The Halfway House

The Halfway House

Address	45 Otley Road
Postcode	BD17 7PY
Building Date	1830
Original name	The Fleece Inn
Photo
Location
Google Maps	Link

The Building

The Halfway House is a pub/restaurant at 45 Otley Road, Baildon about 1/2 a mile from a Listed halfway mile marker that marks 5 miles to Bradford and 5 miles to Otley.

Halfway milemarker. Newly painted - 2009.

History

Built 1830. Some of the information about the buildings on New Line, the name for Otley Road when it was built, is difficult to put together. Some notes suggest that this was the first house to be built on New Line, built for Charles Thompson and that it was later The Fleece. Notes from John La Page's scrapbooks about a conversation with Amos Copley in 1942 give a slightly different picture:

Mr Copley owns No 16&18 (Cottages facing Charlestown Road)
These were originally one house occupied by Charles Thompson who kept the house as a Beerhouse. Previous to the district being called Charlestown it was known as The New Line which referred to the new road not long built at that time. Ultimately Charles Thompson moved to The Fleece when it was built. After Charles Thompson the Fleece was occupied by Edward Lambert, whilst Michael Lambert kept The Shoulder of Mutton

Early trade directories and licence registers list the building as The Fleece. Interestingly the 1851 census has Hannah Thompson, Inn Keeper living at New Line, Half Way House. It is possible that the beerhouse referred to in the conversation with Amos Copley was called The Halfway House and that The Fleece was built later as an inn that the Thompsons moved to. This may mean that the 1830 date is for the building of The Halfway House beerhouse.

Looking at the front of 16-18 Otley Road shows that though the building has two front doors the one on the left has no stone surround. See the photo below. The door on the right has a door surround as do the doors in the next property along. Also the gate for the right hand property (No. 18) is directly in front of the door but the gate for the left hand property is on the far left - it could have been used as the gate to the side or rear of the property.

16-18 Otley Rd. The original Halfway House?

Licencees

Please read the page Licencees, sources for information about where a lot of the licencee names and owner names have come from.

Hannah Thompson - Fleece 1853

Hannah Thompson (Mrs). Fleece, Newline. 1857.

The Fleece is again listed in 1861

Hannah Thompson - Fleece 1863

1870 - White's Directory 1870 lists Holmes Thompson at The Fleece

Holmes Thompson - Fleece 1872. Register. Also note Holmes is listed in 1851 census as son of Hannah.

Seth Smith - Fleece P.H. 1893

1872 to 1955

Summary of Register of Licences granted in Otley for The Fleece.
1872 to 1955.

Licencee	Date	Owner
Holmes Thompson	1872 Aug 30	Thomas Hollings, Manningham, Bradford
Edward Lambert	1872 Dec 6
Walter Chamberlain	1880 Dec 3
John Hill	1882 Aug 11
Edward Bradbury	1884 Nov 7	Herbert J.B. Hollins(?),The Watchells, Frimley, Surrey
Abraham Flathers(?)	1886 Jan 1
John Fearnley	1886 May 21
Alfred Harris Lolbey	1888 Feb 3
John Henry Haigh	1888 Sept 28
Seth Smith	1891 27 Feb	Wm Whitaker & Co Ltd., Old Brewery, Bradford.
Sidney Hartley Day	1906 Mar 2
John Whittingham	1908 Oct 30
Robert Craven	1922 Sep 15
Laura Craven	1953 Jan 2
Eileen Croft	1955 ??? 14
Transferred to Bingley Petty Sessional Division 31 Dec 1955

• 2018 Chameleon Bar & Dining Ltd - Mr Gordon Martin Inglis

Census Data

The following tables are taken from the handwritten census returns.

1841

Houses prior to this entry are listed as Charlestown. This is the only one listed as New Line. The next properties are Kirklands followed by several at Spring Garden.

1841 Census for New Line

Yorkshire > Otley > Baildon > District 4

Name	Age	Occupation	Yorkshire Born
Charles Thompson	40	Innkeeper	Yes
Hannah Thompson	35		Yes
Sarah Thompson	15		Yes
Holmes Thompson	12		Yes
William Thompson	8		Yes
Harriet Thompson	6		Yes
Mary Thompson	3		Yes
Mariah Thompson	1		Yes

1851

Hannah Thompson is listed as Inn Keeper of The Fleece in 1853 Whites Directory. In this census record of 1851 she is listed as living at Half Way House, New Line (The name of Otley Road just after it was built in 1825) with occupation of Inn Keeper.

