Smiths Arms News Today

The Priory pub in York is one of 25 across the North of England that have gone up for sale.

The property company that operated north-east-based pub business Wear Inns after it was acquired in August 2018 has gone into administration meaning all 25 sites are now on the market.

Plans to turn an empty former beauty salon into a takeaway in Billingham have been touted to “offer a service to people on their way home from the…

A once-popular County Durham pub that has sat empty since 2020 is still on the market for £225,000 as more and more pubs close in the region amid…

A high-speed police car chase through the centre of Ammanford that spiralled out of control was the result of an intoxicated driver who, just 15…

HOUSES are to be demolished in Gomersal to help create 21 new homes. The modest estate will be built on 1.8 acres of fields close to Gomersal Primary School. Existing properties at number 7 and 11 Church Lane will be pulled down. There will be 12 semi-detached and nine detached homes on the site – down from 25 as originally envisaged. A fifth are designated as affordable housing. The outline scheme, which was approved at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Heavy Woollen Planning Sub-Com...

Six pubs have closed every week during the three Covid-19 lockdowns with premises demolished or converted into housing or shops.  Figures released today showed 384 pubs have closed permanently during the national and tiered local restrictions over the past 14 months. The number of locals is down by one per cent from 40,886 to 40,502, according to research by consultants Altus Group. Robert Hayton, of Altus, said: Pubs have endured a torrid time during the pandemic but have proved remarkably re...

We then moved on to recall pint-sized pub the Burdon Tap in Weymouth. It was a delight to hear from Mrs Heather Byfleet, who wrote to Looking Back as her paternal grandparents were licensees of the Burdon Tap from 1928 to 1941. She also shared with us another picture of this wonderful little pub, which was in Victoria Street opposite the rear of the Burdon Hotel (now the Prince Regent). Mrs Byfleet, a Weymouth resident of 90 years, tells us: "My grandmother managed the Tap from 1937 to...

The Smith Arms near Chester-le-Street has been closed since October Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT A PUB owner who hoped to turn his disused hostelry into family home has said plans to reopen it under community ownership are unrealistic. The Smiths Arms, near Chester-le-Street, has been closed since October, and Kevin Brown, who has owned the building since 2015, has been trying to generate interest to keep it open as a community pub. But he said the current climate in the hospitality industry,...

Smiths Arms This area has a former pub with a very distinct claim to fame. The Smiths Arms in Godmanstone near Cerne Abbbas was known for being the smallest pub in England. This unique single storey building presented a charming appearance, constructed of flint walls under a thatch roof. How the pub looks today The internal dimensions of the only bar were just 11ft 9ins by 15 feet. The ceiling was low and sloping, being only 6ft 2ins and the highest point. When the pub was open, there ...