Cheers North East magazine #91 - June 2019

cheers WWW.CHEERSNORTHEAST.CO.UK // JUNE 2019 // ISSUE 91

I T ’ S

A B O U T

P U B S ,

P E O P L E ,

B E E R

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SUNDERLAND’S LOST BREWERY TWENTY YEARS OF HURT INNOVATION AND INITIATIVE BUILDING ON TRADITION

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WELCOME June already, eh? Here we are at the middle of the year and looking forward to a cracking summer – fingers crossed – just like last year.

June is the month of the summer solstice, the time when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky.

It marks the official end of spring and the beginning of summer and is punctuated by holidays, festivals and rituals, such as going to the pub and getting your glass filled with whatever takes your fancy.

It’s also beer garden time; it’s about al fresco drinking and dining and slapping on the Factor 30. But don’t forget that the pubs with no outside area are quite often the coolest place to be (in every sense of the phrase). In hot weather, indoors among the handpulls and keg taps there’s often peace and tranquility – and no wasps.

And while we look forward it’s a good time to remember where we’ve been. In this issue, brewer Michael Hegarty looks back on a long career from pitman to pint drinker, while we acknowledge the demise 20 years ago of the North East icon that was Vaux.

But there are start-ups too, from a neat little brewery in Hexham to a passport scheme that helps drinkers save money.

Nothing stays the same but this summer we’d perhaps appreciate a repeat of last year’s sunshine.

Cheers, Alastair Gilmour Editor, Cheers North East

EDITORIAL

Alastair Gilmour 07930 144 846 01661 844 115 alastair@cheersnortheast.co.uk @CheersPal www.cheersnortheast.co.uk Photography: Peter Skelton www.thepsp.net

CONTENTS 16

THE DAY THAT VAUX POPPED

Twenty years ago on July 2 1999, the region lost a huge part of its brewing heritage. Vaux Breweries Ltd handed out its final pay cheques to hundreds of workers after serving Wearside and the North East for 160 years. The reasons were complex, the motives were suspect, and we all suffered. There’s no doubt whatsoever that it shouldn’t have happened. But it did and we should all learn a lesson from corporate vandalism like this that is hell-bent on chasing a fast buck.

COVER: ROSS MINNIKIN AT GREAT NORTH EASTERN BREWING CO. PHOTO: PETER SKELTON

I TOOK A ONE-DAY STARTUP BREWING COURSE AT BREWLAB AND LOVED IT SO MUCH I SIGNED UP FOR THE THREE-MONTH ONE JAMIE ROBSON, GROUNDING ANGELS BREWING CO

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19 HEAVENLY 24 PUB GIGS NEW FACES 28 GREAT IDEAS FUN WITH 30 FUN STUFF TASTE THE NEW BEERS

CHEERS NORTH EAST

brings out the best in pubs and brewing that exists in the region. The magazine, published ten times a year, is distributed to almost 300 pubs, bottle shops and specialist outlets from the Borders to North Yorkshire and across to the fringes of Cumbria. It is packed with stories from them with suggestions on where to go and what you’ll find there. But most of all, Cheers is about people – after all, it’s people who make beer and people who make pubs what they are. And to be able to bring you more information, our A-Z pub guide can now be found at www.cheersnortheast.co.uk Tell them who sent you.

NEWS

TWO WHEELS GOOD, SEVERAL PINTS BETTER The Tyne Cruise Rock’N’Roll Bike Ride is back for another spoke-turning summer afternoon – its ninth episode. Setting out from The Schooner on South Shore Road, Gateshead, on Sunday July 14 (11am), the leisurely trip for cyclists of all ages and abilities heads off for The Boathouse at Wylam via several refreshment stopoffs that include Hadrian Border Brewery and the Black Bull, Blaydon, on the 25-mile round-trip. Charities Daft As A Brush and St Oswald’s Hospice are the two beneficiaries.

Entry forms and info: The Schooner 0191 477 7404.

Farm fresh: Theo Howie in the Rigg & Furrow taproom

A BREAK FROM WORK AT AGGIE’S FARM

Rigg & Furrow Brewery’s open days initiative is proving a huge success. This month, the Acklington, Northumberland, farmhouse brewer invites beer lovers to join them – Theo and Pippa Howie, that is – in their taproom on Saturday June 15 for an afternoon of great beer in the (hopefully) sunny farmyard in this beautiful corner of the region.

