Amos Brearly

Amos Brearly was the landlord of The Woolpack until 1991.

1920-1972
Amos Brearly was born on the 1st April 1920. He came from a family of undertakers. Amos had 2 brothers, Ezra Brearly and Luke Brearly. Amos later joined The Royal Artillery and upon leaving the army after the war, Amos settled in Beckindale. He took over the license of The Woolpack. For many years, Amos ran The Woolpack alone.

1972-1995
Amos was Beckindale's local gossip, he was at the centre of all the local news, in The Woolpack. In 1973, Amos was convinced that the brewery liked couples to run pubs and Amos saw a decent woman in Annie Sugden. Annie turned Amos down gently. Shortly afterwards, Amos was persuaded to take on Alison Gibbons as a barmaid. Alison had been in prison and Amos too umbrage but Edward Ruskin talked him round. Amos kept a close eye on her. Amos later went into business with Henry Wilks and they ran the pub together until Amos retired. In 1976 The Woolpack premises had to be moved when it was found to be suffering from subsidence. In 1977 when Percy Edgar, the Beckindale correspondent to the Hotten Courier, died, Amos took his role. In 1978 while closing up The Woolpack Amos and Mr Wilks were threatened by burglars and were locked in the cellar all night. However, later that year he was proud to give his barmaid Dolly Acaster away when she married Matt Skilbeck.

In summer 1980, gamekeeper Seth Armstrong switched from The Malt Shovel to The Woolpack - Seth continuously irritated Amos. Seth often used to humiliate Amos in front of a crowded pub.

Amos gained an allotment in 1980, and this was the scene of much rivalry between himself and Seth for many years. In late 1980, Amos's aunt Emily turned up for a visit. Amos was terrified of her. She fled from The Woolpack on discovering that Amos had written-up a report on UFOs spotted locally, stating that he was tampering with unknown forces. A couple of years later, she returned to announce that Amos's uncle Arthur had died. Aunt Emily thought she stood to gain from Arthur's will, but she was only bequeathed some old junk, including an elephant's foot umbrella stand.

In 1981, Amos set up his own village newsletter - The Beckindale Bugle. It was short-lived. In 1982, Amos went on holiday. Upon his return he claimed he spent it all in Spain, but spent much of it in Scarborough. Carlos, a waiter from the Scarborough hotel Amos stayed at, returned his wallet.

In 1983, Amos sought upward mobility by cultivating the friendship of NY Estates boss Alan Turner. He even defended Turner when his workforce was being difficult. Amos saw Alan as a friend of his now. Henry was not sure about Amos' liaison with Alan, and acting as his stooge. Alan felt he owed Amos a favour so invited him to a golfing match. Amos wore garish clothes and could not play golf as well as he claimed to. Back at the clubhouse, Amos was distressed to hear Alan criticising him to a golfing pal, saying he was a buffoon and a bore. Amos made an excuse to leave. Later on, he told Henry Wilks that he overheard Alan saying he was a bore. Amos also wished he had not defended Alan recently against his workforce, and invited them back to the Woolpack. Amos served Alan soon afterwards, saying he was not a good golfer but a good pint puller and then said he will not go on as he does not want to bore Alan. From then on, Amos treated Alan frostily, insisting on calling him "Mr Turner".

Amos had a brother Ezra Brearly.. He also mentioned another brother who had died young.

Amos's rivalry with Ernie Shuttleworth of The Malt Shovel public house took on a new intensity during the '80s, as each tried to outdo the other with various ventures, including happy hours, juke boxes and dominoes tournaments. In 1984, Ernie was thrilled to get Amos a ticking off from the local police by tampering with The Woolpack clock so the pub was caught serving drinks after hours.

In 1988, Amos seemed set to marry Gloria Pinfold, an old sweetheart of his from many years before. She was a strong-willed woman who moved into The Woolpack and interfered with Henry's book keeping and the diet of the two men, insisting that full English breakfasts were not to be eaten because of cholesterol and fat content. Finally, she had a better offer from another man and left Amos.

In the summer of 1989, Henry got hay fever and drove Amos mad with his sneezing. Amos also discovered a crop circle at Home Farm and was convinced that aliens had landed in Beckindale. Sadly, by the time Amos took a local expert to see the fantastic spectacle, the field had been harvested.

In July 1990, while celebrating friend Annie's 70th birthday, Amos suffered a stroke. Shortly after he decided to retire to Spain in January 1991 handing the pub over to Alan Turner, he returned to the village in October for Henry's funeral. He made a brief return in 1992. In 1993 he returned for a few months from May to October and was present when Annie married Leonard Kempinski, whom she had met a year earlier while staying with Amos in Spain.

He made several appearances throughout 1994, first returning for the funeral of the Plane Crash victims where he did the same reading he had done at Wilks funeral two years previously. In February he served as best man when Alan Turner married former prostitute Shirley Foster. He returned again in May for Jack and Sarah's wedding, at the reception - held in a barn at Emmerdale Farm - he made the announcement that the residents of Beckindale had decided to rename the village Emmerdale in honour of Annie Sugden. He returns once again in December for the first anniversary of the Plane Crash.

Amos made his last visit to the village thus far, when he came home with Annie for her son Joe Sugden's funeral. Joe had died in a car crash while staying with Amos and Annie in Spain. Amos later remarked that one night while enjoying a drink with Joe in Spain, Joe had asked Amos to make sure that if anything was to happen to him that there would be a few free drinks given in The Woolpack after the funeral. Amos thought that this request to him was strange considering that Joe was more likely to outlive him, hinting that Joe's death may not have been an accident.

Following the funeral, Annie contemplating life alone shocked Amos by proposing but Amos told her he would have to think about it and Annie, feeling embarrassed, told him to forget about it. After Amos discussed it with Alan, he proposed to Annie, 23 years after his first proposal. This time Annie accepted. Sarah then waved them off as they left Emmerdale Farm, returning to their home in Spain. Amos was never seen in the village again. Him and Annie married, away from the village, on 5th November 1995.

Personality

 * "You'll know you're in the day when somebody starts running you down and Amos takes your part." - Henry Wilks

Other information

 * Amos tends to faint at the sight of blood.

Background Information

 * Actor Ronald Magill originally intended to remove his sideburns going into the role of Amos as he had been growing them for a play, however he was asked to keep them.
 * In 1973, Amos was said to have gone to school with Annie as children in Beckindale, yet in later episodes he said he was from Bridlington. In 1978, Amos celebrated 25 years in the village and 20 years as Woolpack landlord, meaning he moved to Beckindale in 1953 and took over the pub in 1958. Yet in 1987, Amos said he came to Beckindale in 1947. To add to the confusion, in 1990, Amos said he came to Beckindale in 1948.
 * In 1978, Amos said his mother's maiden name was Mullett. Amos had a painting of his paternal grandfather hanging on the wall of the back room of The Woolpack.
 * Ronald Magill gave a years notice in late 1989, wanting to leave the role of Amos. The character was written out and Magill filmed his final scenes in late 1990, these scenes airing in January 1991. When Arthur Pentelow (who played Henry Wilks) passed in August 1991, Magill reprised the role for Henry's funeral. He reprised his role again in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, when he was written out alongside Annie Sugden.

Quotes
"There he goes then." (First line)

"Woolpack Beckindale, Amos Brearly - licensee and proprietor." (catchphrase for when answering the phone)

"There it is now." (Final line)