BRAPA IN ..... HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LOW LIGHTS, BUT SHITLEY BAY IS LESS SOLID
A gig in my ancestral home of Sunderland (well, I spent three years here at Uni and still have a major soft spot for the town .... you might say city, it'll always be a town to me) brought me up to Tyne & Wear for my first pub ticks here since 2020.
It wouldn't be my first choice ticking county, having 'completed' it back then, so it doesn't really fit my current strategy of 'getting into new counties'. However, gaps had now opened up, not EVERYTHING new was a micro or brewery tap (T&W is a bugger for that), and if any further encouragement was needed, I had not one, not two, but THREE whole pubs to do in North Shields alone!
So with Daddy BRAPA deciding not to watch Hull City at Stoke, he joined me up on the Metro, 11am, stepping out into the road to risk life and limb for BRAPA and do his best David Bailey .....
What a delight the Low Lights Tavern, North Shields (2310 / 4214) is. An old fashioned, narrow, soothing wooden sort of place with distinct areas, you didn't have to use too much imagination to picture gnarly fishermen (sorry, 'fisherthem' ugh #WokeSi2023) of yore necking a few Exhibitions (or should that be Sam Smith's?) in their oil skins under the flicker of candlelight. I favour hand pulled Bass of course, pulled by a canny chap, and whilst the final inch became 'farty' (surely the only reason this pub isn't a GBG regular), it was for the most part a good pint. Note the Brit Award handpump, local down to earth celeb and Low Lights fan Sam Fender is responsible for that. Not sure that opting to sit in the 'restaurant' area was my wisest move, but this was pubbier than most UK pub drinking areas - with suspect local artwork adorning the walls, and a bubbling fire in front of us. A cracking way to start any pub day.
Probably living in the shadow of this famous pub, came another rare old school GBG entries from the town which was seriously eclipsing the more southern 'Shields' as my favourite (which I still haven't forgiven for fining me £40 for a genuine Metro error in 2014. Yes I do hold grudges, what of it Thornbridge?)
Seven Stars, North Shields (2311 / 4215) lacked a lot of the Low Lights atmosphere, and was totally lacking in customers which is never going to help, but I still rated it. A classic basic boozer in many ways. The beer was a step up too, a superbly kept North Riding is always a joy to behold. I'd seen the guv'nor eyeing up my GBG as I'd gone to the loo, so no surprise on my return to see him chatting with Daddy B. He's an SPBW man - preserving beers from the wood, and he's a local chairman. Soon, he's showering us with leaflets and knowledge. Has Dad filled in the application form yet and been inducted in a Masonic ceremony? I'd seen the acronym on Twitter for years without ever discovering its meaning til now, I'd always thought it was something to do with freeing the Isle of Man from Britain (Stick Britain, Posey Wankers!) Every day is a school day when you visit pubs. An underrated pub I'd say, always hard when you have a famous neighbour.
With our third Shields tick not opening until 2pm, we decided to get up to Whitley Bay for our third tick. This was a 2pm opener too, but at least this way we were filling in time on the Metro. Not enough time though, it is still shy of 13:40 when we arrive. Luckily, Dad had spotted a glorious 'pre-emptive' across the way .....
Ticket Office, Whitley Bay may not have had cask but what a delightful bunch of people in charge. AND they tell us they are planning to build a cellar and put one on, so watch this space. The loos are very much behind the bar, it is cosy (tight), but has been nicely done. I'm sure RetiredMartin told me it used to be in the GBG, so perhaps it had cask under a different guise in years gone by. The Wylam Lush keg drank lushly, just a half, perfect way to fill in the time before 2pm. Daddy B asked me to send the below to Mummy BRAPA - it reminded him of her. "Not the furry face I hope!" she replied.
Time for our third pub .....
