The Fforde Grene

The Fforde Grene, Leeds, Yorkshire

An imposing pub in the angle of two roads in the Harehills district on the north side of the city. It closed in 2004 and has served for many years as an ethnic supermarket. It had a colourful history that even merits its own Wikipedia page. Its patrons were reportedly the inspiration for Chumbawamba's song “Tubthumping.”

1 comment:

  1. The wiki page for the pub doesn't say why the pub closed.
    In July 2004 over 100 police officers raided the pub and seized "crack cocaine, cannabis and numerous weapons".
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/3899109.stm
    The wiki for "Harehills" says that these weapons were guns.
    Stories about the raid have disappeared from the websites of both the Yorkshire Post
    https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/man-leaps-through-raided-pub-s-window-1-2546742
    and the Yorkshire Evening Post
    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/100-in-pub-drug-raid-1-2267740.
    I seem to remember that the guns were originally reported to be MAC-10 submachine guns but my memory may be faulty.

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