Community gets landlord to branch out at Christmas
PUB BOSS BRINGS BACK FESTIVE FIR TREE TRADITION AFTER PLEAS FROM REGULARS
A PUB landlord decided to act after a long-established tradition of erecting a Christmas tree was abandoned when Kirklees Council got fed up of people stealing the fairylights.
Shaun Doyle, who has been running The Black Horse at Dalton for the past three years, said one of his regulars, mechanic Paul Southernwood, asked if they could resurrect the tradition at the Nettleton Road site.
Locals as well as Paul and his wife, Cath, and their kids wanted to recreate the community spirit.
Shaun said: “There used to be a massive tree on the green just yards away from the pub but apparently there were problems with people nicking the lights and Kirklees declined to spend money on putting a tree up anymore.
“There certainly hasn’t been a tree there all the time my wife Tracy and I have been here. So one of the customers said to ‘put a box on the bar and let everyone contribute to the cost of one’.
“I got one and we got £160
Everyone is really happy with the tree and it’s good to see it lit up
from locals as everyone wanted to see the tree make a comeback!
“I asked the brewery for permission to put it in front of the pub and they gave it the all clear.
“Next, one of the regulars made a big steel pipe so we can sink it in the floor for this year and future years, hopefully. There’s a two foot hole underneath the tree.
“I was only able to get a 12ft tree this time but next year it will be a proper 20-footer!
“I had wanted to get local primary school children to inscribe the baubles with their names but I ran out of time eventually so next year we will do that too with any luck.
“Everybody is really happy with the tree and it’s good to see it lit up on a night as I can remote control the lights from the pub!”