The food vendor has yet to be selected, but rest assured, it’ll be good. The next one after that is Saturday July 6 with Adventures In Aude vintage food truck in attendance. Aggie, the pet Highland cow, might say hello

but she’ll no doubt be too busy grazing in the paddock (if not a bit haughty) to take much notice.

“It’s all going really well,” says Theo, who started the brewery on Pippa’s parents’ Acklington Park farm in 2017. “We’ve developed a lot recently and invested in a new fermenter last year which gives us the opportunity to brew a lager (and a stonking keg beer it is too). The open days are working really well – in fact the Easter weekend one was so busy it caught us on the hop a bit and we ran out of glasses and ran out of change.”

See www.riggandfurrow.com for info.

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ORB SUMMER BEER FESTIVAL WEDNESDAY 3RD JULY - SUNDAY 7TH JULY

OVER 25 BEERS AND CIDERS - LIVE MUSIC - POP UP BAR - CHARITY RAFFLE

ORB MICROPUB, ALE & WHISKY HOUSE 28 CONISCLIFFE ROAD, DARLINGTON DL3 7RG TEL: 07395 832370 @ORBMICROPUB 4 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

NEWS

SUMMER IS THE PUB HUNTING SEASON If your idea of a perfect British summer involves a pint and a beer garden, then you’re in luck. The Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) has announced a new national initiative all about visiting your local pub.

The Summer of Pub campaign has simple aim of encouraging pubgoing throughout the summer. The consumer organisation has written to thousands of pubs across the country encouraging them to host celebratory events to help more people rediscover their love for the great British local.

Cause for celebration includes invitations for drinkers to tweet photos of themselves using the hashtag #SummerofPub – in the process, giving them the chance to win a round of drinks for their party.

Various events are following, including special screenings of the Women’s World Cup (June 6-July 6) a toast for Beer Day Britain (June 15), and beer and

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n ope 10pm oom 12pm r p ta sat + fri very BE ER S AW AR D- WI NN ING E FR OM NE WC AS TL

taproom EVENTS sat 01 JUN we are champion: queen tribute *sold out* fri 07 Jun Wild Weather Tap Takeover + Meet The Team cider tasting events involving local producers.

There are also plans to host events to coincide with the Great British Beer Festival (August 6-10), bringing a clear pub campaigning element to Camra’s flagship event for the first time.

Camra national director Ben Wilkinson says: “You don’t have to go on a march or a demonstration to be a pub campaigner – anyone can get involved.

"It’s as simple as heading out for a pint this summer and encouraging your friends to join you.

“We want to remind the public what makes our nation’s pubs so special.

"We want to encourage people to rediscover the unbeatable social network that is their local."

sat 15 JUN BEER DAY BRITAIN sat 22 Jun Anarchy Alt. Market #01 (Free entry) sat 06 JUL The Members + special guests (£5 entry) sat 12 JUL Bad Seed Tap Takeover + Meet The Team

ANARC HY BREW CO. PARK, NEWC ASTLE UPON TYNE, NE6 4NQ ESS BUSIN UNIT A1, BENFI ELD TEL: 0191 389 7580 // ANARC HYBRE WCO.C OM

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SPICE MEETS CRAFT IN BIGG NEWCASTLE VENTURE

Plans for Newcastle’s first craft beer and Indian street food restaurant have been revealed, representing an exciting combination of skills and enterprise.

Thali Tap is set to be the first venue of its kind in the city, the brainchild of Newcastle Brewing Ltd and Thali Tray, two complementary ventures already working side-by-side in the Ouseburn Valley – now coming to a Bigg Market venue near you.

Newcastle Brewing Ltd, run by father-and-son duo Mike and Leo Bell, have been operating the Arch2 Brewpub & Kitchen on Stepney Bank for the last two years, after being inspired by the success of a Punk IPA homebrew kit from BrewDog. Thali Tray first launched as a mobile catering unit last summer and within three months of trading had been awarded the People’s Choice Winner at the popular Wylam Brewery Argie Bhaji Curry Battle. It subsequently took up permanent residence at Arch 2.

The two firms have launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise £30,000 for funds to realise their ambitions later this summer.

Leo Bell said: “Thali Tray and the microbrewery already work well in Ouseburn and this will be an expansion of that. There will be a much bigger menu, and we’ll have 21 taps of craft beer on offer in the 80-seat venue. It’s a really exciting project – the Bigg Market is really on the up now so we’re excited to become part of the regeneration that has been taking place.”

