R.I.P The Dev. One of my favourite watering holes closed its doors on Sunday, another old-fashioned landlord/hotelier took down his Mine Host sign - and a lot of people were very sad indeed.

Hugh Deery, owner of the Devonshire Hotel in Newmarket Street, Skipton, has been one of the great characters of the local pub and leisure scene these past 23 years, providing a service which is now becoming increasingly rare. A place where people could enjoy a quiet pint and talk - business or pleasure - rather than stand semi-supine in a cacophony of noise from jukeboxes or one-armed bandits.

Some local business people and tradesmen say they could do more business over a pint in half an hour at The Dev than in the rest of the day put together.

Yet Irish-born Hugh, brought to Skipton as a toddler by his parents in 1938, never dreamed of becoming a publican: "I spent all of my previous career in the legal profession. The Dev was just something that came along almost by accident..."

His father was in the building trade and came to Skipton when he was offered a job with a house. A bright young lad, Hugh went to St Stephen's in Water Street and then won a scholarship to St Bede's Grammar School, Bradford.

He became a solicitor's clerk and helped the late Jack Mewies set up his law practice, now one of the biggest in Craven. In his spare time he played soccer with some relish for the LMS - where he was football club secretary - and later Cross Hills, not hanging up his boots until he was in his forties.

He had become friendly with another local professional man, accountant Dennis Barrett and his wife, Joyce, and when the big pub chains began to break up their tied estates in the late 1970s, Tetley's put The Dev on the market.

"We heard it was up for sale and thought it might be a good opportunity to start our own business so we formed a partnership and bought the place," he recalls. "It was to become a job for life..."

Not an easy job, I might point out. The building was huge and old and needed a lot of upkeep. It had been built by Lord Burlington for his mother in 1727 and later became the Duke of Devonshire's local town house.

With such a history and its fine Georgian faade, it was a listed building - a factor that was to become a cause of much contention in later years.

Under the new partnership it prospered. Local business people used it for quiet chats, the 15 bedrooms were almost always fully booked - with 80 per cent of them let to regular visitors - and the function suite became a popular venue.

"We always kept it as a pub where people could have a quiet drink and feel secure," says Hugh. "We never encouraged the youth trade because, quite frankly, it was to become very troublesome, with aggressive customers - we called them 'weekend millionaires' - and the constant problem of under-age drinking.

"One of the things I feel best about is that, since I announced we were leaving, several women customers have told me that they will miss the place because they could come in here unaccompanied and know they would not be bothered."

Other things improve, too, although this might raise an eyebrow or two amongst seasoned pub-goers. Hugh says that beer is now cheaper in real terms when he first took over - "it was only 30p a pint or so then but when you take into account the huge rise is average wages, a pint is now a much bigger bargain."

However, success brought its own problems and The Dev suddenly became the centre of some acrimonious planning disputes with Craven District Council.

A few years ago, Hugh was desperate to extend his dining room and asked for planning permission to build a lean-to conservatory at the rarely seen back of the building. It was refused.

Then, a couple of years ago, the national pub chain JD Wetherspoon made a surprise bid to buy the place. Hugh, now running the hotel with his son Mark, at first refused. Wetherspoon's came back with a better offer - but planning permission for changes to the building was refused again.

"Much of the row centred round the original 18th century staircase which, for some years now, has been barely visible because it was moved when the function room was built," says Hugh with a sad shake of his head.

"The latest plans involved putting it back to its original position, which you would have thought would please the planners. It didn't - so planning permission was refused again."

A second appeal is still under way for the latest proposed changes - but Hugh and Mark decided to sell anyway as Wetherspoons were prepared to go ahead without the planning permission they would like.

Were these disputes with the planners the reason for selling-up? I asked.

Hugh smiled tentatively: "Not the whole reason - but a pretty large part of it. We had not thought of selling until we got the offer out of the blue. But don't think I am feeling bitter - just say that I am feeling rather philosophical about the whole planning process."

So the Dev closed its doors on Sunday and its contents will be auctioned on November 12. One businessman I know has put in a bid for the settle by the public telephone where he sat and made many of his deals. As I said, there will be a lot of sad people there that day.

One good thing, though. Although Hugh has no plans for what he will do next - he doesn't plan to retire completely - he will stay in Skipton: "This is my home - I love the town."

Well, good luck Hugh. Next time we meet, we'll have a pint on my side of the bar.