Town's oldest building back in business after restoration

When Howard and Julie Duckworth bought the Lowther Hotel, it was a boarded-up, sadly run-down pub.

Now the building is barely recognisable, with its brickwork cleaned and repointed and paint scrubbed away to reveal its elegant Georgian features, including its ornate entrance, hall and murals once hidden under the garish decoration on the first-floor walls.

Earlier this year it was upgraded to a grade two star listed building, a category reserved for buildings deemed "particularly important" and of "more than special interest".

This Friday the hotel will open as a restaurant, and meeting, conference and wedding venue. It will eventually have 14 bedrooms.

The hotel, in Aire Street, was the first building to go up in Goole in 1824. The Aire and Calder Navigation Company board met in its first-floor meeting rooms, which were lavishly decorated with murals between 1826 and 1830, probably to show potential investors what Goole Docks would look like when complete.

A series of ornate friezes rescued from the rubble following the controversial demolition of The New Bridge Inn in Old Goole were also incorporated into the decor.

Mr Duckworth said: "This project has been a real labour of love for us and, given the difficult economic climate over the past couple of years, there were times when we wondered if we'd ever see our plans and hard work come to fruition.

"To see the building back in use and look the the way it does today is a dream come true for us. We're thrilled to be opening to the public this week."