Former pub ‘left to rot’ for years is finally demolished
Reporter: Charlotte Hall, Local Democracy Reporter
Date published: 09 August 2025
The site at Grains Bar, formerly home to the Bull's Head pub building. Image courtesy of Kenny Brown / MEN
An ‘eyesore’ building blighting a picturesque neighbourhood in Saddleworth has been demolished to make way for new homes.
The former pub and restaurant on Ripponden Road in Grains Bar has stood derelict for almost a decade.
But new pictures confirm the site of the former Bull’s Head is now being prepared for development into three new luxury houses.
Once recorded as a pub, the building later became an Indian restaurant first called Vamasaki, then renamed to Blue Pearl.
But since it was officially delisted from serving pints in 2015, it has been left vacant, becoming increasingly dilapidated as the years passed by.
Now nothing but rubble remains of the two-storey pebble-dash building, after demolition works took place last month.
The site, which holds a prominent position at the intersection of Ripponden Road, Oldham Road, Ship Lane and Grains Bar, opposite the Grains Bar Hotel, is tipped for housing.
Three new homes with private parking facilities are planned for the plot, which is surrounded by greenbelt land.
Oldham Council granted permission to developers Wardle Properties Ltd back in 2022 to transform the site into four bedroom homes.
Each house will have three bathrooms – with two ensuite bedrooms – and a separate WC on the ground floor, according to the architect’s plans.
Two of the homes will have open plan kitchen/dining/living areas, while one of the homes will have separate living and kitchen areas.
Each building will have access to a garden and eight parking spaces will be shared between the residents.
Before the demolition, developers wrote that the building was “currently in a state unbefitting the otherwise picturesque character of this rural, residential area and the applicant’s intention to redevelop the site will vastly improve the appearance of the site.”
Many locals welcomed the demolition, with several commenting online that the building had been an ‘eyesore’ for years, and others stating the building ‘always stood out for all the wrong reasons’.
Though others mourned the loss of the pub and building, which they claimed had been ‘left to rot’.
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