OLD pubs across Bradford are being given a new lease of life in a variety of imaginative ways with almost a dozen applications granted for conversions in the last 12 months alone.

Houses, flats and restaurants are common re-uses, but in Bradford, shops, a madrassa, an outreach project catering for homeless people, and a nursery are recent examples.

Danielle Dixon runs day nurseries across the district and has converted former pubs three times, finding the space provided by old public houses suits her business needs.

Mrs Dixon set up the first Kinder Haven day nursery in a converted social club in Sticker Lane in 2002.

As well as converting the former King’s Head pub on Halifax Road in Buttershaw which is also a listed building, the Kinder Haven team revamped the former Westgate Hill Hotel, on Westgate Hill Street in Tong, to create another nursery.

And the firm’s newest nursery in Horsforth, which opened last year, saw a former pub The Ringway on Wood Lane, being reused also.

Mrs Dixon told the Telegraph Argus: “The pubs have been available to use and a good option for us due to the size of the building and the space surrounding it – particularly the car park.

“We have to provide a good level of parking for both employees and parents, and for this reason, pubs have been a good choice for us.

“We have found there is generally quite a lot of work to be done to make it suitable for a nursery but it has been a successful route for us.

“Obviously there are other factors that we look at such as suitable location and a demand for quality childcare in the area. But on the whole it has been worth it for us.”

She added that one of their nurseries, the Horsforth branch which opened in May, had such a large outside space around the building, that they were able to create a massive outdoor play space, which the children often refer to as a “park”.

Aside from nurseries there are currently plans to turn a former Bradford pub, the Craven Heifer, set on a prominent location on Manchester Road into the regional headquarters of a Muslim charitable organisation.

The building was acquired by the Al-Khair Foundation last year, which plans to use the building as its West Yorkshire base.

The organisation started as an Islamic school in London in 2003 and has since developed into an international aid relief group, providing support to victims of major disasters in Kashmir, Haiti, Pakistan and Nepal.

It also plans to use the building as a studio for its own TV channel and planning permission is expected to be determined by the end of next month.

Another pub conversion scheme which is awaiting news on its future, is for the listed 17th century Duke of York Inn at Dean Lane, Thornton, which has been empty for three years.

Plans to convert the pub into three homes are being recommended for approval by planners and councillors backed that decision by granting permission yesterday.

The Grade II-listed building was originally built as a farmhouse in the 17th century but later became a pub and was extended in the 19th century.

A Bradford Council conservation expert said that while the loss of the pub was “regrettable” the fact that many of the building’s lost heritage features would be restored in the scheme was to be welcomed.

Brian Mitchell, the chairman of the Bradford Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) group, agreed that while it was always sad when another pub closed down, it was preferable that the building could be put to good use rather than being pulled down.

“It’s a shame when there is nobody to come along and make a go of a pub, but if there no other way it tends to be either demolished or turned into something else. It would be a shame to lose a fantastic pub building entirely.”

He added: “As far as CAMRA is concerned at the moment there is a big drive to get as many pubs as possible through the process of being listed as an asset of community value. In Bradford we have about a dozen that are already on the list, and quite a few more in the pipeline.

“Pubs are the hub of the local community, and this status gives members of the community a chance to step in and buy their local if a pubco is wanting to get it off their books. Unfortunately we don’t always win.”

Planning permission has been granted for the following pubs in the last 12 months:

Change of use to a nursery at the Braithwaite Tavern, Braithwaite Avenue, Keighley;
Change of use to a restaurant and takeaway at the former pub at 516 Thornton Road, Girlington, Bradford;
Change of use to a house, at The Shoulder of Mutton, 589 Leeds Road, Thackley, Bradford;
Change of use a a residential dwelling, at Southfield Hotel, 232 Southfield Lane, BD7
Waggoners Inn, 18 Ford Hill, Queensbury
Victoria Hotel, 1 Cavendish Street, Keighley
Red House Inn, 200 Barkerend Road, Bradford BD3
Druids Arms Hotel, 203 Allerton Road, BD15
Belfry House, 17 Chester Street, Bradford
Old Star Inn, 1 Skipton Road, Steeton with Eastburn BD20