1851 Census for New Line, Half Way House

Yorkshire > Baildon > 3c

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Where Born
Hannah Thompson	Head	Wid	45	Innkeeper	Baildon
Sarah Thompson	Daugh	Un	25	Dress Maker	Morton
Holmes Thompson	Son	Un	21	Butcher	Keighley
William Thompson	Son	Un	18	Woolsorter	Baildon
Maria Thompson	Daugh		11	Scholar	Baildon
John Thompson	Son		9	Scholar	Baildon
Hannah Thompson	Daugh		2	Baby Girl	Baildon

1861

Charlestown, Half-way House is the first listing in District 8. The following 3 properties are listed as New Line followed by Charlestown again..

1861 Census for Charlestown, Half Way House

Yorkshire > Baildon > District 8

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Where Born
Hannah Thompson	Head	Wid	56	Victualler	Baildon
Sarah Thompson	Daugh	Un	35	Dress Maker	Morton
Holmes Thompson	Son	Un	32	Brewer & General Manager	Morton
William Thompson	Son	Un	28	Woolsorter	Baildon
Mary Ann	Daugh	Un	23	House Servant	Baildon
Maria Thompson	Daugh	Un	21	Bonnet Maker	Baildon
Hannah Thompson	Daugh	Un	12	Scholar	Baildon
Thomas Turner	Lodger	Un	22	Proprietor of Railway Shares(?)	Otley

1871

The DESCRIPTION OF ENUMERATION DISTRICT 6 states All the remaining part of the township of Baildon commencing at Baildon Bridge....bounded on the South by the River Aire and comprises The Half Way House, Kirklands Hall and Lodges, all the houses West on the New line Road Charlestown, Wood Bottom, Temple Rhydding.... however The Half Way House does not get mentioned in the census entries themselves. 20 Otley Rd (Fleece Inn)

• 1st property listed in the district is No. 4 Kirklands
• 2nd is 20 Otley Rd (Fleece Inn) - Thompson family
• 3rd - 19 Otley Rd (New Inn) - Joseph R Yates, Horse Dealer - no Inn Keeper or similar listed.

1871 Census for 20 Otley Rd. (Fleece Inn)

Yorkshire > Baildon > District 6

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Where Born
Holmes Thompson	Head	Unm	41	Inn Keeper	Baildon
Sarah Thompson	Sister	Unm	45	Dress Maker	Baildon
Harriet Thompson	Sister	Unm	35	Dress Maker	Baildon
Harriet Thompson	Neice		4		Baildon

1881

1881 Census for Fleece Inn Otley Rd

Source: FHL Film 1342036 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 4339 Folio 99 Page 17

Yorkshire > Baildon > District 5

Name	Status	Age	Gender	Birthplace	Relationship	Occupation
Walter CHAMBERLAIN	Married	57	Male	Nottingham, England	Head	Licensed Victlr Innkeeper
Ellen CHAMBERLAIN	Married	49	Female	Bulwell, Nottingham, England	Wife
Sidney CHAMBERLAIN	Unmarried	23	Male	Bulwell, Nottingham, England	Son	Stoker Railway (Unemployed)
Alfred E. CHAMBERLAIN		14	Male	Bulwell, Nottingham, England	Son

1891

1891 Census for 20 Otley Rd. (Fleece Inn)

Yorkshire > Baildon > District 6

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Where Born
Seth Smith	Head	M	52	Publican (Inn Keeper)	Eccleshill
Emma Jane Smith	Wife	M	48		Halifax
Prince Arthur Smith	Son		13		Eccleshill
Norman Sheller	Boarder	M	31	Laundry Manager	New York, USA
Nelly Sheller	Boarder	M	18	Laundry Manageress	Ash, Hampshire

1901

For District 3 the CONTENTS of Enumeration District reads All Tong Park, Clifton Mills....Chemical Works....Kirklands, Fleece Hotel, Briar Rhydding....

The census data does not give a number or name to many of the properties. Entry 174 appears to have New Inn added to Otley Rd in different handwriting.

