Meet Me On The Corner

Originally I had intended to travel up for the game at Morecambe with a few southern-based DAFTS but I ducked out a couple of months ago when I found it clashed with a gig I wanted to see which is why I spent the weekend in Newcastle instead of the north-west.

I decided to travel up early on the Friday and take time re-visit some of my old haunts - I was at university there in the early 80s - and a brisk InterCity service saw me arrive at Central station before noon.

It was a bit early to check in at my hotel so I wandered over the Tyne Bridge to Gateshead and took in the massive redevelopments around the Quayside since my last visit in 2001 - the Sage and the Gateshead Millennium bridge amongst the most obvious ones but there has been a lot of other new buildings put up too.

However I was in search of something a bit older - a pub called the Central Bar which had been bought by the Head of Steam chain and is in the process of being given an expensive makeover. North-East CAMRA chum John Holland had suggested it was well worth seeing.

Unfortunately it is completely hidden behind scaffolding but click here to see what it looks like without the covering.

(left) Buffet bar at the Central Bar

Inside the pub has some wonderful original features - such as panelled walls and a wonderful old buffet bar which is not currently in use.

There are plans to open this bar and other rooms plus build a rooftop terrace.

The beer choice was decent too - and all in good nick - with a choice of Hop Back Crop Circle, Elgoods Copper Feelgood, Big Lamp Bitter and Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted.

The renovation still has a long way to go and it will probably be another six months before it is all complete but it promises to a small but significant step in the on-going regeneration of this part of Gateshead.

The next pub on my itinerary was an old favourite of mine - the Crown Posada on The Side, the road that weaves down to the Quayside from the centre of town.

In my time there in the 80s, it served Taylors Landlord and toasted curry sandwiches (albeit with sultanas in the curry - verboten!) - today the toasties are no longer on offer but the beer is still good and the food is now stotties with basic fillings.

(right) Crown Posada - note stain glass windows

For a Friday lunchtime, the pub is relatively quiet and I'm able to sit at the bar. My attempts to chat with the barman are in vain - not a chatty type. No jukebox either - just a Dansette-style record player and a load of 12" easy listening LPs.

Beers on offer include Lord Collingwood Festive Ale, brewed by local brewery Wylam to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Admiral Lord Collingwood, who helped Nelson defeat the French at Trafalgar. I'll drink to that.

Also on offer were Mordue Workie Ticket, Black Sheep Bitter, Jarrow Bitter plus a couple from Hadrian and Border - Gladiator Bitter and the curiously named Are You Listening Gordon Heal?

Just as I was supping up, the tranquility was broken by a 22-strong stag party from Wales - all on bottles of Bud. Very boisterous but friendly - "Hello all! Oh look, it's Adam Jones! Legend!!".

They were referring to me, dear reader, and my alleged likeness to a hairy Welsh rugby international.

(left) A hairy man with a camera (photo © BBC)

I made a hasty but dignified exit and took the opportunity to check into my hotel before moving onto one of Newcastle's premier pubs for the casketeer - the Newcastle Arms - on the edge of Chinatown (which was never there in my day).

The Newcastle Arms was a pub we avoided years ago but today is highly regarded - and this weekend they've got a beer festival on. How's that for synchronicity?

There was the main bar with six pumps and then another six on temporary stillage and a whole host of beers that I'd not come across. Too many to list so I won't.

There was a healthy contingent of CAMRA folk, both from the local branch and further afield, with whom I had a good natter. There was also a plethora of tickers (or scratchers/scoopers) going through the beer list.

I came back here for another session on the Saturday lunchtime and met Ken, a ticker from Durham, who often used to popped into the Quaker House on a Saturday lunchtime. He was with a few other scoopers, all on halves of course. The staff will even get samples from beers still in the cellar for these lads (known as a cellar run) and you can see that it's appreciated.

Beer ticking has never interested me as such - I'm happy to drink new beers of course but won't record them save for mentioning them here (cos my memory is not what it was) - and the pursuit was the subject of a recent documentary.

I've yet to see it so don't know whether it puts them in a favourable light. They can be an easy target with their obsessiveness but they're a friendly bunch and some are even married!

I was very impressed with the Newcastle Arms - not just the beer, that's a given - but the management and staff were very friendly and although they don't food, they're happy for you to bring your own.

Little wonder then that it has been the top pub in Newcastle for three of the last four years (and runner-up when it didn't come top).

This particular day ended relatively early in the evening but in traditional style - I ordered a takeaway curry and had another quick pint in the Posada whilst waiting before returning to the hotel with my grub.

NB: For a useful guide to pubs and beers in Newcastle and the surrounding area, check out this site.

Late Update: The Newcastle Arms was bridesmaid again this year as it came second to the Bacchus which has just been named Newcastle CAMRA Pub of the Year 2010.