A gastro pub near Ripon has been granted an extension to its licensing hours until midnight.

The Sawley Arms, which has eight bedrooms and is popular with diners, applied for an extension until 1am, seven days a week.

But Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee decided on Friday that alcohol could only be served until midnight.

Steve Manton, owner of the Sawley Arms, told the committee he had spent more than £1 million refurbishing the pub since he bought it 11 years ago as a retirement project.

Mr Manton, who previously ran several businesses in the Harrogate area, said the pub’s main activity was food.

“It’s a destination pub. The traditional boozer has disappeared.”

Customers, he said, “like to linger and that’s why we have put in the extension until 1am”.

Mr Manton addresses the meeting.

He added:

“That doesn’t mean we will stay open until 1am every night. Last night we closed at 9.30pm.”

Mr Manton, who lives on the Isle of Man, described the venue as “a summer pub”, adding there was “very, very little activity in winter and we close our gardens”.

He said besides diners, the pub attracted weekend walkers, visitors to Fountains Abbey and guests from nearby Grantley Hall, the opening of which he described as “a lifeline”.

Before the meeting, David Taylor, clerk to Grantley and Sawley Parish Council, had submitted an objection to the proposal raising “grave concerns”.  He said:

“The residents of the village are very likely to be disturbed by vehicles leaving the site at times that would extend beyond 1am.

“Although 1am is the requested extended time, there would be ‘drinking up time’ and staff leaving the premises, therefore it would be nearer to 2am when the last cars leave the site.”

Wan Malachi, a licensing enforcement officer at the council told the committee it had received no complaints about the venue.

Ed Darling, the Conservative councillor who chairs the licensing committee, told Mr Manton it had granted the extension on condition that it applied until midnight, seven days a week, rather than the 1am requested. Cllr Darling added:

“There is a right of appeal against this decision to Harrogate Magistrates Court within 21 days of receipt of the decision notice.”

The Golden Lion pub in Ripon is set to open a new beer garden after undergoing renovations costing over £170,000.

The pub in Allhallowgate will open the space, which the owners describe as a “secret garden”, this weekend.

Pub owner Nigel Ayton explained:

“We started renovations before Christmas and are set to open this Saturday. We’ve called it the secret garden due to the fact that looking at the pub you would have no idea it had such a beautiful open area at the rear.”

Mr Ayton and partner, Shelly Herron, initially took over The Black Swan in 2019 on a trial tenancy, before taking on a pub in Easingwold.

But due to the location and the distance from their families, Mr Ayton and Ms Herron decided to move back to Ripon after enquiring about The Golden Lion in January 2021.

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Despite initially being told it wouldn’t be a long-term agreement, in October 2021, Greene King announced they would invest £170,000 into the pub.

Mr Ayton added:

“It’s not been the best of starts for us as we decided to go into the pub trade/business in December 2019, only to be faced with lockdowns. But now we feel things have turned the corner and can’t wait to get the Golden Lion on the map.”

Plans to convert the former Turks Head pub in Ripon into a house have been approved.

The pub on Low Skellgate closed in 2007 and will be converted into a five-bedroom home. The building is listed and dates back to the 18th century.

Since the pub closed, planning documents state there have been several attempts to reopen it without success.

The documents add that in the years before the pub’s closure there were numerous complaints from residents living nearby. They add there are 14 other pubs within a short walk away.

The building is currently on Harrogate Borough Council’s Listed Buildings at Risk Register due to its deteriorating condition.

Although the building is watertight, planning documents say few of the original internal features remain intact.

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The planning application includes statements from nearby residents who said they would be against any attempts to bring the building back into use as a pub.

One unnamed person called the building “a blot on the architectural landscape”.

The resident added:

“Something desperately needs to happen with it and converting it into a private residence sounds like the very best option to me. Having spoken to various neighbours they all agree.

“If there was ever an attempt to reopen the pub, I, along with many neighbours, would be petitioning against that course of action.”

A recent picture of the pub. Credit – David & Lund