Sheffield Pub closure could end 200-year Christmas tradition

The Royal Hotel in Dungworth has been hosting Christmas carol events for over 200 years

A 200-year-old tradition could come to an end when a Sheffield pub hosts its Christmas carol concert on Boxing Day.

The event at the Royal Hotel in Dungworth has attracted visitors from around the world in previous years.

The landlord has announced the pub is due to close in March because of running costs.

A campaign has been set up to save it by a folk music club which has met at the pub for the last 14 years.

Landlord Dave Jubb said the pub will close in March

Landlord Dave Jubb described the costs of running the pub as "horrendous".

"We've never had any wages out of it. We've run it as a community, but it's come to the point now where my mum passed away, my dad wants to get out and I want to retire," Mr Jubb told BBC Radio Sheffield.

For more than 200 years, local people and visitors from overseas have gathered at the Royal Hotel to sing Christmas carols.

The tradition dates back to the early 19th Century, when the Church of England took a hard line on singing.

Disgruntled locals simply took the carols and themselves to the pub.

Mr Jubb said the number of room bookings had also fallen since the coronavirus pandemic: "We used to get business people staying and we used to be fairly full with that, but Covid just killed it dead. There's just nobody travelling for business."

Jon Boden of the folk club Royal Traditions wants to save the pub

The Royal Hotel has been home to folk music club Royal Traditions for the last 14 years.

Club founder Jon Boden launched a campaign to save the venue, asking people to donate money in return for a share in the pub.

Mr Boden said: "If we can preserve the space for the carols to carry on and the folk club, we could keep it alive as a place."

The appeal has already received over £100,000 in pledges.

Mr Jubb said if the appeal was not successful, the pub would be put up for sale on the open market.