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Picture source: Peter Ashworth

The Golden Cock was situated at 13 Kirkgate and is now used as a branch of Superdrug. At the top of the building there is a pottery sign of a Golden Cock, however this was placed there a long time after the building was built.

I paid my one and only visit to the Golden Cock in February 1973. I have visions of entering a rectangular room with the bar located towards the rear and with seating, tables around the outer walls. Customers of mature years were sitting either on their own or in small groups. Many were smoking and conversation minimal. Numerous pairs of eyes stared in astonishment in our direction. Young people – What do they want? Certainly not the beer which I recorded as “about the worst Tetley’ I’ve ever tasted” Maybe that evening there was an air of despondency. Were the regulars aware that the old pub's days were numbered? The pub had in all probability, originated from the 1930’s and had replaced an older pub, built one hundred or so years earlier. Leeds City Brewery had taken possession in 1920. Not long after our visit the Golden Cock closed. By June 1973 the venue had re-opened as the Precinct. The building remains as retail premises with the “Golden Cock” statue still attached to the front."

David Jameson, Beer Leeds magazine, Spring 2025

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Picture source: Peter Ashworth