MICRO PUB AND BOTTLE SHOP WITH AN EVER CHANGING SELECTION OF CRAFT BEERS AND REAL ALES AND OVER 150 BOTTLES AND CANS OPEN FROM 2PM WEEK DAYS AND 12NOON FRI TO SUN 41A WARTON TERRACE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE6 5LS @THEHEATONTAP @TAPHEATON www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 5

NEWS

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THE IZAKAYA WITH NO BEER. RUGGER!

Organisers of the Rugby World Cup set to take place in Japan during September to November are worried that the nation’s bars and restaurants might run out of beer.

Rugby fans from the UK and Ireland, plus Australia and New Zealand, are no strangers to downing vast quantities of beer and could cause a shortage as they celebrate or drown their sorrows alongside Japanese supporters who also enjoy a tipple.

Some 400,000 fans are expected to descend on Japan and with many restaurants and match venues offering all-youcan-drink packages, officials have acknowledged there is a realistic problem with shortage. *Izakaya is an informal Japanese pub for casual, after-work socialising – much like a tapas bar.

PASSPORT TO HEAVEN There’s a new way for North East beer lovers to explore the eclectic craft beer scene. Craft Beer Passports have gone on sale online, providing enthusiasts with a well-priced way to explore and support independent bars and producers.

Craft Beer Passport started in Toronto, Canada, in 2014 and developed into a mobile app that can be used to seek out craft beer locations across Ontario.

For the UK market though, they are going back to their roots with folding pocket-sized passports. A passport holder can choose one £2 craft beer from

a list of three at 20 participating locations across the North East until December 3. Craft Beer Passports (£20) are available at www.craftbeerpassport.co.uk and at select locations: Anarchy Brew Co and Heaton Tap in Newcastle, The Blind Pig and Yard House in Tynemouth, plus The Central and Station East in Gateshead. They are also participating venues along with Newcastle’s Errant Brewery, Beer Street, Beeronomy, Dat Bar, Arch 2 Brewpub & Kitchen, The Old Coal Yard, the Cumberland Arms and Brinkburn St Brewery, plus Front Street Tap House and Platform 2 in Tynemouth, the Brewery Tap in Dunston and Block & Bottle – both Gateshead – and Flash House Brewing Co and Enigma Tap (North Shields).

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NEWS

GO WEST AND OWN A BREWERY

life, live in a nice house, drive a Glasgow brewing phenomenon nice car, go on nice holidays. I don’t West, has started on a journey need more. To me, it’s much more of employee ownership journey, important to have with 10% of a purpose than to brewery founder have cash.”

Petra Wetzel’s In the 13 years personal shares since its inception, being placed into West has gone a special trust. from being a selfWesties – as staff contained beerhall, are called called – brewing beer only who have worked to serve in its own with the company bar, to producing for 12 consecutive 25,000 hectolitres months will get Bosses: The West a year for more £3,600-worth of crew who are now than 3,000 bars, shares each year. brewery owners restaurants, hotels, “Why?,” asks shops and supermarkets across German-born Wetzel. “I’ve always Scotland and beyond. For more considered West to be a team effort about Employee Ownership visit rather than me acting like some www.coownershipsolutions.co.uk benevolent dictator. I have a nice

vv

Charming: Haarlem in The Netherlands

HOLLAND A DAY’S WORK

Café Amsterdam, the pop-up Dutch beer and food outlet created

by Andy Hickson, has been taking coals to Newcastle. By way of explanation, Andy, manager at the Sir John Fitzgerald pub The Green in Gateshead, has spent a working holiday in Haarlem in The Netherlands as a volunteer at Uiltje FreshFest, a new festival focusing on fresh hoppy beer – nothing older than 72 hours.

Apart from expanding his knowledge on presentation, service and beer quality, he was struck by how attractive Haarlem is. Next up for Café Amsterdam is closer to home – North Shields.

Andy says: “We are returning to Flash House Brewing Co in July with more new wave Dutch craft beer, plus gin from its birthplace and authentic snacks such as bitterballen and mustard, naturally.

Look out next month for Andy’s report from Uiltje FreshFest.

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www.blindpigtynemouth.co.uk The Blind Pig, Land of Green Ginger, Front Street, Tynemouth, NE30 4BP www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 7

NEWS

CRINGE – WE’RE TOP OF THE BINGE

As we’ve long suspected, it has been revealed that drinkers in the UK get drunk more than any other nation in the world.

