Sportsman, Huddersfield

Rebuilt of stone in 1930 by Seth Senior of Shepley, Huddersfield it is believed the interior was re-configured around 1950 by Hammonds Brewery of Bradford, whose logo appears in the windows and who took over Seniors in the late 1940s. The main change in the 1950s was to remove the centrally placed off sales so the rooms either side of it (note three doors originally in the vestibule) were combined into the large space we now see. However, there have been few changes since and the pub was sensitively restored in 2009 by the current owners that won it the English Heritage Conservation Award in the 2010 CAMRA Pub Design Awards. The front door leads into an inter-war full height glazed screened vestibule with a colourful Art Deco style terrazzo floor. The interior consists of the large central bar with small rooms to the left and right.

The bar retains its parquet floor which was covered by a carpet until being uncovered in 2009. Most of the floor has been restored but the part near the bar counter was beyond repair so it has been replaced with modern tiles. The curved bar counter looks like it dates from the 1950s but a new oak top has been added over the original Formica one. The wooden bar back fitting has a sweeping canopy, fluted pilasters, mosaic mirror panels and glass shelving – all in classic Fifties mode. In 2009 there was some restoration and small alterations such as the loss of lower shelving for a bottle fridge. The fixed banquette seating in bays installed in the 1950s (note how it goes around the outside of the vestibule entrance blocking off the middle off sales and right hand doors that were in use until 1950). There is a tall baffle on the right hand side of the door and a lower one on the left end of the fixed seating. The fireplace which housed a 1960s gas miser now has a modern log burner.

The small left hand snug has a tiled floor, retains its original fixed seating with bell pushes all around the room and the original wood surround fireplace with a modern tiled interior and has two 19th century oblong rustic tables that were found in the cellar and restored. The right hand room has a vinyl tiled floor, a 2009 replacement for the original mammalian flooring, retains original fixed seating with bell pushes all around the room, but the fireplace which housed a 1960s gas miser now has a modern log burner.

A ‘don’t miss’ is the unchanged gents' toilets with a terrazzo floor, original urinals, inter-war tiling to two-thirds height on the walls with spaced out all around the urinal and WC areas are pairs of tiles depicting various sports such as game shooting, horse racing, soccer, angling and yachting (twice).