Pensioner saves pub in memory of his wife

A farmer has saved the historic pub where he used to regularly drink with late wife.

David Bingham has pumped £100,000 into renovating the Fleece in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, which has just reopened as a pub and hotel.

The 66-year-old said it had been an emotional experience as the 18th century inn, which has views across the Calder Valley, meant so much to him and his wife Liz, who died four years ago after a stroke.

"We both loved the building and always talked about opening it together but were waiting for the opportunity to come along," said the grandfather-of-five.

"It didn't arrive until it was too late for Liz. But I will be thinking of her."

David has painstakingly renovated the traditional look of the pub, which dates back to 1737.

It had been empty for six months and David, who also owns farms in the area, is planning to open a farm shop and delicatessen next door.

He added: "I really should have gone to see a psychiatrist rather than take this on, but I have had a second wind.

"I wanted to keep the Fleece the way I remembered and it will be great for a traditional pub to be opening rather than closing for a change."

When he was 18, the young farmers of Calderdale would travel by tractor around the pubs in the area. The Fleece was a popular stop.

"We used to get home at about 4am and go straight out and start cutting the fields," said David, who is now a teetotaller. "No one bothered about closing time in those days. The police used to be drinking there with us - the good old days."