A MUCH-LOVED local pub is back in business after an amazing comeback by the couple who used to run it.

John and Candy Duval are back by popular demand behind the bar at the Shoulder of Mutton on Neale Road in Lockwood.

The couple took a break from the licence trade in 2001 after a 26-year spell at the pub, which is hidden off Meltham Road on a cobbled side street.

The Shoulder of Mutton was run by various landlords until September but – like the Red Lion and Town Hall pubs around the corner – it closed.

One regular, yearning for his old ale house, bought the pub late last year and asked 60-year-old John and Candy, 56, to give it another go.

The Duvals – who had run a beachwear store in Valencia, Spain, for three years – agreed.

The Shoulder of Mutton has now reopened with refurbished rooms, new carpets and new curtains.

And since then, the pub – once known for having the ‘finest jukebox in Huddersfield’ – has enjoyed good trade.

The Shoulder of Mutton is very much a traditional Victorian tavern.

It features eight hand-pumped real ales and the original wood panels, and brass beer taps.

Candy said: “I suppose we wanted a challenge.

“It would be a shame to let it go because it’s such a nice, old pub.

“We’ve had lots of interest from people who used to come and we’ve taken university students on as bar staff, so we hope to get students in.

“People who used to come here are really glad to be back.

“Now we’re hoping to get a football team, a pool team and a darts team established in the near future.”

John added: “We were one of the first pubs in Huddersfield to be featured in the Campaign for Real Ale guide for 10 years.

“We’ve never tried to be anything other than a pub.

“Grappolo’s Italian restaurant round the corner on Bridge Street is doing well so we expect and hope people will be coming here for a post-dinner pint.”

One customer from Netherton who had been a regular at the Shoulder for 38 years, said: “I’m really pleased to see this place again.

“They’ve maintained the Victorian aura so it’s a proper pub again.

“John used to have the finest jukebox in Huddersfield.

“When you mention this place, they always say: ‘What a fantastic jukebox!’” he added.