Shipstones new build in Beaumont Leys area. It changed name to an equally aesthetic name Barleycroft in 1993-1994.
Bad publicity followed when ‘travellers’ were to camp nearby, resulting in chaos in the pub.
A fight broke out, about 9pm in the pub between two sets of ‘travellers’, followed by a van full of others arriving at 9-30pm one of whom had a rifle. Terrified members of the public reported shots fired in two separate violent clashes with another clash involving twenty or so men and women was reported nearby around midnight. Six men and two women were arrested after police cordoned off the surrounding roads. The pub had re-enforced glass windows to replace the original, that proved not to be a deterrent as they soon suffered a similar fate.
The pub is in a pretty low income area and like many of its kind suffered from various factors. One was the smoking ban and the continuous beer price rise that affected the area more than most. Cheap supermarket alcohol meant more drinking at home – a sad indictment really, further damaging the locals’ standing. The pub became one you wouldn’t go out of your way to visit. In fact towards its end the only way to gain entry was by push button intercom.
Shipstones were to sell the pub on to Oakwell Brewery of Barnsley, together with the Shakespeare’s Head and the Ship in Leicester. All three were to be put up for sale in 2013. Eventually the pub sold at auction in 2015 for an asking price of £130k.
It became an Indian restaurant and bar, using its original name the ‘Meadows Bar & Restaurant.’
