KNOTTINGLEY PUBLIC HOUSES & BREWERIES
circa. 1750 – 1998
by TERRY SPENCER B.A.(Hons), Ph D. (1998)
CHAPTER TEN
POST WAR DEVELOPMENTS
Owing
to the shortage of materials which was a feature of post war austerity it
was not until the late 1950s that work could recommence on the previously
abandoned public house at Morley Close, England lane. Official approval
for the completion of the premises was given by the Licensing Authority on
the 16th November 1957. Meanwhile, the White Swan Inn, Hill
Top, which had been scheduled for closure was granted a provisional
licence pending its eventual transfer to the new public house. In May the
following year a request for the renewal of the White Swan’s provisional
licence was refused and the inn was closed. Shortly thereafter the
building was demolished, a deplorable loss of a unique element of the town’s
heritage. The transfer of the licence to the new premises was accompanied
by the transfer of the name; the new public house opening on the 11th
February 1961 as the White Swan Inn. (1)
It
is doubtful if the pubs erected near the new council house estates ever
reached the envisaged trade potential for the post war decades saw the
introduction of television into the majority of homes, with a widened
choice of programme available following the establishment of the
commercial channels in 1955. Many people resorted to drinking at home
whilst viewing, their tastes catered for by an increase in ‘off licence’
sales and the ‘beer at home’ policy adapted by some of the larger
breweries in an effort to maximise their sales by cashing in on the latest
public trend. The trend was reinforced by the introduction of the
breathaliser in 1967. A report in the Pontefract and Castleford Express of
the 19th October, stated a drop in local public house sales by
between 25-50 per cent of normal consumption had occurred during the first
week following the introduction of the new legal measure.
Post
war prosperity based on full employment which was standard in the 1960s,
not only boosted the sales of television sets but also of motor cars.
People were using their new-found mobility to travel further afield for
recreation and entertainment and the new social trends resulted in the
further decline of the town’s public houses. Many, already on the verge
of insolvency, became completely unviable. Others, particularly those in
the Low End – Aire Street areas were the victims of the slum clearance
policy of the local council which involved the indiscriminate destruction
of Aire Street and the adjoining parts of the town. The implications of
these social developments were foreseen by the public house owners who
undertook a large scale reorganisation of their holdings, resulting in the
closure of the majority of the town’s licensed premises during the late
sixties and early seventies.
The
Duke of York Inn led the way. The fate of this inn had hung in the balance
for some years. Giving evidence to the Compensation Authority in June
1968, Sergeant A. Masters reported visists to the inn on fifteen separate
occasions between November and December 1967, with no customers present at
any time. It was stated that although the premises were clean the
facilities left a lot to be desired. A spokesman for Bentley’s Yorkshire
Breweries declared the Police Report as "fair and correct",
adding"Quite
frankly, neither present or potential trade warrants money being spent on
the premises."
Consequently,
renewal of the licence was refused and it only remianed to await the
expiration of the current licence in August and effect the closure. Like
the White Swan, the Duke of York was demolished soon after its closure.
(2)
In
Aire Street, the Wagon & Horses and the Buck Inn were closed as the
result of compulsory purchases orders served by the Urban District
Council. The Wagon & Horses closed its doors for the last time in
1970, although its licence was effective until the following February. The
Buck, sold to Allied Breweries in November 1970, was closed in September
1972, its licence suspended following another compulsory purchase order by
the Council.
The
Roper’s Arms closed in March 1971, although the licence was not
immediately surrendered. March 1971 also saw the closure of the Red Lion,
Fernley Green. The inn had been closed briefly in November 1965 while
structural alterations were undertaken. The redesigned premises did not
revive trade, however, and although at the date of its closure the licence
was retained, it was surrendered in June 1971, not being required when the
premises were sold shortly afterwards. The site was purchased by the Hope
Glassworks who demolished the building in order to enlarge the glassworks
site.
For
almost a quarter of a century the Lime Keel stood empty and derelict
following its closure in January 1973. Whitbreads, who had recently taken
over Bentley’s Yorkshire Brewery, decided there was no economic value in
the inn remaining open and therefore surrendered the licence. The premises
were ultimately abandoned and the site, like that of the Mariner’s Arms,
lying next door, stands empty and unused at the time of writing.
Another
former Carter house which was demolished shortly after closure was the
Boat Inn, sitauted on the canalside at the eastern end of Sunny Bank. The
original plan envisaged the transfer of the Boat Inn licence to new
premises to be erected at Hill Top and provisionally named as the Hill Top
Hotel. Following three years of indecision and delay, the scheme was
aborted and when the provisional licence expired in February 1977, it was
not renewed. The Boat Inn was then closed and demolished although a
remnant of a former outbuilding is still discernible on the former site.
(3)
It
is unsurprising that the plan to build a new hotel never came to fruition.
Indeed, given the social changes of the 1960s the only surprise is that
the scheme merited consideration. As early as March 1938 the sole
remaining hotel in central Knottingley, the Aire Street Hotel, had been
refused a renewal of its licence and compelled to close. In common with
the Lime Keel at a later date, the Aire Street Hotel stood vacant for
twenty or more years before being demolished as part of the scheme by
which the local councillors endeavoured to create Utopia and merely
produced a wilderness. (4)
The
advent of the breathaliser was a further development with adverse
implications for the licensed trade during the decade of the ‘swinging’
sixties. The attempt to curb road accidents caused by an oversufficiency
of alcohol further added to the problem of declining beer sales and the
closure of more public houses. The Commercial Hotel, Hill Top, ceased to
trade in September 1971, and was then demolished; only a blocked up
gateway and a barren plot marking the site today.
