Memories of CAMRA Leeds Pub of the Year 1993
It was a boozer which made an immediate impact on the Leeds pub scene in the early 1990s.
The Beer Exchange had only been open for seven months when it scooped the 1993 Pub of the Year Award by the Leeds branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.
The boozer on Woodhouse Street in Woodhouse had quickly endeared itself to the city’s cognoscenti of cask-conditioned beer and also won CAMRA’s Pub of the Season award just three months after opening.
It made an immediate impact with an enormous range of real ales - 279 different brews had been sold.
The award representing a startling success story for the landlord and joint owner, John McCready and his wife Sylvia.
It was a vast change from John’s previous job - managing the bar at Heathrow’s Terminal One.
Former light heavy weight boxer Crawford Ashley took over as landlord in late 1999. He challenged for the World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight title in 1993 and the WBA light heavyweight title in 1995.
The pub closed in 2009 before being converted into flats.