Gateshead Pubs & Clubs

Introduction

Hi, I'm Jon Bratton. This website is a sister site to Gateshead History 1 Gateshead Pictorial History and Gateshead Grammar



It seeks to list every pub and club, in the extended Gateshead area including Birtley, Felling, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Crawcrook, now and in the past, and provide old and current photographs, list the publicans/tenants/landlords and anything else of historic interest.

It is dedicated to the memory of this man

                                                                                  Thomas Wilson

Thomas Wilson was of lowly birth, worked as a trapper down the pits as a bairn, studied, became a teacher
and then, in partnership with two others, became rich. He lived in a mansion on the land that is now Low
Fell's main car park. He built, on what used to be called Wilson Terrace,

No longer used as a postal address but the sign, as of 2017, is still there

named in his honour, what is now the pub called The Bank, though it was, in his time, a community reading room and then, later, a bank
And, of course, he has the Thomas Wilson Club named after him, as well as the street named Wilson's Lane.

I've taken over the running of this website from my brother Rob Bratton who, having retired, in 2003/2004, decided to have a pint in every pub in the Borough of Gateshead . Oh yes, it took him a while but he felt somebody should do it....have a pint, record the date, make a comment, give it a score and take a photograph. The basis of this website is the record of his dedicated quest. In each pub entry he made, the first photograph is his and the first entry is the date of his visit and his comment/score.
Subsequently, I have added many more pubs that weren't around when Rob was on his quest, as well as Working Mens' Clubs which were very popular when I was in my twenties. I'm seeking to include every pub & club that was in, what is now, the extended Gateshead Local Government area though any pub now included that existed, and ceased to exist, prior to 1974 were in the original areas of Blaydon Urban District, Whickham Urban District, Felling Urban District and so on. I have also added updated photographs of the pubs that were around during Rob's quest.
Lee Trotter from Heaton is currently on a similar task. Read Lee's  story here

The header to this website is not what Rob saw while carrying out this task but is from Andy Williamson's magnificent collection of pictures of gateshead . 

Rob had a guestbook on his website, which, remarkably, did not get infested by Russian advertisers. See above for the links to all the many comments he received. Guestbooks are a rarity now and I suppose a Facebook page is the modern equivalent. If there is a demand for  posting comments about pubs I will create a Facebook page. In the meantime, I'm happy to receive comments about this, and on anything else, by way of my email address which is:-

jon@jbratton.com

There are currently 143 operational pubs in Gateshead and about half of them ie 74 have a 'The' in their name. What determines whether or not there is a 'The'? No particular reason. Some pubs have a 'The' and at the next sign renewal the 'The' is dropped, it seems, on the whim of the current landlord

23 pubs with a 'The' have now gone forever..starting with The Beacon and ending with The Wrekendyke. Indeed here's the full list
Beacon, Crown, British Lion, British Queen, Beeswing, Bugle, Deckham, Five Wand Mill Inn, Half Moon, Half Moon, Honeysuckle, Magpie, Mulberry, New Collingwood, Nine Pins, Perseverance, Ship, Swan, Trafalgar, Vigo, William IV Hotel, Willows, Wrekendyke

It may be presumed that a similar number of the non 'The' pubs have also gone forever
eg Bourgognes and Gamekeeper at Swalwell, Board Inn, Stella

See some of his work below. Indeed, if you live in the North East and want an original painting, of a pet, or indeed anything else, you'll find him running the quiz in The Black Horse

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This Book.. The Old Pubs of Gateshead by John Boothroyd.. is highly recommended

John, before retirement, used to be the manager of the Local History Service at Gateshead Library. Because he has chosen to publish through Summerhill Books, which are all of a certain size, he must have chosen his words very carefully to cram in as much information as he has into such a relatively slim volume. At £4.99 it's tremendous value. Like this website, it brings the Trade Directory information but it also has loads of anecdotal information that Mr Boothroyd has gathered over many years. Who knew, for example, that Woodbine Terrace was not named after a ciggie but a plant, the self same plant known as the Honeysuckle, the name of the pub (now a Tesco branch) that stands at the bottom of Woodbine Tce. Or that the Victoria pub in Low Fell was once called the Queen Adelaide, after Queen Victoria's favorite aunt. He deals not only with the pubs and the various sizes and styles of architecture but the derivation of the many pub names as well as details of the local brewers that supplied the beer

John Berry has a great collection of his own Gateshead pub photos here

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Main Reasons for the Decline of the Pub

UK homes became more comfortable in the 1970s when central heating started to become more commonplace

In the 1990's supermarkets started pushing alcohol sales and the drinking of wine and beer at home became widespread

The 2003 Licensing Act's implementation was in November 2005

Since July 2007 smoking has been prohibited by law in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed work
and public places throughout the United Kingdom

This last one seems to have sounded the final death knell for many pubs that were limping along for many a year. Since then, a large number have gone for good, many being converted to restaurants