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Samuel Smith's pub in city centre closes suddenly

BBC The sandy-coloured, Yorkshire stone front of the pub with cream curtains drawn in all its wood-framed windows which are painted white. BBC
The pub was closed without warning

A campaign group has expressed its sadness over the sudden closure of a historic pub in the centre of Bradford.

The Shoulder of Mutton in Kirkgate has been a public house since the early 19th Century.

It is owned by Tadcaster-based brewery Samuel Smith's, which locked the inn's doors unexpectedly earlier this month.

Despite repeated attempts to contact the brewery the BBC has been unable to establish why it has shut the venue, which first traded in 1825.

A close-up of a blue plaque with white lettering fixed to the outside wall of the pub which reads: "This building is a typical example of an early nineteenth century public house, dating from eighteen twenty five." Underneath that also in white letter are the words Bradford City Heritage.
The building in Kirkgate has a history dating back almost 200 years

Bradford Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branch secretary Kate Ahern said that the closure was part of a "pattern" of unexplained losses of Samuel Smith's licensed premises.

She said: "It's very popular and there's been, on social media, a sort of outcry about why this has happened and why this was closed so peremptorily.

"Whilst it was unexpected, and I'm sure it was, it doesn't come as a shock because of the pattern of closures for Sam Smith's pubs over the last several years."

Ms Ahern said there was not much the CAMRA branch could do unless brewery owner Humphrey Smith put the building up for sale or applied for a change of use.

She added: "And they won't. He seems to leave properties vacant for years.

"I think CAMRA has made lots of attempts to speak to the brewery and I don't think they're anything other than tight-lipped, most of the time.

"But we have been very sad to see pubs closing."

Between 2021 and 2023, pubs shut at a rate of 500 a year, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

But Ms Ahern said at a recent CAMRA conference she added it was stated that more pubs were now being opened than closed for the first time in years.

A side view of the sany-coloured, Yorkshire Stone building with the Brutalist-style, concrete Kirkgate Shopping Centre in the background.
The pub is not far from the new Darley Street Market, part of the city centre's regeneration project

The independent Samuel Smith's is said to be Yorkshire's oldest brewery, having been founded in 1758.

It operates around 200 pubs across the UK and is famous for its strict rules laid down by Humphrey Smith himself.

These include a no-swearing policy, no televisions or jukeboxes and a ban on the use of mobile phones or laptops in its public houses.

The business did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Another well-known Samuel Smith's pub, The Dyneley Arms at Pool Bank, near Otley, has been closed since 2018, although the brewery did advertise for tenants to run it a year later.

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