New owners putting their shoulder to a new post-flood challenge

Owen O’Sullivan and Lisa O’Brien took over ownership of the Shoulder of Mutton at Cragg Road, Mytholmroyd, which they have been managing since previous owner John Hartley passed away and his wife Lyn retired three years ago.

That meant steering the pub through the devastation which hit the village in December two years ago.

Lisa has strong links to the village - she is from Mytholmroyd and started work for John and Lyn, firstly in the kitchen, as a teenager. Owen and Lisa meet on holiday in Corfu 10 years ago, when Owen was working in Heathrow airport. Owen drove up to be with Lisa every weekend and soon moved to the Calder Valley, running the Cross Inn at Heptonstall for five years. They moved to Owen’s home town in County Clare, Ireland, where they still love to visit, before coming back to the Shoulder. “There’s still a lot of flood work going on in Mytholmroyd, but we are now back on our feet,” said Owen.