MORE women suppers, fewer pensioner gatherings and food on the menu are some of the changes Skipton's longest-serving pub landlord has seen over the past 34 years.

When Bob Williamson took over the Fleece Inn in September 1971 he was the youngest licensee in the town by far at 26.

Now as he prepares to retire from the pub, along with wife Nancy, he is the oldest and has notched up the most years, pulling pints in the town.

But it was only by chance Mr Williamson took over the business. At the time he was working in the declining textile industry and the then landlord Jim Poskitt was looking for a way out.

Mr Williamson, who has a 27-year-old son, Graham, said: "I had a little house on Dawson Street and it started as a joke. I said 'I'll do you a swap'.

"But he said 'Are you serious?' and I said 'No, not really' and a bit later on he said 'Do you fancy it?' and it went from there."

While the Fleece has increased in size since the 1970s, it is the changes in drinking habits and Skipton's pub scene that have had the most significant impact.

Mr Williamson told the Herald that while his customers nowadays were aged between 18 and 80, there was a far greater number of older customers when he first took on the Keighley Road pub.

He explained: "I would open up at 11am and by noon I would have 15 to 20 pensioners calling in for a gill and a chat. It was a real meeting place and they would call in with their shopping. But as the years went on they got less and less."

There were also more pubs in the 1970s - ones like the Unicorn, Wendy's and the Horse Close have slipped off the map.

And a sequence of shifts in drinking laws have impacted on the pub.

"Going back before all-day opening, our busiest time would be 5.30pm with people finishing work, but you maybe get half a dozen now at the most," he explained.

Mr Williamson has also seen more and more pubs selling food - only the Red Lion offered meals back in 1971 - and nowadays he is just as likely to see a woman propping up the bar on a Sunday lunchtime as a man.

But the landlord told the Herald that some things had never changed and the current hype about 'binge drinking' was not a new phenomenon.

"With Sunday opening we would open noon until 2pm and 7.30pm until 10.30pm, not just this pub but every pub in town. Blokes would come out Sunday dinnertime and they would fire the beers down in two hours and then come back out," he said.

His wife has been at the pub four years less than her husband.

She said the pub had rarely had reason to trouble the police, employed no more than 10 different members of staff over three decades - barmaid and cleaner Pauline Atkinson has been with them 27 years - and had attracted a steady band of loyal customers and their families.

"That's when you know it's time to go...when you're serving the grandchildren," she added.

Mr Williamson always dreamed of retiring at 40 but kept working until he was 50 and now as he approaches the age of 60 has finally decided to throw in the towel.

This has pleased Mrs Williamson, who is looking forward to taking it easier.

She said: "You can't walk away from 34 years of eating, sleeping and living the place without any emotion, but after 24 hours I will get over it."

The couple will move out of the pub some time this month. Customers Heather and Mick Howes are taking over the Fleece.

Mr and Mrs Williamson will live on Keighley Road and plan to devote their time to their passion - following Yorkshire County Cricket Club.