Looking back on Northampton's Duke of York pub - the former neighbourhood local set to become takeaway

Even as late as five years after it closed, the remains of the sign could be faintly seen on the side of the former Duke of York pub Northampton.

The Semilong local in Salisbury Street shut in 2013 and lived on as the 'Elite Wines' shop until last year. Now, a planning application was put to the council last week to refurbish the building into a takeaway.

But the Duke of York is still fondly remembered by its customers in Northampton, who showed an outpouring of support for its heyday following the Chronicle & Echo story on the new planning application last week.

To take a look back at the Duke of York over the years, the Chron spoke to Northampton pub historian Dave Knibb.

In his 2019 book 'Last Orders: A History and Directory of Northampton Pubs', Dave wrote: "The Duke Of York was granted a licence as it was being built in September 1895, with no other pub within 800 yards of it.

"It had an all conquering football team for a number of years during my youth which really did put it on the map as many people didn’t really know where it was apart from the football team."

In fact, in what would have been one of the last appearances for the team, the Duke of York Northampton fought their way to the semi-finals of the F.A. Sunday Cup 2010-11, losing out to that year's champions, Oyster Martyrs.

In its last few years, under sequential landlords John Convey and Ian Hogan, the pub was well known as a friendly sports pub with a snooker table, before going through a refurbishment to become more open plan.

Sadly, it called last orders in 2013.