ONE of Bradford on Avon’s best-known pubs has closed and is this week holding a final sale of its contents.

The Bear Inn, in Silver Street, closed ten days ago and most of the contents, including alcohol stocks, fixtures and fittings have already gone.

Kevin Barker, general manager and licensee at The Bear, is holding a “final sale” of the remaining contents this week.

“Everything has already been sold, apart from a few chairs. I’m planning to give away anything that doesn’t sell by Friday,” he said.

Mr Barker says the owner, a Frome businessman, has already obtained planning permission for a change of use to residential accommodation for the pub, which has Grade II listed Georgian buildings on either side.

Wiltshire Times: The Bear public house in Silver Street, Bradford on Avon, is now closed and holding a final sale of

In February, Wiltshire Council gave the owner permission to convert the pub into a single house with six bedrooms and five bathrooms upstairs, and a one-bedroom annexe on the ground floor, together with internal and external alterations.

Mr Barker, 66, says he plans to leave The Bear in August and will spend a few months at his Spanish apartment in Torremolinos near Malaga before planning his next move.

“Before the Covid pandemic we had a thriving business but since the business has not been as strong. It is not as viable as it used to be.

“We decided to call it a day a year ago and have obtained planning permission for a change of use.

Wiltshire Times: The Bear pub in Silver Street, Bradford on Avon, is now closed and holding a final sale of contents. Photo: Trevor Porter 69988-6The Bear pub in Silver Street, Bradford on Avon, is now closed and holding a final sale of contents. Photo: Trevor Porter 69988-6 (Image: Trevor Porter)

“The pub closed ten days ago and we are selling off all the stock. Ninety per cent of it has already gone.

“People are not spending as much as they used to and are not coming into town so often. When they do come out, they only have one or two drinks.

“It’s a totally different ball game now. I have been in the business for 25 years and it has changed.

“I just want to move on. I have reached the age where I can retire if I wish to.

"But I am already missing it. It’s a way of life and I don’t have any hobbies.”

The Bear is not the only business in Silver Street that has gone in recent weeks as the town centre retail offering undergoes change.