrete hardstanding that would be a car wash.
This pub is just down the road from the iconic Park Hill, which is now a thriving residence of bright young things. But they don’t seem to go to the pub. To my knowledge, there is no other drinkery for miles. The thousands of houses in Wybourne will no longer have a local.
The Council could resist this, as it would be a change of use and intensify the vehicle egress onto the highway. At that point im sure a number of uses would come forward that would result in the retention of the building. And in years to come maybe the residents of Park Hill will decide to be more sociable.
The Demolition Register 