SIR TITUS Salt famously did not allow alcohol to be sold in Saltaire among his reforms in creating his model village.

He blamed it for some of the social problems in Bradford that led him to move out and construct his new town by the River Aire in the 1850s.

But while he could take his workers away from the pubs, he couldn't stop the pubs coming to his workers.

HISTORIC HOSTELRIES: 35 old pictures of Bradford pubs

Hence all along Saltaire Road, Victorian entrepreneurs built a series of hostelries to serve the workers over the street, a classic example being the stone-built Beehive, a former Hammonds house, dating from that time.

William Wagstaff has made the most of the heritage in refurbishing the building which he bought in 2017, re-opening the Shipley Pride under its old name of the Beehive complete with original features enhanced by sympathetic additions.

Mr Wagstaff, who also runs the Beehive and Jacob’s Well in Bradford city centre, said he took on the Shipley Pride after hearing the pub could have been sold to developers.

He said: "We've restored it in such as way that the original look is back into the building.

"We've brought out the old features. It's our idea of what a pub should look like.

"It cost a lot more than I expected at the beginning. We went over budget by 50 per cent but we wanted it to be as good we could get it.

"It was a Grand Design from the beginning.

"It's a very handsome building which had layers of modernity put on it."

Part of that modernity was wood panelling which, when it was removed, revealed old fireplaces which have been restored and are working again.

Old wooden and stone floors have been exposed and walls stripped back to the Yorkshire stone.

Among the other features uncovered were an original sink in the kitchen, an old boiler complete with lead and copper piping and the old Beehive Hotel sign carved into a wall.

Some of the features added to give the pub a traditional look are Victorian leaded glass windows.

"It's very atmospheric. We've gone for a fairly simple style of settles and rustic tables."

The pub has been doubled in size by linking up the lower floor and the cellars of the cottage next door and will be serving up traditional real ales and craft beers at the bar which was taken out of the Oddfellows pub in Shipley when it closed.

"The old kitchen is now a bar area, it's really two pubs in one," Mr Wagstaff added.

There is the chance for people to book rooms and hold events and future plans include building a kitchen with a large wood-fired barbecue in the new beer garden which will open in the late spring.

He said he was familiar with the pub for years: "Little did I know 30 years ago I would be taking it over."