Findings from a global survey of 36 countries suggest that Britons reported getting drunk an average of 51.1 times in a 12-month period – virtually once a week.

On average, respondents said they got drunk 33 times in the last year. This number was 50 times in the US and 48 times in Canada. The rate was much lower in countries such as Chile, where they got drunk 16 times a year. The Global Drug Survey of more than 120,000 substanceusers worldwide, also found that England has the highest rate in the world of people having tried cocaine.

Researchers surveyed 5,670

people from England, 566 from Scotland and tens of thousands

worldwide but did not provide a breakdown of the number of

people surveyed in Northern Ireland and Wales.

The study comes amid an overall downward trend of drinking levels in the UK with abstention on the rise, particularly among young adults.

Professor Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drug Survey, said: “In the UK we don’t tend to do moderation, we end up getting drunk as the point of the evening.

“Until our culture changes and we become more European and moderate in our drinking, we might have to bite the bullet and think about advising people on how to get drunk by drinking less.”

Current NHS guidelines say there is no safe level of drinking and that men and women should not drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis – about six pints of beer.

9 01 IN G R R2 BAS FO

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THURSDAY 25TH JULY - SUNDAY 28TH JULY

Over 20 beers, ciders and foreign lagers to try BANDS INCLUDE: Friday 26th - Big Red and the Grinners

Saturday 27th - Mudskippers

Saturday 27th - Alive and Kicking

ADMISSION Thursday 6pm until 11pm FREE / Friday 4pm until 11pm £4 / Saturday 12noon until 11pm £4 Sunday 12 noon until the beer runs out FREE Transport service available from Hexham – Friday night and Saturday afternoon / early evening.

8 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

NEWS

Good time brew: One of Turning Point's craft beers

HEAD OF STEAM OWNER OFF ON ANOTHER TRACK Camerons Brewery has introduced a new pub concept to its managed estate. The Hartlepool-based brewer, which currently has 28 managed pubs in its group, including The Head of Steam chain, will be unveiling a new group of venues under their Urban Country Pubs brand. This will be based on the Leeds Brewery pubs the brewer acquired in 2016.

Venues in the Urban Country Pubs group will form a partnership with a local brewer in the region the venue is located and a range of keg and cask products will be included on the bar. These will sit alongside a range of Camerons beers which will include the brewer’s recentlylaunched Tooth & Claw range and a selection of beers from its Heritage, Anchor and Motörhead portfolio.

The first of the new venues is the Fossgate Tap (formerly Sutlers) located on Fossgate in York, where Camerons partner Yorkshire brewer Turning Point Brew Co. Camerons chief executive Chris Soley said: “We have seen a rapid expansion in our The Head of Steam brand and this will still be a key focus for us over the next five years. However, we recognised the opportunity to develop further pub brands within our group.

“We felt forming a partnership with a local brewer in the community would be a great introduction to a new town or city and in turn give a platform for that brewer to showcase their range of beers. We are delighted to be working with Turning Point Brew Co and look forward to building relationships with other UK brewers as we grow.”

Cameron Brown, co-owner of Turning Point Brew Co, said: “When Camerons asked us to be part of the new Fossgate Tap, we were honestly thrilled and humbled.

“The bar will be stocked with our usual suspects, Disco King APA and Lucid Dream Milk Stout alongside two rotating guest kegs. Cask will be Soothsayer Session Pale and

one rotating guest line. Six of our beers will be on at any one time.”

Turning Point Brew Co was launched in Kirbymoorside, near York, in 2017. Its mission statement includes “to brew our favourite beers and have a good time”.

“We invite you into our little world filled with hops, good music and space travel.”

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 9

NEWS

Caps off: Paul Minnikin, left, and John Stubbs at Great North Eastern Brewing Co

GET YOUR FILL

A Gateshead brewery is racing ahead producing some exciting and awardwinning products – and also has an offer for the region’s beer sector “It’s working like a Rolls-Royce,” says great North Eastern Brewing Co managing director Paul Minnikin. He’s not talking about some purring beast of a car, but the impressive new bottling, kegging and packaging unit at the brewery’s Dunston, Gateshead, base.

It looks an amazing conglomeration of moving parts, sensors and flow meters that filters, fills, carbonates and labels GNEBC’s 10 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

own beers and is now being offered to the region’s brewers as a conveniently local facility.

