THE Queen Street Arms, in a part of Keighley which has since disappeared under the Airedale Centre, called ‘last orders’ in November, 1966, as the bulldozers closed in.
Its last licensee was 73-year-old Mrs Edith Alice Riley, who had lived on the premises since 1903 when her father, Jabez Wood, had become licensee. Bradford brewers J Hey and Co Ltd presented her with a gold watch.
Popularly known as “the Grinning Rat”, the Queen Street Arms boasted theatrical associations. Jabez Wood had formerly been manager of the nearby Queen’s Theatre, and actors would rehearse in a back room. Its nickname may indeed have originated from a company which frequented it while appearing in a play called The Grinning Rat, although alternative theories suggest the features of a Victorian landlord or, more probably, a heraldic animal on its sign when earlier named the Parker’s Arms.
The photograph was taken by the late Harold Horsman, ARPS, who recorded many doomed local buildings during an era of great change.
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