The
nearby Kancashire & Yorkshire Hotel suffered a similar fate. During
the century of its existence the property had suffered many vicissitudes.
Originally owned by the Tower Brewery Co., Tadcaster, the premises
experienced mixed fortune, as indicated by the frequent changes of
tenancy. In April 1951, Hammonds Brewery took over the management of the
inn and in January the year following, purchased the property. During the
post war period the building began to deteriorate due to subsidence
engendered by the constant vibration caused by the proximity of the rail
traffic. In an effort to control the problem the wall nearest the railway
station was butressed with heavy balks of timber but to little avail and
the upper storey of the building was eventually removed to obviate the
problem. When, as a result of the brewery merger, the hotel was taken over
by Bass Charrington Ltd., in November 1967, it was decided to close down
the premises. The licence was surrendered the following April and the
building was subsequently demolished. (5)
If
the middle decades of the twentieth century witnessed the demise of the
majority of the remaining older public houses in Knottingley, they also
saw some more positive developments. The modernisation which had commenced
in the late 1930s but ws stunted by the onset of war and its economic
aftermath, was renewed by mid century.
In
February 1959, plans were laid for the replacement of the Lamb Inn. The
plans envisaged the erection of new premises on land to the west side of
Springfield Avenue. Upon completion of the new premises the licence was
transferred from the pub on the former site at the opposite side of
Weeland Road. The old premises were then demolished. An interesting
digression concerns the name of the former site. Racca Green Road was the
original name but over the years the existence of the public house led to
the street being renamed as Lamb Inn Road. Thus, the inn had the
distinction of lending its name as a source of geographical location, a
homour shared only by the Anvil Inn which had long provided the source for
identification of the nearby Jackson Bridge. A subtle difference marks the
shared distinction for in the case of the Anvil Inn the vox populi name
change was never officially confirmed.
In
September 1963, plans were adopted for the replacement of the Cherry Tree
Inn. In this case the old property was demolished and the new premises
were erected on the same site. Modification of the original plan caused
some slight delay but a new public house bearing the same name as the old
inn, was opened in 1965.
Two
more new public houses were opened within the town during the same decade.
In 1962, General Redvers Buller Barker (6) opened the Green Bottle Inn at
Spawd Bone Lane. The new inn supplemented the role of the recently
relocated White Swan in serving the needs of residents of the huge England
Lane estate which had expanded considerably as the result of the post war
housing development by the local council. The site of the new inn was the
former Green House Farm, previously owned by William Jackson and his
heirs. (7) The fields of the Green House Farm, like those of the Bay Horse
Inn, had been converted from agricultural use in order to excavate the
underlying limestone. The worked out site was ultimately purchased by the
Council and laid out as public gardens and recreation grounds which were
consequently identified as ‘The Greenhouse’ by subsequent generations.
(8)
The
mid sixties brought an influx of families from the North-East of England
and Scotland as miners came from those areas to provide the workforce for
the new Kellingley Colliery. A new phase of housing development under the
joint auspicies of the KUDC and National Coal Board was launched utilising
the green field site at Simpson’s Lane which was developed as the
Warwick Estate. In November 1964, a provisional licence was granted,
pending approval of plans to be submitted, for the construction of
licensed premises on the estate. The following year the Wallbottle Inn was
built on a site at Hazel Road. (9)
Derestriction
of tied public houses, many of which were controlled by a few large
brewery chains, was a feature of national legislation introduced during
the 1980s. The aim was to give public houses more appeal by providing
scope for greater variety within the licenced trade. Following the
introduction of the new measures, the Commercial Inn, which had been
briefly closed, was purchased by John and Susan Mellor in 1985. In keeping
with the tradition of ‘ale wives’ the licence was granted in the name
of Mrs. Mellor. Following refurbishment, the inn reopened under the new,
but historically appropriate, name of the Steam Packet Inn. A further
commendable development was the on site brewing which was undertaken by
the new proprietors, marking the return of the long vanished tradition of
publican victuallers in the town.
The
acquisition of the Sailors Home Inn by a large inns and leisure group
resulted in the gutting of the interior for refurbishment whilst leaving
the exterior unaltered. The concern for the maintenance of the outside of
the old property was commendable. The effect was diminished, however, by
renaming the premises as the Frog & Firkin when the inn was reopened
in 1991. The name was bestowed in keeping with the group policy of
designating all the company’s inns with similar ludicrous names to
engender a corporate image. Notwithstanding the changed image however, the
venture was a failure and the premises were closed and at the time of
writing are standing empty and showing signs of dereliction. Whilst it is
to be regretted that the new appellation did not reflect the historical
development of the town, one must admit that there is a precedent for
unassociated, fanciful inn names, as those of the Sportsman’s Inn and
Golden Cup testify. At least the building presently stands as its own
monument but how long will it be one sadly wonders, before it goes the way
of so many others for which the present study must suffice by way of
memorial.
Terry Spencer, 1998
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