Huge pub with full-sized snooker table on sale for just £140k – but there’s a catch
Pubs all over the UK are closing their doors, as changing lifestyles and the steadily-rising cost of living have led to more of us preferring a quiet night in to socialising in our local.
But what happens to all those buildings, packed with countless peoples’ happy memories? YouTuber David Burnip, known to his 100,000-or-so subscribers as Wandering Turnip, managed to score a viewing at an abandoned Bradford pub.
The former Woodend free house was up for auction with a guide price of just £140,000. At that price, owning your very own boozer seemed too good a deal to be true.
It wasn’t until David got inside that he realised why the estate agent had pitched the price so low. Years of neglect had taken their toll, with large sections of the roof falling in and water damage everywhere as the boozer’s bars and function rooms were left exposed to the elements.
One final break had finished off the snooker table
A full-sized snooker table – probably worth a few thousand quid on its own – had been completely wrecked as plasterboard from the collapsed ceiling had fallen onto it, leaving the once-smooth baize full of debris.
“I wonder when the final game was played on there,” said David. “Who were those people? I wonder if they knew this was the last game.” A quick look in the cellar revealed that there was even some beer left in the pipes, although it would be a brave soul who risked a pint pulled through that dilapidated plumbing.
The Woodend closed its doors for the last time at the end of 2021, but everywhere there were signs of happier times for this once-loved old pub. A store room was packed with decorations that would have been put up around the pub for various events and seasons – there were old Christmas decorations, Halloween ornaments, and lots more.
'Don't worry about buying a sign,' joked David. 'Just write it on the wall.'
There were several more rooms, and it became clear that the pub offered a huge amount of space to drink and socialise, with a sizeable flat upstairs for the owners or staff. "When you do factor in all the space that comes with this pub. the price tag does become slightly appealing," David said.
Using Google’s “Time Travel” feature, he scrolled back through the years to see what the pub looked like when it was last open. A batch of new-bold houses had sprung up in a sizeable green field nearby, just a few years before the Woodend’s bell rang for that final “Last Orders.”
David said that the development was not enough to sustain the pub. He continued: “You'd think people being nearer to the pub would keep it alive, but no. As they came, the pub died. They were probably sat at home drinking cheap tinnies, and you can't blame anyone for doing that.”
There was even some beer left in the pumps.
A bid to convert the pub itself into an apartment building had been refused by local planning officers last year, with concerns raised that future residents of the nine flats would have “unsatisfactory living conditions”.
But, they added, there was not much chance of the Woodend being restored to its former glories. Shipley town planners noted: “It is acknowledged the Woodend Public House is a detracting feature and that it could lend itself to being redeveloped for residential purposes given the character and appearance of the surrounding local area.”
The pub eventually sold at auction for £240,000, and a renewed planning application shows that it’s likely to be converted into nine small flats. Where the occupants of those flats will get together for a pint and a game of snooker, though, is anybody’s guess.