New pictures as Wetherspoons issue update about Cross Gates pub

And due to the coronavirus pandemic, Spoons lovers will have to wait that bit longer.

Getting approval for the pub proved tricky for Wetherspoons, with councillors at the local authority raising concerns about noise and traffic.

The firm won an appeal in 2018 after councillors failed to make a decision about whether to approve it.

It was hoped The Charles Henry Roe could open in 2019, but it was later pushed back to early 2020.

But misfortune struck again when the construction company involved in building the pub it went into administration earlier this year.

Thankfully, the signage is now on the front of the pub and the Support Wetherspoons Cross Gates Facebook group has posted pictures of the beer garden.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “Our aim was to open our pub in Cross Gates early April.

“However, as a result of the pandemic, this has been put on hold.

“It would be our intention to open the new pub as soon as possible once the UK gets back to normal.”

Wetherspoons bosses picked the name The Charles Henry Roe after the Transport Yorkshire Preservation Group approached them with the idea of paying tribute to Mr Roe, who died in 1965.

His carriageworks, founded at Cross Gates in 1920, made more than 18,000 buses until its closure in 2011.

The Charles H Roe company became part of British Leyland in the 1970s.

Its Cross Gates factory was earmarked for closure in 1984 but a group of 100 employees pooled their redundancy money to stage a buy-out before relaunching as Optare.

Optare switched its operations from Cross Gates and sister sites in Rotherham and Blackburn to a new £3m base at Sherburn in Elmet in 2011.

The pub will feature a "rich blend of historical references and notable characters", according to architects KDPA.

"The pub is named after the Charles H Roe coachbuilding company so it makes sense that much of the design is going to take its influence from the coachbuilding works founded and operated in Cross Gates, particularly with details in the booth seats, and ironmongery," said James Cooper, a project manager at the company.

"In addition to this, the Victorian building where the pub is located was once occupied by a branch of the Leeds Industrial Co-Operative Society which was originally founded by workers at a flax spinning mill, so there’s a few references to flax spinning and a Victorian garden area at the rear of the building."

Wetherspoons is also well known for designing bespoke carpets for each of its pubs.

The Charles Henry Roe will allude to Leeds' heritage with patterned carriage seat fabric, owls, and engineering drawings of coach engines.