A NEW pub has opened its doors at the former premises of the Rose and Crown in Ilkley town centre.

Pub company Enterprise Inns has invested £250,000 in the new-look pub – now renamed The Black Hat. – and added novel heated ‘beach huts’ behind the pub for al fresco dining.

The pub has switched from being a weekend night club venue to one that serves food and drink throughout the day.

General Manager, Dean Castle, who is among 20 new staff, – including duty managers, bar staff and an Ilkley-based chef – hired to run the Church Street pub, which had been closed for six months.He said: “There’s been massive local interest in what we’re doing here, and our newly set-up Facebook page very quickly got lots of ‘likes’.”, and has been viewed thousands of times already.

The new name refers to the black hats traditionally worn by Ilkley tradesmen when they play the town’s white-hatted shopkeepers at cricket.

First played in 1880, the once annual match was revived in 2011 after a 20-year break.