1901 Census for entry No. 150 of district 3 on Otley Rd.

Yorkshire > Baildon > District 3

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Where Born
Seth Smith	Head	M	63	Licenced Victualler. Pub. Own Account	Eccleshill
Emma Jane Smith	Wife	M	58		Halifax
Prince A Smith	Son	S	23	Warehouse Man. Woolen	Eccleshill

1911

1911 Census for Fleece Inn

District 491 sub 5 enum. 3. (350/641)

Yorkshire-West Riding > Baildon > 03

Name	Relationship	Condition	Age	Occupation	Working at	Where Born
J Whittingham	Head	70	Widower	Hotel Keeper	Home	Frizinhall, Bradford
A Whittingham	Daughter	35	Single	House Keeper	Home	Shipley
M Brennan	Servant	23	Single (Fem)	Domestic Servant	Home	Bradford
A Gill	Lodger	25	Single (Male)	Woolsorter		Baildon

2019 Change of Ownership

In early 2019 The Halfway House closed after Chameleon Bar & Dining shareholders sold their interest in it (and their 2 other pubs in Lancaster) to Greene King

Text from the T & A article dated 9 Jan 2019:-

The pub closed on Sunday and the deal was completed on Monday when all the staff transferred to national chain Greene King.

After almost 18 years of trading, Chameleon Bar & Dining shareholders decided that they wanted to sell their three remaining pubs - two in Lancaster as well as the Halfway House - and instructed Christies to market them.

Alistair Arkley, who has been a shareholder and chairman of the company since it was founded by Phil Strong in 2000, said: "Phil decided to retire a couple of years ago and my colleague Barry Whitehead and I feel that we have reached the stage where we would rather spend the time with our growing number of grandchildren and the time is right to sell the business”.

A message on the pub's website says Greene King "will be looking to invest considerably and rebrand the pub to take it to greater heights".

It adds that bookings made after January 7 can no longer be honoured but any function booked after June 21 will be honoured by the new owners. For any function before this time, the wedding and events manager would be in touch.

If anyone has an unredeemed Chameleon gift voucher, they will be honoured at the Old Hall in Haworth against food, drink or accommodation until February 25.

Mr Arkley added: "The Keys at Slyne, Lancaster, the Greaves in Lancaster and the Halfway House in Baildon near Leeds have traded well over the years and we are pleased that the new owner will invest in the outlets securing their future for years to come with the skills and resources of a large operator.

"Marc Craddock, who has been managing the business since Phil retired and has been heavily involved in the sale process, will be leaving us after all the arrangements are complete and we would like to thank Marc and wish him every success going forward.

"Most importantly we would like to thank all of the staff some of whom have worked with us for many years and wish them all the best for their future.”

Note from the owners

Goodbye

This is a screenshot and the words from - http://thehalfwayhouseshipley.co.uk/ taken on 10 Jan 2019.

IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
Dear Customer

After over 10 great years as part of Chameleon Bar & Dining, Halfway House is being sold to a larger multiple pub company whom will be looking to invest considerably and rebrand the pub to take it to greater heights. The sale enables the owners to finally retire from the industry and watch with interest from the sidelines after years of great support from our staff and customers alike.

The pub will close on the Sunday 6th January at 5pm giving us chance to serve up our final Sunday lunches and say goodbye.

There are a few final things to make you aware of related to the sale.

All bookings made with us after the 7th January can no longer be honoured, our apologies for this.

Any function booked after 21st June 2019 will be honoured by the new owners. For any function before this time, our wedding and events manager will be in touch with you (if she has not already)

Gift Vouchers – We have deliberately limited gift vouchers for the last 2 months but if you have a Chameleon gift voucher, please note that they must be redeemed by 5pm on the 6th January. Alternatively, they will be honoured at the Old Hall in Haworth against food, drink or accommodation until February 25th 2019.

http://www.hawortholdhall.co.uk/

Thursday 3rd January early closing.
We will be giving our hard working team a late Christmas party and therefore closing the pub at 5pm but will reopen as normal on the Friday 4th January.

Special offers – We will continue to run our food hours and opening hours as normal but as we will be closing on the 6 January at 5pm, we will be running some special offers through the week to limit our closing stock. Look out for these offers on social media.

We hope you will join us to say goodbye and say a massive thank you to our staff for their hard work and commitment over the years in our small independent company. Our staff really are the face and heart of the company and we wish them all the very best for the future.

A huge thanks to all our customers and suppliers for all your support over the years. It has been a blast!

Happy New year from team Chameleon and we hope it is healthy and prosperous for you and your families. We hope you will check out the newly refurbed and rebranded pubs when they are open again.

Marc Craddock
Managing Director
Chameleon bar and dining

Sales literature

Halfway House Sale as PDF

Taken from here

Photos

• 

  16-18 Otley Rd. The original Halfway House?

• 

  Halfway milemarker. Newly painted - 2009.

References