The Little London family bringing their Leeds local back to life

Mum and son Lisa and Brad have said the whole community is welcome

A Leeds family who saved their estate’s local pub have spoken of its challenges – and say it's more than a “simple pub”.

The Leeds Rifleman, in the Carlton Estate in Little London, dates back around 60 years. It’s not clear the original opening date but it was previously called The Windsor Castle before it was renamed in 1984 to honour the nearby Carlton Barracks.

The pub was taken over by a mum and her two sons, landlords Lisa Turner, 55, Brad and Jacob Holmes, 32 and 25, in December 2024. The family set about saving the estate pub as they feared it would be demolished as it had shut down for 18 months.

They are born and bred in Little London, so the pub has always been a present fixture in their lives. Lisa originally started working at the estate pub when she was a teenager until she was in her mid-twenties. Brad remembers visiting the bar when he was a one-year-old tot.

Lisa said: “I started working here when I was 19 so this has been my local pub for 30-odd years. It was our last local that was left, and it got closed down. We didn’t want to lose our last local.”

Lisa went on to work behind the bar and counters of at various pubs and shops. Brad worked in marketing before taking over the boozer. This was the fist time they’d embarked on such a venture.

Brad said: “We petitioned to save it because there were rumours going around it could get knocked down. It was just a rumour, it turns out. The council said they had no idea what we were talking about but we wanted to get in front of it before they had any plans.”

They initially hadn’t planned to take it over as Lisa had been out of the pub industry for more than 15 years – but couldn’t see any other options to save the historic premises. They originally wanted to work with the brewery that owned it – but the brewery didn’t view it as a viable business. So, they eventually had to “risk it” and buy the pub from the brewery.

They’ve wanted to avoid the pub being intimidating to potential new punters. Lisa “doesn’t want dramas” and aims to run a tight ship where everyone has a good time. They also want their pub to feel welcoming to people of all backgrounds and are aware pubs like their own are associated with “white British men”.

Lisa said: “I don’t care who walks through the door, they need to feel welcome. It doesn’t matter what nationality they are. It’s a simple white man’s pub. If another nationality comes through the door, they need to feel welcome as it is quite a brave thing to come to a local estate pub, a typical white British pub.”

Brad added: “That’s the thing you want to avoid, that sudden door effect when you walk in and all the music stops, and everyone turns around and looks at you. A lot of pubs suffer from it, it’s not the fault of the pub.”

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When they first entered the derelict tap room, it was completely empty with only the backseats and the bar. They had to go about sourcing all the bar equipment, pumps, tables and chairs. They’ve retained the pub’s character with the original carpet and décor.

Lisa said: “Weekends can be fine but through the week, it can be pretty quiet. It’s challenging at times, we have other things we do that help with that. The hours, the bills, when we get no customers through the doors through the week.

“Luckily, we’re a family that work here throughout the week. So, if we had to pay somebody, even minimum wage, then it’s not going to cover it. Unfortunately, we live in a demographic where a lot of them don’t drink. That can be a bit of an issue, but we do coffees, so we try and welcome everyone through the door.”

They put on events to attract new customers through the door, including an upcoming October Fest style events. They’ve said there are “pros and cons” with working with family. Lisa gets to see more of her two grandkids, aged three and one, who dad Brad brings in to visit on occasion.

Lisa said: “We’re only a small family. We’re not rich people. We’ve literally put everything into doing this. Our next is to try and get a kitchen. There’s never been a kitchen here. We want to offer something else to get people through the door. We’d like to so breakfasts and pub grub.”