Landlady calls time as historic pub shuts

Photo: Darren Robinson

BARBARA and Brian Kinder will call last orders at The Red Lion in Austerlands for the final time on Thursday.

THE pumps at an historic Oldham pub are set to run dry as its landlady calls time on her 30-year posting behind the bar.

The Red Lion, in Austerlands, has been serving ale since the early 1800s, yet on Thursday the pub, one of the last remaining freehold boozers in the borough, will close its doors for good.

The decision was taken by landlady Barbara Kinder and husband, Brian, after a bid to sell the business and property failed to attract any interest.

They now have planning permission to transform the building into four flats and build two more on the existing car park.

Barbara (59) said: “We had the business up for sale for 15 months but we’ve not had one person through the front door showing interest.

“It is a real heartache having to close it down, it’s been hard for me as it’s been such a big part of my family’s lives.

“It would have been ideal to sell it as a going concern. We’ve had such a dedicated bunch of locals but things are a lot different now to how they were 30 years ago.”

After running the pub as a leaseholder for 10 years, Barbara bought the building outright in 1991, a move which she says has helped her stand the test of time and be free from the constraints of brewery tenancy.

Yet with rising costs, fewer punters and a desire to retire, the couple came to the conclusion that the pub had run its course.

It comes after the Chronicle recently revealed 100 pubs have been lost in Oldham in the past two decades, with 250 establishments now remaining in the borough.

Barbara added: “I do feel for other landlords, as a freehold we have managed to keep ticking over, but there are no big profits to be made nowadays.

“It’s all part of the general decline. Breweries are putting their prices up, duties are rising and people’s habits are changing.

“I think I’ve done well to be here for so long, not many stay in a pub for 30 years.”

From it’s long-standing darts team to annual trips to the races, a million memories are held in the pub for the locals who frequent it, and who got together at the weekend for a farewell party.

The quirky, tongue-in-cheek Mayor of Austerlands tradition has been kept alive in the pub for the past 13 years. It will now be taken on by another local.

Punters have also helped raise thousands of pounds for various causes throughout the decades, in particular supporting Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, in Royton, and the Higher Springhead Old People’s Welfare Association.

But saying goodbye to the business she has loved for so long won’t be easy for Barbara, who has over the years also worked another part-time job to make ends meet.

She said: “Everyone is gutted and it is the end of an era.

“But we’ll still see our regulars in local pubs and it’ll be nice to be on the other side of the bar with them for a change.”


Parting gift
A GOODBYE gift of £1,000 was handed to Dr Kershaw’s Hospice by pint pullers at the Red Lion pub Austerlands.

Generous punters helped generate the impressive amount during three years of charity giving.

Proceeds from a Body Shop party, a cheese and wine evening and a pie night helped boost the total, while regular donations in charity bottles on the bar provided a chunk of the cash.

It was one of the final donations made by landlady Barbara Kinder, who is this week closing the pub and retiring.