The Mallard at Moorthorpe Station: Real ale pub at Yorkshire railway station forced to close for two weeks due to failed water connection

Jolly Boys Brewery, which already has a taproom in Barnsley, opened The Mallard at Moorthorpe Station, near South Elmsall, in May, taking over a vacant unit on the platform that had previously been a cafe.

However, at the end of June they began closing intermittently due to issues with their water supply, and had to cancel a ‘Meet the Brewer’ event. In July 2, they announced they were shutting the business until Yorkshire Water had resolved connection issues that were preventing the use of the toilets.

A statement read: “To all our brilliant customers. After a week of absolutely doing our level best in sorting out the water issues at The Mallard on Moorthorpe Station, liaising with and navigating the nightmare that is Yorkshire Water, we have come to the difficult decision of closing until all water issues are resolved.

“We are not willing to compromise customer and staff safety, or the quality of our service.”

The owners claimed they had suffered several weekends of lost trade and income.

However, Yorkshire Water, who have now attended the site to complete an inspection and some remedial work, say the problem is down to a faulty supply pipe that is the landowner’s responsibility to maintain, and which their inspectors recommended be replaced as far back as 2011.

They described the fault as a ‘major internal plumbing issue’ which has resulted in the system not having enough pressure to supply adequate water to The Mallard.

A spokesperson said: “Yorkshire Water are working at Moorthorpe Station this week to renew a supply pipe (which is a private issue for the owner) to try and help, and have had Arlington tanks in place to get water into the building. The water from the customer’s taps is just a trickle, indicating a further issue within the plumbing of the building, which is again a private issue for the owner to resolve.”

After the site visit, Jolly Boys Brewery issued an update which read: “Yorkshire Water have been on site today (day 17 of our closure). We have been told the work will not be completed over the weekend and this is really upsetting for us. We will take YW at face value and accept that there will be a resolution to this nightmare on Monday.

“After that, assuming it’s all sorted, we could really do with your help in getting The Mallard back on track! Thanks for your wonderful messages of support and solidarity."

The station is managed by Network Rail, who have been contacted for comment.

Northern, which operates rail services between Leeds, Wakefield and Sheffield that call at Moorthorpe, and the British Transport Police opposed The Mallard’s application for an alcohol licence at a Wakefield Council hearing before it opened, citing safety concerns over the presence of intoxicated people near the railway line. They requested that a door giving direct access to the platform was not used by customers. Their objections were later dropped after a compromise was reached with Jolly Boys Brewery.