DROUGHT Closes City Pubs said one headline in the Telegraph & Argus on April 22, 1974.

It wasn’t, as you’d imagine, for lack of water, but beer.

‘Some Bradford pubs have run dry during the week following a dispute by deliverymen at Tetley’s Brewery,’ said the report. ‘Some have had to close, like The Barkerend in Barkerend Road. Barman Frank Sheerin said: “We usually take between £700 and £800 so this has meant a considerable loss of business for us.”

At The Airedale, Otley Road, landlord Gilbert Bickersteth, said the pub had opened yesterday lunchtime only to sell bottled beer after running dry on Saturday night. “We are opening again this lunchtime but that’s all. We don’t know when we are going to get another delivery,” he told the T&A.

The dispute, which began on Friday, is according to the report, understood to be about 'methods of distribution and not pay'.

‘Crews have objected to tenants calling at the brewery for their own shortages during the weekend and depriving the distribution crews of their overtime rates.’

Brian Womersley, landlord of the Gardeners Arms on Moorside Road, Eccleshill, closed last night to conserve stocks. “I only have ten gallons of beer left, enough to open this lunchtime,” he said. “If supplies don’t come today that’s it.” Management and union officials from the General and Municipal Workers’ Union and the Transport and General Workers’ Union, of which the men are members, were meeting today to discuss the situation.

‘Sorry no beer owing to a recent strike - waiting for a delivery’ said a note pinned to a pub door.

Previously, on Friday April 19, 1974 the headline ‘No deliveries of beer’ introduced the story.

‘No deliveries were made to Tetley pubs yesterday when 150 men refused to take delivery wagons out in the morning from the Leeds brewery’ said the report, ‘But management said that no pubs were likely to run dry over the weekend and hoped the dispute would be settled on Monday.

Their spokesman, Colin Waite, said the dispute was about “delivery methods” but refused to be more specific. The management had made an offer aimed at solving the dispute to the committee representing the men. This offer would be considered at a full meeting of the men first thing on Monday morning. Mr Waite was hopeful that, following this, the men would go back to work.

On April 23, 1974, a conclusion to the story was reached and the following appeared in the newspaper: ‘A dispute by delivery men at Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds, which stopped supplies getting to many public houses over the last few days, ended after a meeting at 7 o’clock this morning and the delivery wagons started moving immediately.’

No doubt there would have been much relief all round.

The brief report in the T&A was followed by another interesting snippet, though not from the local area, stating that eggs were ‘going metric in a Midlands supermarket chain from next week. They are to market eggs in packs of ten.