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Elderly millionaire is back in town to buy the humble hotel where he was born
MILLIONAIRE George Moore has never forgotten his humble roots in Knaresborough, so when his birthplace at the Mitre Hotel in the town came up for sale he bought it.
Mr Moore, 74, made his fortune after buying the former ordnance depot at Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, where he established the George Moore Furniture Group.
The 425 acres with just under a million square feet of floor space cost him 75,000 in 1960 but the business made 80m when he sold it in 1987 and he now lives on the Isle of Man.
Although for tax reasons he lives away from Knaresborough, he is still held in deep affection by the historic town where he was made an Honorary Citizen in 2000. Yesterday he returned to inspect his new purchase, the now-closed Mitre Hotel next to the railway station, where he was born in 1928.
Outside he posed with a mop and bucket to recreate a photograph of his father, also called George, who stood on the same spot 60 years ago.
Mr Moore, who had a sister and five brothers, attended Castle Boys' School after failing to get a place at Knaresborough Grammar and was an entrepreneur even before he left school at 14.
By then he had his own shop repairing, repainting and selling second-hand toys and he was earning money as a river warden helping Herbert Blenkhorn with his rowing boats on the River Nidd.
After George's brother Leslie was killed in the war, the family moved to Cottingley, near Bingley, where Mr Moore used 45 he had saved to establish his joinery business in a second-hand hen hut – employing a craftsman to supervise him through a formal apprenticeship.
Today it is charitable work that occupies much of Mr Moore's time with the interest on an investment of several million pounds financing the George Moore Foundation. It helps numerous organisations each year, including the creation of a Technology College at King James's School in Knaresborough.
Apart from enjoying a drink in the Mitre 20 years ago when
he visited Knaresborough to attend a wedding, Mr Moore had not been back in the building since he was 17.
Uncharacteristically for a man who has taken so many important decisions, Mr Moore seemed a little uncertain yesterday about his plans for the Mitre, which he bought from Brenda Dawson.
He said: "For the moment, I am just delighted to have been able to buy this building, which holds so many treasured memories for me. There have certainly been an awful lot of changes since my father pulled his last pint there in 1945."
One possibility he has not ruled out, subject to planning permission, is turning the Mitre into a museum. He said: "I have a tremendous amount of stuff and I have had a lot handed to me by the people of Knaresborough."
Mr Moore, who keeps up with what is going on in Knaresborough by reading the Yorkshire Post every day, added: "I have not made my mind up yet. but I will do something with it eventually."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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