Bradford & District | Archive | 2004 | April | 8
From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Thursday 8th Apr 2004.
Real ale campaigners have called time on a property dealer's offer to sell them a historic city centre pub.
Developer Liaquat Ali wanted to sell Bradford's Campaign for Real Ale group the Grade II-listed Cock and Bottle in Barkerend Road for £225,000 - but they turned him down because they could not afford it.
CAMRA's branch secretary, John Bell, said the group was not in a financial position to buy the building and it did not own or run pubs anyway.
Now the real ale group is preparing for a battle to get the Cock and Bottle serving pints again - even though it was sold by brewers Enterprise Inns to Mr Ali with a clause that it cannot be used as a pub.
Mr Bell said campaigners were "watching and waiting" to see what Mr Ali will do next with the 250-year-old hostelry which became Britain's first Christian pub in 1999.
The Cock and Bottle, which is listed for its interior, is one of only two unspoiled pubs in Bradford and among 240 in the whole country of historic importance.
Mr Bell said: "We will launch a campaign to get the pub back to its former glory as a fully-working pub but until we know what Mr Ali's got in mind we can't make our move.
"He has not put in any planning applications at the moment and it seems to us that he has bought a building he can't do anything with - unless he gets that `no pub' clause removed.
"He can't touch the pub inside or the bar because it's protected under its listing. I don't know why he bought it."
The pub dates back to 1747. The wife of Oliver Cromwell's deputy, Sir Thomas Fairfax, is said to have been captured by Royalists on the site a century earlier. The pub saw a killing in 1996 when landlord Peter Tooley was stabbed by his wife Marjorie.
It was bought by Enterprise Inns who accepted £1 a week rent from a Christian community to run it and an exorcism took place before the pouring of the first pint - but the venue has been closed and boarded up for the last year.
A spokesman from Christie & Co, acting on Mr Ali's behalf, said: "My client has never had any intention to pull down and rebuild the property or do anything as drastic as that.
"He has little interest in the pub downstairs - he is more interested in turning the upstairs into offices or letting it out as rented accommodation and would be happy to lease the downstairs to CAMRA on very favourable terms for use as their own private members' club."
Mr Bell said the proposal was interesting but separate access to the upstairs and to the pub would be needed and could be awkward.
He added: "CAMRA taking it on is still out of the question, even as a private club."
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