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	Picture source: Mark Simper
The Wilsons Arms was situated on Huddersfield Road.
From Yorkshire Live, 2022
Welcome to The Wilsons Arms in Mirfield, once dubbed 'Britain's roughest and toughest pub'. The shocking headlines appeared to show a pub utterly out of control. Back in 2018, West Yorkshire Police revealed a frightening catalogue of incidents at the pub in Huddersfield Road, many of which left the victims with serious injuries. One of the most serious attacks happened in the early hours of September 1 that year when a man was left with a large wound across his face after being slashed with a knife by a customer of the pub. In another 3am attack on February 4, 2018, a huge pub brawl saw a man headbutted, the landlady hit in the head with a pool cue, and a victim violently assaulted outside, where he was punched and kicked to the floor and had his head stamped on. The vicious attack left the victim with a shattered cheekbone, a fractured eye socket and a broken nose. He required considerable surgery including a titanium plate to repair and re-attach his cheek and operations on his eye socket, nose and jaw. Police said the mass brawl began when a man had made abusive comments about another man's mother and then poured a drink on his head. The landlady, who by then had run the pub for more than ten years, tried to calm the tensions but the victim walked over and headbutted the aggressor. Others then joined in and a pool cue was swung, which hit the landlady and another victim with such force it caused it to snap. The man was restrained and ejected from the pub but once outside he was set upon by a number of suspects, with the attack ending with his head being stamped on repeatedly. A third shocking incident saw an argument between a couple end with a bizarre incident of self-harm. Police reported that a 22-year-old man who became jealous that his 18-year-old girlfriend was talking to another man in the Wilsons Arms, went outside and threw a brick in the air, which landed on his own head. He then tried to set fire to himself. He was arrested for breaching the peace. Following the incident, police ordered the landlady to increase security. But there continued to be more problems. In one incident, the landlady dragged a man outside in a headlock after he was found stealing bottles of beer from the bar. Police claimed that the landlady had lost control of the bar and it had become a 'pseudo night club' but without the necessary measures in place for such trade. The headlines led to neighbours dubbing the Wilsons Arms one of the roughest boozers in the country and it eventually shut down. The building has since been turned into a beauty salon and day spa called Zen-Spa. Former punters remember the pub with great fondness, rowdiness and all. They still talk about the 'craic', and the 'cracking' nights out. Danni Shotton-Squire was a regular at The Wilsons Arms around 10 years ago and loved the place. She told YorkshireLive : "I enjoyed Wilsons and knew the landlady. You always got the odd idiot but back when I was in my mid-twenties it was where we all went after all the Mirfield pubs shut. "There was never any trouble, but everyone knew each other. I miss it; good times." Danni says the pub had a great atmosphere, although it could get a bit rowdy at times. "It was open late - people got a bit drunk and sometimes rowdy. I went mostly every weekend and I wouldn't say it was rough.... if Wilsons was still open I'd go on a weekend now." Former customer Dean, 56, believes the Wilsons' character changed as the late licences came in which attracted the wrong crowd. He remembers the Wilsons from the mid-1980s as a drinkers' pub which was popular with local tradesmen, factory workers and so on. "My dad used to go in the Wilsons at tea time. It had a strong teatime trade in the 1980s. My mum's grandad used to go in before the war. The Wilsons was diverse and used to welcome bikers and bands and would attract a diverse group of people." Back in the day, a handful of regulars would enjoy late 'lock-ins' and first-time teenage drinkers wouldn't have to worry about being refused a drink, he recalls. Changes in the licensing laws in 2003 and 2005 led to some pubs opening until the early hours, among them the Wilsons Arms, which was seen as the very last place to get a drink in the early hours of the morning. It meant that some punters were just too hammered to be sensible while others were 'fighting drunk'. "Towards the end, it was called 'rough', just before it closed. It had a reputation of being open (all night) and would attract the wrong crowd. Neighbours would complain about the noise and fighting in the street. But for decades, maybe 50 years, it was a quiet local, popular with the older generation and working men."
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