Pint with a painting as village pub opens own art gallery

The Bingley Arms in Bardsey, near Leeds, dates back more than 1,000 years to at least AD953 when Samson Ellis is known to have brewed in part of the existing building.

The pub’s new landlord, Ged Sugden, is keen to use its history to help attract more customers and is also looking for other ways of ensuring it stays at the heart of village life.

Last night the pub was given a new lease of life as it launched its own gallery with a room devoted to a selection of paintings and drawings by artists from across the region.

While the sign of a good pub is often said to be its ever changing guest ales, it is hoped that this will now apply to the Bingley Arms’ art room where the work of 13 artists will be displayed – with the paintings changing each month.

The idea was developed by artist Ailsa Read who was helping Mr Sugden to redecorate the pub.

“There was a room which they were not really using and I suggested it became a gallery,” she said. “We need to find ways of making sure pubs stay open and can attract as many people as they can.

“There is a real variety of styles among the painters – traditional painters, watercolours, life drawings, I do seascapes and it will keep changing so there will be something new for people to see each month.”

The art gallery is just one of a series of ideas that Mr Sugden is pursuing to boost trade. He told the Yorkshire Post that he wanted to use the pub’s history to attract visitors from further afield but was also keen to ensure the business thrived as a village local.

To that end, he is exploring whether the Bingley Arms could run a village shop or even be used as a post office. He has also approached Leeds Council to ask for a brown tourist road sign to advertise the pub.

“The pub is the oldest in the country so we have changed the interior to reflect that. We have put up a coat of arms and taken down a neon sign which said ‘bar and grill’.

“The original pub was called the Priests Inn. It changed its name when it was taken over by Lord Bingley in the 1700s

“The part of the building which was the original pub is now a cleaning cupboard but we have also got plans to create a sort of mini Jorvik centre by putting up a smoked-glass door and put some monks in there drinking which people would be able to look at from the pub. We want to be able to celebrate the pub’s history.”

The Priests Inn was said to be a popular spot for travelling monks to rest, with it being situated on a main route between Kirkstall Abbey and the abbey at St Mary’s in York.

From around AD1000, a local court was held at the Priests Inn, with offenders being taken to the pillory across the road. Inside the pub’s chimney, in the main part of the building, are two priest holes which date back to 1539. Catholic priests are thought to have hidden for safety there following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII.

During alterations to the building in the 1700s a stone inglenook fireplace was revealed and this now takes pride of place in the tap room next to a fully-functioning Dutch oven for making bread.

Mr Sugden said: “Before I took on the lease this year there was talk of another party buying it and turning into a home. What a shame that would have been.

“It is important for villages like Bardsey that pubs like these can stay open. I used to live here and drank in the pub as a young man. I want to get the locals coming back here and to raise the profile of the pub as a tourist attraction.”

In the past the pub has launched a curry house in an attempt to bring in new customers.

However, it has since closed and Mr Sugden said he wanted to retain traditional country pub food at the venue.

He is also planning to provide “luxury letting accommodation” at the pub in future.

NORTH BEST BAR NONE FOR PRICES

THE price of beer in pubs varies by almost 30p across the UK, with Northerners enjoying the cheapest pint, according to a new study.

A pint of bitter averages £2.87 in Yorkshire, the North West and North East, compared with £3.15 in London and the South East, the Good Pub Guide found.

A pint averages £2.88 in the Heart of England, £2.90 in Wales, £2.95 in the South West, £2.99 in the East Midlands and £3.11 in Scotland.

The annual guide reveals that the most popular pub food is steak and ale pie, closely followed by fish and chips, often “beer-battered”.

Lasagne scored zero in a list of top food choices. Ham and egg and sausage and mash were also less popular than in previous years.