Historic Leeds pub closes forever, shell of building to be used as Indian Restaurant.......

[drapesy]

..... is how the thread entitled "historic Leeds pub to reopen", regarding the Nelson in Armley, should have been worded!

[Brandy]

[BLAKEY]

I hadn't thought of it like that Drapesy, but you're absolutely right.I suppose we must just be grateful that the new owners appear to have a degree of sympathy for the building and for its importance in the area.

[Trojan]

drapesy wrote: ..... is how the thread entitled "historic Leeds pub to reopen", regarding the Nelson in Armley, should have been worded! Why? Buildings change their use.    

[chemimike]

Yes they do. The large number of redundant churches now found new uses is evidence to that, though possibly the use i saw in an ex-church in Brighton of the pulpit as the disc jockeys abode might be considered going a little too far. With buildings worth preserving, anything is better than a mysterious fire.

[Uno Hoo]

I applaud your passion, drapesy, and follow your posts with interest. I'm also concerned that so many pubs are closing which were once important community centres (or else contained particular elements of society so that we knew which establishments to avoid). But I also feel strongly that many pubs which are closing have had no chance of being sustainable businesses anyway - many of the discussions about this have been aired on this site and elsewhere.I stopped going in pubs years ago, despite having been an active CAMRA member for years. Why? Because many pubs weren't attractive. I didn't want wall-to-wall stereo, unintelligible large screen videos, promotions of inferior lagers at superior prices which brought in people with whom I had little or nothing in common. Yes, I disliked the smoke as well. My wife became fed-up with indifferent wine at high cost. Where I lived then, and where I live now were and are served by pubs which offer no choice, and the only thing that's changed is that they smell better. Some pubs are doing very well, because they break the mould, and if one like that was near me, I'd go, even though I've now lost my taste for alcohol. But I'm not going to travel miles to get there. Yes, I'm sorry about the Nelson, and not just because of its Ledgard links. Last time I went in there it was a dump. Life's too short to spend in dingy places. So I'd rather it was transformed into an Indian eatery than an electrical wholesaler, which is what happened to the next pub but one along - and the one in the middle has got nothing going for it.And it bothers me that communities are dying. In Bradford dozens of pubs have closed simply because they were in districts now occupied by people with a different outlook. Churches are closing, except for a few on the fringes, and everything else that requires some sort of commitment is struggling. My son's cricket club has folded; my brother-in-law has seen Bradford table-tennis decline from several leagues to a handful of clubs. Folk seem to come home from work and lock themselves in - I'm surrounded by households with several cars, very few of which seem to be used except for to and from work. My business takes me into clients' houses, and it's depressing to go into yet another lounge with a massive TV screen dominating everything and no sign of books or any other stimulus.People have stopped going to pubs because they've stopped living.So I wish the Nelson well in its new guise. It's better than demolition. Like Mike's Carpets across the road, it's helping to retain something of the character of the area.

[Trojan]

Uno Hoo wrote: I applaud your passion, drapesy, and follow your posts with interest. I'm also concerned that so many pubs are closing which were once important community centres (or else contained particular elements of society so that we knew which establishments to avoid). But I also feel strongly that many pubs which are closing have had no chance of being sustainable businesses anyway - many of the discussions about this have been aired on this site and elsewhere.I stopped going in pubs years ago, despite having been an active CAMRA member for years. Why? Because many pubs weren't attractive. I didn't want wall-to-wall stereo, unintelligible large screen videos, promotions of inferior lagers at superior prices which brought in people with whom I had little or nothing in common. Yes, I disliked the smoke as well. My wife became fed-up with indifferent wine at high cost. Where I lived then, and where I live now were and are served by pubs which offer no choice, and the only thing that's changed is that they smell better. Some pubs are doing very well, because they break the mould, and if one like that was near me, I'd go, even though I've now lost my taste for alcohol. But I'm not going to travel miles to get there. Yes, I'm sorry about the Nelson, and not just because of its Ledgard links. Last time I went in there it was a dump. Life's too short to spend in dingy places. So I'd rather it was transformed into an Indian eatery than an electrical wholesaler, which is what happened to the next pub but one along - and the one in the middle has got nothing going for it.And it bothers me that communities are dying. In Bradford dozens of pubs have closed simply because they were in districts now occupied by people with a different outlook. Churches are closing, except for a few on the fringes, and everything else that requires some sort of commitment is struggling. My son's cricket club has folded; my brother-in-law has seen Bradford table-tennis decline from several leagues to a handful of clubs. Folk seem to come home from work and lock themselves in - I'm surrounded by households with several cars, very few of which seem to be used except for to and from work. My business takes me into clients' houses, and it's depressing to go into yet another lounge with a massive TV screen dominating everything and no sign of books or any other stimulus.People have stopped going to pubs because they've stopped living.So I wish the Nelson well in its new guise. It's better than demolition. Like Mike's Carpets across the road, it's helping to retain something of the character of the area. I agree with most of the above - especially the bit about loud music and the Nelson being a dump - at least it was the last time I was in. Full of shady looking characters.

[drapesy]

Yes a fair point well made- just a shame to see so much of history slipping through our fingers- still thats the point of this website I suppose.

[Loiner in Cyprus]

drapesy wrote: Yes a fair point well made- just a shame to see so much of history slipping through our fingers- still thats the point of this website I suppose. My memories of the Nelson are from the early 70's. My wife was raised in Salisbury Road (and as a child played on the Samy Legard buses when they were parked on the road outside her house). It was my type of pub in the 70's. The tap room that was for men only-you can call me a chauvanist, but I was brought up never to swear in front of women so the tap ole' was great when in male only company to cuss and swear as occasionally men do. Then there were the corridor drinkers. I had never met this type of drinker coming from North Leeds, Beckets Arms, Melbourne, Murtle Tavern, Bay Horse et al were my locals. But discovered this was a way of life on Armley Road. The last time I was in the Nelson was probably late 70's, so that's how I remember it. Noone can take your memories away!! I remember it as a great PUB.

[Leeds-lad]

Loiner in Cyprus wrote: drapesy wrote: Yes a fair point well made- just a shame to see so much of history slipping through our fingers- still thats the point of this website I suppose. My memories of the Nelson are from the early 70's. My wife was raised in Salisbury Road (and as a child played on the Samy Legard buses when they were parked on the road outside her house). It was my type of pub in the 70's. The tap room that was for men only-you can call me a chauvanist, but I was brought up never to swear in front of women so the tap ole' was great when in male only company to cuss and swear as occasionally men do. Then there were the corridor drinkers. I had never met this type of drinker coming from North Leeds, Beckets Arms, Melbourne, Murtle Tavern, Bay Horse et al were my locals. But discovered this was a way of life on Armley Road. The last time I was in the Nelson was probably late 70's, so that's how I remember it. Noone can take your memories away!! I remember it as a great PUB. That would be when Bob Kerry had the pub,Good football side mainly locals,good atmosphere,upstairs live music,backroom Juke box,front left Snug/lounge(tiny) and a brilliant tap room.Bob Kerry left and the Landlady from Hell ruined a great pub in about 6 months.