Split Chimp, Whitley Bay (2312 / 4216) produced a moment in keeping with one of those Harry Hill TV Burp segment style 'I've been to over 4200 pubs, all across the land, and I thought I'd seen it all ..... but I certainly didn't expect to see that!' But before I went to the loo, it was evident that this was the weakest pub today - not a patch on their sister pub in Newcastle centre which I rate as being up there with the finest micros I've ever been to. The beer didn't help. Wild Mule by Roosters seemed well kept, but was so bland. Daddy BRAPA didn't even finish his. And sitting alongside the bar, I never like that. Feel conspicuous. The music was the one bonus, obscure punk rock just the way I like it! The three beautiful picture postcard tiles in the sole unisex loo were overshadowed by the below sign imploring any customers not to pass solids! I return wild eyed and scandalised, telling Daddy B it'd have to form my Twitter post. He looks concerned by this, being an old fashioned gent & all, but I'm glad I did cos it spawned a full boggy blog from Pub Curmudgeon and much lively comments debate. Most people are of the same mind as me. When gravity takes over, that 0.1% of the time, especially on the local ale (who can forget the Laxey laxative in Isle of Man?) well when you've gotta go you've gotta go! Unreasonable to ask folk to disengage sphincters once inside the cubicle. Daddy B says if anything, the sign should be on the front of the pub. He's right! Would be funny though, huge neon sign, 'NO POOING IN THIS PUB'. I agree with Mudgie, they probably had an 'incident' which sparked this decision, probably not Big John, but something surely. I wonder if the Newcastle Split C has the same?
Time to put that behind us and head back to North Shields for our final tick here .......
'Cloudy with a chance of Chris Dyson' are always fine conditions to arrive at any pub, and at Enigma Tap, North Shields (2313 / 4217) the great man had messaged me to say he was in the same area today. Sadly, our paths didn't cross. Modern micros were now inevitably taking over after our old school start, and with so many kids and doggage and family groups, this place would've been jarring in less happier circs. One little girl is dressed in full tiger outfit (unless it is Chris in disguise), and I'm hoping this will be a Hull City good luck charm. A wonderful hazy Two by Two Session from Wallsend, a coffee and a delightful Scotch Egg (a combo you daren't risk in the previous pub) plus the fact that I could chat to Daddy B and close myself off from external factors meant that when all said and done, I think quite fondly of this experience. More on that Scotch Egg, it wasn't the chorizo and parmesan, or even the amazing runny yolk that made it, but the gentle bready fried batter. Delicious, not like that harsh sandpaper bread crumb you get on the supermarket ones. I'm hungry just thinking about it!
'Daddy get us an egg, Daddy Daddy get us an egg'
Back towards Newcastle on the Metro, two pubs still to go, we were shocked to see how time was getting away from us! I hadn't been particularly disciplined with regards my drinking pace today, so we decided to ditch Byker and instead just concentrate on getting the Heaton tick done, a 10-15 minute walk from Chillingham Road.
My favourite of today's micros, and perhaps pushing the Seven Stars for second place, Heaton Tap, Heaton, Newcastle (2314 / 4218) was a pub of hidden depths, or at least hidden depth. And speaking of the Seven Stars, we noticed they had Ouseburn Porter on with a sign saying 'from the wood'! Am I going to keep noticing this now, just like how every Edinburgh pub has a 'Malt of the Month' blackboard, which I only started noticing once someone on Twitter pointed it out? Still at the bar, Dad checks the full time score, 0-0 at Stoke but we have somehow gone up a place to 11th! We must be talking animatedly because a bloke spins around and says "which team are you discussing? I like football!" so we tell him and he does that pained look all Geordies do when Hull City is mentioned cos we always do well at their place. I apologise for bringing up the subject of Sunderland next, but then he does the classic 'reasonable Newcastle fan' reaction "... some of my best friends support Sunderland" but then we escape to this delicious back room where awkward first date couple and Santa in a beanie hat are camped out. Not sure why, but it was truly one of the cosiest snug back rooms of any micro I've ever been in.
Transport mayhem inevitably follows .... a cancelled Metro, Dad misses his connecting York train which would have involved a bus replacement at Darlington, but we work out he can get a Grand Central direct to York, huzzah!
I meanwhile have to get to Sunderland for my gig, and I have a painful half hour wait until the next Metro too, check in at a Premier Inn 20 mins away, and am just at Pop Recs in time for the support band, two nice local craft beers, before the main event, the superb Titus Andronicus, just a shame the crowd didn't really get dancing or jumping or moshing or pogoing or any movement really! "They must have a bad manager cos they should be better known that this" laments a bloke pissing next to me.
Time for a cracking pint of Double Maxim for a nightcap, at the fantastic building which is the Peacock - didn't realise this was the former Londonderry which was the first ever Sunderland pub in a GBG. I visited it in 1997 as a youthful student, but I don't think I appreciated pubs as much back then!
All in all, a cracking day, and it was back to York the following morning to rest, recover and pack a bag for my week in Norwich the following day! All go.
I'll tell you about that in six parts starting tomorrow, slightly different format, I'm going to rank the 34 pubs visited in order from worst to best based on my visit.
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