What was the first Leeds pub you ever went in and what are your memories of it? Leeds locals ponder pubs of their past.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 My first pub I was 16. A lot of people carried ID around who weren't 18 and it was somebody
00:10 else's ID. So you could get a drink. There was the Chain Bull which is now of course
00:16 demolished and replaced by Marks' car park which is such a pity because it was a wonderful
00:25 building.
00:26 The Lord Darcy and Oldley was probably the first one I went to. That was after my A-Level
00:32 results and I was celebrating with my friends doing the pub quiz. It was a lot of fun.
00:36 First pub I went to was the Fenton. We went after football, after football matches. Mods
00:41 and rockers used to meet there and they used to get on with a lot of bands there, people
00:46 dancing, girls dancing on tables. A lot of mad atmosphere really but it was nice.
00:52 For me the saddest thing is to see all the old pubs closing which is many, many because
00:58 the big ones like Wetherspoons and all them, they just don't have the same interest in
01:01 me as they have the other ones. And also the old pubs had a lot of good architecture in
01:07 there. I used to love and enjoy looking at the architect and stuff like that.
01:10 It's quite a nice vibe of pubs in Leeds generally. I think generally pub culture in the UK is
01:15 quite friendly. I've got to be loyal to that Head Over Arms. I haven't been in but it's
01:20 quite near to me and if you take the 65 bus driver, say you're going to Head Over Arms,
01:27 he always says to me, "Are you going in for one?"
01:29 First pub which I went to in Leeds was a pub called The Dexter in Shadwell which my mum
01:33 used to work at. Ended up becoming a manager, left for a bit and then she went back. But
01:38 it was a really nice place. I've been working at Becketts Bank in the Kitchen for about
01:42 two years now and it is honestly lovely working there. I've never met people like...
01:47 A Delphi, I'd say. It's always nice and relaxed and it's great. So we now live close by so
02:02 it's local, innit?
02:03 I'm going to say it's one we could always go into. It's friendly.
02:07 I went to a port on Coleray and that was my first ever one I went into. Basically because
02:13 my band had a gig there in the little gig room and then we played support in a band
02:18 called Gravy. We're called The North, @thenorth.band on Instagram if you want to check us out.
02:24 We've got a tune on Spotify as well. But yeah, it was wicked. It's a nice, light, cosy room.
02:29 Tetley's Bitter was something like 1 and 10 and Double Diamond was I think 2 and 6. And
02:37 I kind of acquired a taste for Double Diamond. We used to call it D.D. Pint of D.D. Pint of
02:46 D.D. And if you got a lady a cocktail, it was a pint of Mixed, which is bitter and mild.
02:54 You couldn't afford a Brandy and Baby Sham. You know they say Brandy and Baby Sham, where
03:02 are you from?
03:03 (laughing)