Barclays bank and mobile phone outlet O2 in the town centre have shut to customers, while there was an outpouring of sadness at the closures of the Shepherd’s Boy, on Huddersfield Road, and the Woodman Inn, in Batley Carr.
Here are just some of the businesses we have lost in Dewsbury over the past 12 months.
1. Barclays
Barclays announced in February that their Dewsbury branch, on Crackenedge Lane, would be closing its doors on Thursday, May 9, due to falling customer visits. https://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/business/barclays-major-bank-closing-its-dewsbury-town-centre-branch-as-visits-continue-to-fall-4514901 Photo: Google Street View
2. Woodman Inn
Believed to be the area’s oldest pub, the Woodman Inn had to close its doors for good at the start of the year. A “devastated” Jane Drury and John Foulstone (pictured), who had run the historic pub, on Hartley Street, for almost 20 years, told the Reporter Series they were informed at short notice that the business would have to close on Sunday, January 14. https://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/business/woodman-inn-devastation-and-shock-as-historic-batley-carr-pub-pulls-its-last-pint-4484210 Photo: Adam Cheshire / National World
3. JN Wilcock Butchers
JN Wilcock Butchers - a popular shop based at Dewsbury Market which had served customers for nearly half a century - sadly closed down “with a heavy heart” in March. https://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/business/dewsbury-market-revamp-set-to-begin-in-2025-as-kirklees-council-commits-to-blueprint-plans-4610546 Photo: SUB
4. Gill Opticians
Gill Opticians shut in June, with the owner, Graham Phipps, who also owns Phipps Opticians in Heckmondwike, making the decision “to bring everything to Heckmondwike.” https://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/business/opticians-becomes-the-latest-shop-in-dewsbury-town-centre-to-close-4681774 Photo: Google Street View