ince our last foray into pubs, past and present, on Leeds Road and Manchester Road, on June 15, we have received a few more letters from readers.

D W Davies of Thackley says in a note: “I’m surprised that people remember the Great Northern down Laisterdyke, but not the Railway Inn only yards away.

“Also within yards of Leeds Road and Laisterdyke were the Bradford Moor Labour Club and Bradford Moor Liberal Club, also the Lyceum night club (an ex-cinema). I remember because I only moved to Bradford in 1962.”

Mrs Anne Lockwood, of Bierley, wrote in on behalf of a good friend of hers, Mrs Eileen Delves, who lived on Leeds Road in 1938.

“She can remember the Penny Oak public house, at the top of Mulgrave Street. She mentioned to me that if you didn’t know it was a pub, you could pass it, due to the fact that it looked like a house. It was next door to Ernie Langton’s paper shop,” she said. A public house, in fact.

Len Fox, of Tong, takes issue with two of our pub correspondents, Reg Nelson and Leonard Hall, over The Flying Dutchman and the Funhouse Bar on Leeds Road.

Mr Fox says they were “one and the same”. He also recalls that the pop star Alvin Stardust had expressed an interest in having the wall tiles along the staircase in The Flying Dutchman, after the compulsory order was issued.

Apparently he missed out on the tiles because he was on tour.

And David Rhodes, of Bradford, was pumped up about the pubs to put pen to paper.

“The 19 pubs on Leeds Road pale into insignificance when compared to the 31 situated on Manchester Road,” was his opening gambit, provoking the obvious question which he promptly answered.

“Odd Fellows Arms, Palace Hotel, Griffin Hotel, Blue Lion, White Swan, Queens Arms, Toll Bar Inn, Albany Hotel, Fleece Inn, Masons Arms, Waggon & Horses, Wickhams Arms, Red Lion Hotel, Fox & Hounds, Albert Vaults (Majestic), Alexandra Hotel (Little Alex), Acorn Inn...”

Pause for breath.

“...Devonshire Hotel, Fountain Inn, Boars Head, Horse and Trumpet, Yorkshire Divan, Station Hotel, Foresters Arms, Junction Hotel, New Inn, Listers Arms, Admiral Nelson...”

Presumably Horatio Nelson not our occasional correspondent Reg Nelson.

“...Craven Heifer, Woodman Inn, Truncliffe Gate Hotel. If you counted those on the streets just off Manchester Road like the Bridge Tavern in Bowling Old Lane, you could easily double that number.

“I’ll wager today there are only about half-a-dozen of those listed that have survived, and even their existence looks bleak.”

That’s a challenge. Anyone care to go out and do a bit of field work? You won’t be expected to sink a pint, or even a half, in every hostelry you encounter.

Incidentally, can anyone explain the popularity of calling pubs the something Arms? There are six in Mr Rhodes’ list.