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YOUR views on our battle to save Tetley's
SUPPORT is flooding in for the YEP's Keep Tetley's a Yorkshire Pint campaign.
We launched the fight to keep the famous beer brewed in Yorkshire last week, after Carlsberg announced plans to close its Leeds city centre site in two years' time.
The YEP is calling on the Danish giant to find a Yorkshire partner to ensure the iconic Tetley's brand continues in God's Own County.
And we've been overwhelmed by messages of support with 100 per cent of people texting in backing the YEP campaign.
Here's what you've been saying:
Circumstances took me away from Leeds in 1949 when I was just 17 and I still have great affection for my home town.
However I am concerned for its future status and prosperity. I was shocked and saddened to hear about the closure of Tetley's Brewery.
Tetley's, Leeds and Yorkshire are fundamentally inseparable and if the brand is retained but the beer is brewed outside Yorkshire I just don't want to know. It's another blow to the city.
Tetley's is a great asset to Leeds and if any way can be found to retake the brand from Carlsberg and keep brewing in Leeds then it should be grabbed.
B Harvey, Chippenham, Wiltshire
I would like to see:
All Yorkshire folk boycott all Carlsberg products;
A preservation order or listed building status put on the original Tetley building;
Leeds Council placing an order on the site against any change of use.
Tetley's and Tetley's Brewery has for generations been a Yorkshire and Leeds institution. We must keep it as part of our heritage.
Keep campaigning.
Ian M Fulstow
As a descendant of William Sykes (the chap who sold Tetley the Brewery back in 1822, I was shocked and saddened by Calsberg' plans to close the Brewery in the future.
As they say you can take the Bitter out of Yorkshire but you cannot take the Yorkshire out of the Bitter.
I would have thought that the Leeds site would have been better for main distribution throughout the UK and the rest of the world.
I know from reading some of the other comments on your site that
other folk are also saddened by this news. I certainly would not like to see the site flattened and built on with more over-priced flats just for the sake of progress. It should be preserved for future generations to know that the Tetleys brand started with a 400 purchase of a small family brewery and it has now become one of the world's best bitters.
A Leeds without Tetleys is like Blackpool without a Tower. It would be simply wrong.
Neil Turner
As a born and bred Loiner who moved away from the city 11 years ago, I always made a point of having a pint of the old brew when I was back in town.
And it's true... its never tasted the same elsewhere!
So sad that this is happening and a real historic landmark could be disappearing from the city centre as a result. No doubt it will be replaced by yet more expensive, faceless flats which will lie empty because no-one wants them.
RIP Tetley's Brewery.
Stu Arnold
The problem is that Carlsberg, a multinational company, is only interested in producing generic products such as its lager, which is the same wherever you go, like Coca Cola or McDonalds.
Tetley's is Leeds beer, take it away from the city and it could be anything.
Tetley should be a bespoke brand. Brewed in Leeds since 1822, that is where it should to be made.
Brian, Leeds
It's disgusting that this should be allowed to happen. Tetley's is an iconic brand, synonymous with Yorkshire, and world famous.
How dare Carlsberg put it down to falling sales, real ale sales are on the up according to Camra.
If they had bothered to invest in the brand like other success stories –John Smith's only a few miles up the road is the UK market leading bitter brand and Samuel Smiths, Theakstons, Black Sheep, Timothy Taylors all do very well – rather than let it become a shadow of its former self, this would never have happened.
Carlsberg also chose to sell all the historic Tetley pubs, finally even removing the Tetley brand from the company name in order to push their tasteless lager fizz .
If brewing moves outside Yorkshire, the bitter capital of the UK, I will never drink another pint of Tetley's again. The only decent thing to do would be to sell the Tetley's brand to an independent, and keep it in Yorkshire.
Chris Smith, Henley-on-Thames, ex of Bradford
A sad, sad day. What next? Take the pudding out of Yorkshire?
Allan Marotte, Perth, Western Australia
I get home about three times a year and one of the first things I do is get a pint of hand pulled Tetley's at the Gaping Goose. It's just not the same down south.
Clive
As a Leeds lad my beer of choice has always been Tetley's.
As the famous brewery is one of Leeds's most prized assets and I feel that the whole city and the surrounding area is proud of our 'home' brew.
This is an outrageous decision by Carlsberg which will ultimately lead to the demise of the Tetley's brand as I am certain the vast majority of drinkers within our county will boycott the brand should it leave our city boundaries.
I can only hope that someone steps forward with an offer to buy Tetley's from Carlsberg so it can go back to being an independent brewery and do Joshua Tetley proud. He'd be spinning in his grave if he knew what was happening.
Marcus
Incredible to even consider Tetley brewed away from Leeds. Not a drop of Carlsberg will pass my lips from now on.
Chris, Alicante
You can take your lager out of Yorkshire but please leave our Tetley's alone. Downsize if you have to but please don't let our brewery disappear.
Fudgie, Leeds
Yet again a Great British tradition is being wiped from existence.
Carlsberg should never have been allowed anywhere near Tetley's, they were only ever interested in the distribution chain already in place. They soon sold off many of the pubs.
It is a systematic destruction of a valued and much loved institution, Such a sad day.
Judith Thorpe
This is an outrage. Tetley's is as Leeds as United. I'm boycotting all things Danish.
Neil Jeffries, London SE20
I started at Tetley's as a junior clerk in 1962 aged 15. It was a great place to work and I have many happy memories of the six years that I worked there.
The subsequent success of Tetley's as a national brand made you feel proud to come from Leeds and to be associated with it in some small way. It will now go the same way as many other beers, contract brewed at some nameless beer factory. Very sad.
Mike Gill, St Albans
This could mean the end for Tetley Bitter as a national ale. It could even expire completely unless Carlsberg comes up with some credible scheme for its future production.
If it ends up brewed out of Yorkshire it could have a massive impact on future sales, especially from pubs and bars in the north. I suspect scores of long-term licensee stockists of Tetley will be dismayed at this news.
A Halstead
Tetley's is the finest, most consistent pint in the UK. Its Leeds's heritage and all should be done to continue brewing in Leeds.
Carl, Leeds
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