AN EMPTY pub in historic Saltaire is set to re-open after undergoing a major refurbishment and name change.

Later this week the former Victoria pub in Saltaire Road will become The Salt Cellar, and with the name change will mark a major shift in the pub’s style, with a move towards real ales and craft beers.

The re-christened premises will also have a specialist gin bar.

The pub is due to open on Friday afternoon, and the final touches are being made on the building this week.

The pub, on the border of Saltaire and Shipley, dates back to 1875. In recent years the pub has been closed and re-opened on a regular basis, and has been shut and up for sale for several months.

Now it has been bought by Gerry Graves, who hopes it will become another vital part of the Shipley and Saltaire bar scene.

Plans for the pub include music and entertainment at weekends, and piano evenings for the elderly during the week.

Mrs Graves said: “It won’t be what it was like before. There isn’t a pool table, no TVs. We’ll have quality beers on tap. We’re looking at getting a crowd that comes out for a few drinks, a bit of entertainment. We want to give people another option.

“We’re looking to have an event for older people in the afternoons, a bit of piano and an opportunity for them to have a sing-song.

“We are installing a gin parlour, one half of the bar will be gin, one half beers.

“We’ve been really cleaning the place up, the stained glass windows look so much better after they’ve been given a good clean.”

Donna Hamilton has been appointed as the pub’s landlady.

The Salt Cellar is the latest in a wave of new or re-launched bars in Shipley and Saltaire. Recently the former Connection bar was re-opened as Hullabaloo, a bar that sells real ale and craft beers and will start selling street food in the New Year.

The Shipley Pride will also reopen in 2018 after William Wagstaff, owner of the Beehive and Jacobs Well in Bradford, bought the landmark pub. He plans to restore many of the building’s Victorian features.

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And recent years have also seen the opening of The Bar, a micropub in Saltaire Road, Bar 56 on Bingley Road and The Quays at Mercury Quays. They join popular Saltaire pubs like Fanny’s Alehouse, The Hop, Don’t Tell Titus, The Rosse and The Boathouse.

Mrs Graves says The Salt Cellar hopes to work with these and other local pubs to further boost the area’s nightlife.

She said: “We really want to be part of the community here.

“We want to give people that option of having a trail from Shipley to Saltaire, give them a place they can end their night.”