BEER is even cheaper than usual at Skipton Working Men's Club.

But it's not every month you celebrate your centenary.

And while in some parts of the country the working men's club might be struggling, Skipton's is on a sound financial footing, with a steady membership of around 1,500 and plans for the future.

The original minute book from June 6 1907 records the founding of the club at a meeting held in the Globe Coffee Tavern when it was resolved that: "A club be formed to promote social intercourse and for supplying its members with the means of mental improvement, mutual helpfulness and national recreation and to be non party political."

By January 1908, the club was entering negotiations with the owners of the Star Inn, on Keighley Road, which was one of the Skipton pubs to lose its licence when magistrates embarked on a policy of closing several pubs in the town in the wake of the cattle market moving off the High Street.

In May 1908, agreement was reached with brewers Tetley, owners of the Star, to rent the premises at a cost of £45 per annum and within a few weeks the Skipton Working Men's Club was up and running. It is still there today.

Run by a committee of 16, the treasurer is Alan Capstick and secretary is Colin Skipper.

They are in no doubt that one of the secrets of its success - it deals with around 15 membership applications per month - is cheap beer.

Bitter is normally £1.38 a pint, but centenary celebrations have reduced that by 10p.

And while other working men's clubs are going through a rough patch in some parts, Mr Capstick says Skipton's secret has been to build up reserves in the good years to fund improvements without going into debt.

Skipton WMC has also had an enlightened approach to women - there have been female members for so long that Mr Capstick, a member since 1962, only vaguely recalls the days when they were only allowed in certain parts of the building.

The last was what was known as "The House of Lords", a small ante-room whose demise was marked in the In Memoriam columns of the Craven Herald in the early 1980s.

The club has seen many changes, reflecting the changes in society.

Bingo sessions, once held three nights a week, are a distant memory; the concert nights, once a staple of clubland, barely break even as the cost of a turn has far outstripped the extra sales pulled in; and drinking habits have changed hugely - 10 years ago Mr Skipper reckoned for every pint of lager sold there were three of bitter. Today that ratio has been reversed.

And on Sunday, a new era starts - a smoking ban, which is clearly resented.

"I can't see why in a private club there is no provision for one room where smokers, members, are allowed to smoke," said Mr Capstick.

To cater for the club's smokers, a small area outside has been created.

Despite its membership of around 1,500, the club cannot keep still.

"We have to keep adapting," said Mr Skipper. "This is a big business and you have to run it as a business with a big turnover."