PUBLICAN Christopher Baird has unveiled plans to turn a local boozer into a haven for healthcare workers and families.
The 35-year-old former landlord of The Parish and Zetland bar has taken on Lindley pub The Globe opposite Huddersfield Royal Infirmary (HRI).
He is planning to transform it into a modern gastropub with a difference in honour of the hardworking nurses, doctors and hospital staff nearby.
The revamp is also being influenced by his partner, Katy Livings, and four-week-old daughter, Molly.
Mr Baird, whose mother worked as a nurse at HRI, said he would be renaming the historic pub The Nightingale in homage to the pioneering 19th century nurse Florence Nightingale.
He said: "My mum was a nurse for 30 years and she’s trained hundreds.
"I’ve got a lot of respect for nurses – I want to look after them.
"We’ll be making it affordable for the NHS staff and the other people who live in the village."
He added: "Because we’ve got Molly we are making it child friendly.
"We’ve got lots of friends at the National Childbirth Trust so we’ve got a room upstairs, that Lindley Brass Band was formed in, and we’re going to convert that into a room for coffee mornings for mums."
A team of family and friends are currently ripping the 1980s interior out of the premises and Mr Baird hopes to open before Christmas.
He added: "We are trying to go the gastro route but affordable.
"Everything’s going to be from fresh every day.
"We’re going to tie in with all the local butchers and local veg people – nothing from wholesale – all fresh and local produce.
"I think traditional food. There’s going to be nothing ‘plastic’.
"We’re bringing cocktails to Lindley because nobody does them.
"In a lot of ways it will be like what we did with The Parish.
"Make it contemporary and put entertainment on."
Other plans include a possible micro-brewery, a music festival and events in co-operation with The Parish.
