South Shields Sanddancers Forum

I used to drink in Newcastle a lot in my teens Axeman, we used to get in the Oxford Gallerys, which I think is the one you are talking about.
It was a big place with a balcony looking down on the dance floor which had recesses where you go with the girls to be on your own, the bar was also up there in the corner.

Newcastle was great place to drink there was also some great characters,
but you had to be careful up there as it bred some hard men.

Cisco

Yeah had a few good nights there, in Sunderland as well.

Used to go to FUSION which I think used to be The Rink in Park Lane.

And The Vestry pub. That used to have this really low beam going from one room onto a small dance floor, nearly knocked myself out a few times in there. Remember smooching away to Rock Me Baby by George McRae........... semi concussed.

And a couple of rough pubs down Hendon.

All tripe and sawdust, that was an experience.

I used to go to the rink as well Axeman, we used to have pint or two in the Ivy house first then over to the rink
we used to go to the xmas dances at the rink, the good thing with them was they did not start until 12am on xmas night through till 4am, so you drink right through.

I used to drink in Hendon now and again at the Boars Head and the eastend club. We used to find them very clannish down there.
Attamatta used to drink in the Boars Head, a very well known character in the east end among the older lads.

Cisco

i dont know what newcastle has got to do with this thread
but i had my first pint in the garricks head
remember the old piano in the bar

I remember the Rink well. You had an area where you could buy drinks and an area where the younger ones could go and only buy sh*te like coke and slush puppies. Being only 14. I had to go to the Continental to get p*ssed first!

tonnee wrote:i dont know what newcastle has got to do with this thread
but i had my first pint in the garricks head
remember the old piano in the bar

If my memory serves me right Tonnee as it must be 40years ago, the Garricks Head was in Queen Street opposite the back door of the Bridge.

It was really old pub for the older men.

Cisco

tonnee wrote:i dont know what newcastle has got to do with this thread
but i had my first pint in the garricks head
remember the old piano in the bar

If my memory serves me right Tonnee as it must be 40years ago, the Garricks Head was in Queen Street opposite the back door of the Bridge.

It was really old pub for the older men.

Cisco

aye cisco it was a real dump but us young ones could get served there
im talking 25 year ago at a guess i would say it got pulled down about 23
year ago

Another old pub that was near Woolworths was the Highlander also across the road in King Street was The Eagle Vaults, this was always full of prostitutes. Also remember a character from there Ronnie Prentagarst who was as bent as they come, but what a laugh he was.

I remember those pubs well. Did my underage drinking in The Eagle. My friends mam was a barmaid in the Old Highlander so we couldn't go there. Don't know if my memory is playing tricks but the barmaids seemed a lot older then. Some of them were formidable women who'd worked in a particular pub for years and took no nonsense from anyone.
We were just talking recently about characters like Ronnie Prendergast and Debbie the other gay guy. They were known as 'puffs' in those very politically incorrect days. As a young 14 year old I'd never heard of such a thing so it was a bit of a lesson in life for me.
The thing I remember is that for girls it was very difficult to find a drink that you could enjoy ( unlike the alcopops of today ) Beer tasted horrible, lager hadn't come on the scene and spirits were for old ladies of about thirty!. Export and lime used to be the drink of choice and then Cherry B and stuff like that came on the market to cater for the increasing number of women who were starting to go in pubs.
Always wondered where I got my taste for alcohol until I was researching family history and discovered my great great grandmother kept an alehouse in Cone Street. So it's genetic.

I remember the Highlander next door to Woolworths Delilah, you are right about the barmaids they were no nonsense woman, I think now, it was because we were very young and they were a lot older and they commanded respect and we gave it not like this lot today.

Also remember Ronnie Prendergast who Jarrow Pete also mentioned, I used to get in the Mermaids Tale a lot in them days and he was always in there and the Mechanics, your right he was very funny always making fun of himself being a puff.

Cisco

Jarrow Pete wrote:Used to go in the back room of the Old Nunnery in the corner of the Market where the Commando is when I was 15. Another pub was the Willie Wouldhalve known to everyone as the boiled oil.
About 20 years ago was doing a job in Jersey and got talking to an ex seaman and he asked me if the Two F***S bar was still open. I had never heard of it so phoned my father and he said he means The Norfolk and Suffolk at the back of the Trams Bar.

Pete, I'll stand corrected if i'm wrong but I don't think the Nunnery was on the site where the Commando is, I believe it was behind where the benefit office is in Ferry Street, where the welfare rights office is.

Same again with this one Pete if I'm wrong, the Willie Wouldhalve was where Chris B Watsons used to be on the corner of the market place.

The Norfolk and Suffolk I believe stood where what used to be the Bar Franchi, it had a damaged tile frontage due to the bombings in the market place.

Cisco

Cisco, the Nunnery Bar was definetly in the corner of the market next to where the toilets are now. The Boiled Oil was down a side street where the rear of the benifits office would be now. Also remember going in the Glen cafe, I think that was on the site of where Bar Franchi is now.

Pete, I'm right about the Nunnery, I have found a photograph to prove it.
I'm going into Curly's site to try and work out how to post the photo.

I was wrong on the Norfolk and Suffolk (the tiled pub) it was the Market bar.

Cisco

does anyone remember the BERRESFORD ARMS in the50s
used to be my regular

I remember the Beresford well Denis, we used to get in there a lot in the early 60s.

I had an auntie who used to run the pub along from there, The Wolsley.
There was also the Fletchers just before you got into Fowler Street which was a bit of a dump.

Delilah mentioned underaged drinking, we used to ours in the turks Head on the Lawe Top, they used to have groups on in the back room.

Cisco

Cisco, back to the Nunnery bar. You could be right about the main entrance to it,thinking back I think this was in Ferry Street. This ran down to the ferry from the market place. As I was only 15 we used to go in the back room this was accessed fom the waste ground next to the toilets. The back room had a large barrel in the centre that went from the floor to the ceiling, remember coming out one night and it had been snowing and kept falling down on the frozen ground. Ended up with a Bett Knee (fluid on the knee) hobbled to work the next day and reported sick saying I had slipped on the ice in the pit yard.

Yes the Nunnery was in Ferry Street on the right hand side if you were walking down to the Ferry Landing. Also remember the Beresford. There was another pub along from the Fletchers Inn - I think it was called Catherine House. We used to do our drinking there before going to The Cellar club in Beach Road.
A real off the map spot for under age drinking was The Garden Gate down Laygate near the old Trinity church. Was a bit to near home for me as we lived in South Eldon Street and there was always a chance of bumping into someone your parents knew. For the same reason had to avoid the Eldon Arms and Kennedys.

We used to get in the Garden Gate on a weekday dinner time as the girls from the Mary Harris factory used to get in.

Can't remember Catherine House delilah.

Used to get in the Cellar Club in Beach Road, whenever I read about the Cellar they always get it wrong to where it actually was, they persist in saying it was where the Bowler Hat was.

You're right about where the Nunnery was, if you are coming from the direction of the La Strada into Ferry Street it was on the right before you got to the Ferry Tavern on the other side.

So Pete Delilah seems to think the same as me.

Cisco

Spreading further afield does anybody know the Crowtree and the Laburnam in Sunderland.