Anyone remember the days of the ‘lean to’ at Heaton’s historic Fountain Inn?

A recent report on the old pub sparked fond memories for Marje Wilson, who worked behind the bar in the 1970s.

The T&A recently reported that locals feared for future of the landmark building, once home to Bradford City Supporters Club, after workmen removed stone roof slates.

Built in 1856, The Fountain takes its name from the spring flowing into a nearby trough. At one time the inn had a fountain in it.

It was a small corner pub until 1984 when it was bought by Frank Lee, who rebuilt it. One room was devoted to Bradford City, as Mr Lee was an associate director of the club.

The building has been empty for several years and was damaged by fire last year.

Marje worked behind the bar when the landlord and landlady were Edgar and Margaret Hilton.

“I worked Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and on Saturdays when the landlord got a special licence to open all day. It was the ‘clubhouse’ after matches for Bradford Salem Rugby Club – we would half-fill all the pint glasses with lemonade, in a row on the bar, ready to make shandies, which was the players’ first pint coming from the matches thirsty. Pie and peas were served to sometimes three teams,” recalls Marje.

“The front door was then in Syke Road and at the side of it was a wooden ‘lean to’ – which was the gents’ toilet!

“There were three small rooms – a lounge, snug and taproom – plus the ‘Jug and Bottle’, a small square to the left of the front door where we served in customers’ own jugs. The lounge and bar drew many locals, it was a happy community of people.”

With no automatic till back then, Marje says a grasp of basic maths was vital.

“The till was just a drawer for takings so the bar staff added rounds and orders in their heads,” she says. “A busy pub was quite hectic, especially when we changed from old money to decimal. Our wages were six shillings an hour.”

Marje says the now-empty space around the pub square contained a row of cottages, with access through a cobbled passageway.

“In the little square there was a stable which eventually became Ivan’s Garage,” she says.

In 1979, Marje joined other bar staff, licensees and regulars in a sponsored jog for the Sports Aid Foundation.

She left the Fountain in the 1980s: “The old beer pumps were a bank of three – two bitter and one mild. The landlord sold them to a German for £300, so I sadly left, refusing to pull beer through electric pumps.”

Now retired, Marje spends much of her time renovating and maintaining a section of Heaton’s graveyard. “I’m on less than the 30p an hour I was on at The Fountain because I’m voluntary!” she laughs.