User:JacobTheRox/Sandbox

The Chequers, Potters Bar (48 words, so needs to be 240 for DYK)
The Chequers is Grade II listed former public house    in Potters Bar, England. Originally opened in the 1700s The pub moved site across the road and opened in its current location in the 1840s. Although there is no consensus as to when the current site was originally built, it started as two houses  which were joined together before the pub moved. It was made Grade II listed in 1985 but shut on 30th December 2019. Before it closed it was only pub in the British Isles with traffic lights on site.

1700s - 1840s
It's namesake is thought to be the chequer tree.

1920's - 2000s
In 1920 the Chequers and its company of the same name was sold to Benskins Brewery. In 1956, Benskins was bought by Ind Coope which in 1961 merged into Allied Breweries. In 1978, as part of a larger trade, the pub was transferred to the now-defunct Courage Brewery.

The pub was made Grade II listed  on 12 August 1985. The pub underwent a major refurbishment in 1987, and was taken over by Paul and Gill Englefield in 2000, the first time it had been independent since 1920.

2019 closure
On 30th December 2019, the pub closed, but the owners said it may reopen. However, in 2020, Hertsmere Borough Council received a planning application for ten apartments on the site. In response "save our pub" was graffitied onto the building, and the application never went through. Before it closed, it was the only public house in the UK to have traffic lights on its site, with a set in the car park.