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By the 1950’s, the original Rifle Volunteer on Birchwood Lane was an old building that was not considered suitable for a public house. At the time the pub was tied to James Shipstone & Sons, of the Star Brewery, Nottingham. They took the decision to build new premises and enlisted the architect, W J Stovin-Bradford to design the building. They specialised in the design of breweries and public houses [W Stovin-Bradford wrote a book, “The Architecture of Breweries”, published in 1932].

PHOTO: The New Rifle Volunteer on Opening Day, 1965

Due to the ground levels, the new Rifle Volunteer was designed as a split-level building, with a basement level at the rear consisting of a garage, bowling alley and a beer & bottle store. The ground floor was designed as the main bar and public area, while the first floor contained the private living quarters.

The brewery kept the old name for reasons of continuity of the Rifle Volunteer opened its doors in 1965. The first tenants were Mr and Mrs Les Wakefield.  

Although the Rifle Volunteer remained a popular public house, changes in the economy and the way people spent their leisure time ultimately led to a decline in business the result of which was its closure in 2011. It remained uninhabited for several years until it was finally demolished in 2015 to make way for residential housing.