Beat The Crunch: West Riding landlord to open Sportsman pub following BBC TV success

Mar 20 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE RECESSION may be biting the pub trade but for landlord Mike Field business has never been better.

In fact it’s been so good for Mike, who runs the famous West Riding Refreshment Room at Dewsbury railway station, he’s decided to open another ale house in Huddersfield.

Mr Field, also landlord of Cellar Bar, Batley, is to re-open The Sportsman, on the corner of Fitzwilliam Street and St John’s Road – hopefully by April 3.

Mike’s atmospheric real ale pubs have been bucking the trend.

And this is in part thanks to TV’s Oz Clarke and James May who sampled a few of the West Riding’s brews on the hit BBC2 show Oz and James Drink to Britain.

Mike says: “Sometimes we get groups of 50 people getting off the train to drink at the West Riding.

“Oz and James were great fun and the programme has done real ale and the UK drinks industry a lot of good.

“We’ve run out of beer a few times because of them!”