Black Storm and Hadrian Border breweries are already on board alongside a spring water company.

The ability to can beers is the next project for this forward-looking company.

Bottles clink rhythmically along a conveyor belt, eight at a time – time after time after time – in a fascinatingly hypnotic process of getting beer

as the brewer wants it to the customer who expects it to retain that quality.

“This particular machine was designed originally by a Welshman called Thomas Thistlethwaite,” says Paul Minnikin. “He came to install it and is always on the end of the phone for advice and guidance.”

It’s the “baby” of highly experienced head brewer John Stubbs who swears by the quality and high standards of its

construction and operation. The bottling line is just part of a huge investment in the brewery which produces – among others – Rivet Catcher, Red Ellen, Styrian Blonde, Claspers Citra, Great North Eastern Gold and Delta APA. Hopnicity Pale Ale, designed by assistant brewer George Thompson, was recently presented with a gold award in the premium pale ale category at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) northern competition held at the Gateshead Beer Festival and will challenge for the national equivalent in March 2020, while Graphite Black IPA was a category winner at April’s Newcastle Beer & Cider festival, also in a series of blind tastings.

At the brewery, a new sales office has been created by moving into the next-door unit, with a staff kitchen up and running while a brewery shop and sampling area will follow. An internal area has been reserved for a five-barrel small-run experimental and development brewery.

New recruits include trainee brewer Dan Alldis and Paul Minnikin’s son Ross who is putting a business administration degree to good use. “I’m more of a visionary,” says Paul. “I see things and Ross is here to carry them out. He’s got that young attitude which we need.

The bottling facility is principally a service to small brewers throughout the region, rather than them going off somewhere down the country.

Some significant companies have been here to have a look at it and the invitation is there to all.”

GNEBC’s adjacent sister company, The Brewery Tap, run by Frankie Burnett, Mark Forrest and Lloyd Croft, has been described as “the most chilled-out, relaxed place in Gateshead”. It features an intimate snug, large main bar and impressive outdoor area offering weekend entertainment via televised sport, live bands and street food plus full wedding and family celebration packages. www.gnebco.com

NEWS

Left to right: Ian Fozard (SIBA), Bill and Anna Scantlebury (Cullercoats Brewery) and Neil Walker (SIBA)

CASK US ANOTHER

Last month’s Gateshead Beer & Cider Festival, held at the town’s rugby club, pulled off something of a coup by hosting the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) northern region cask beer competition. An intense day of blind tastings eventually came up with a terrific list of Gold, Silver and Bronze winners.

Here are the region’s top dogs in 25 categories (the northern region stretches across all the Yorkshire counties down to Hull): Overall champion cask ale: Cullercoats Brewery Polly

ONLY

£15 £25 +P&P

Donkin Oatmeal Stout Category successes: Cullercoats Royal Sovereign Barley Wine, Gold and Bronze; Polly Donkin Oatmeal Stout, Bronze.

First & Last Red Rowan, Bronze; Damson Porter, Silver.

Roosters Capability Brown, Bronze; 24 7 Silver and Bronze; Baby Faced Assassin, Gold, Silver and Bronze; One Trick Pony, Silver Hexhamshire Whapeasel, Silver Great North Eastern Brewing Co Hopnicity, Gold Three Brothers Brewing Co Hopical Storm, Silver; Honeysuckle Smash, Bronze

Maxim Medusa, Silver; Raspberry Porter; Gold; Maximus, Silver Hadrian Border Ouseburn Porter, Gold; Grainger Ale, Gold; Tyne Pilsner, Bronze Black Sheep Yorkshire Square, Silver, Velo Gold; Pathfinder, Silver; Legion IX, Silver; Pineapple IPA, Gold; Choc & Orange Stout, Gold; Limoncello Sour, Gold; 54 Degrees North, Gold.

Twice Brewed Northern Frontier, Gold Firebrick Guiseppe Lager, Silver Congratulations all. Visit siba.co.uk for the full list of winners. v

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UPDATES

HERE COMES THE BREWERY The new brewhouse at South Causey Inn, near Stanley, County Durham, is taking shape nicely. Highly experienced – and equally highly regarded – brewer John Taylor is leading the project to install a microbrewery in outbuildings at the family-owned, awardwinning pub-restaurantwedding venue.

“The roof and new doors have been installed and the brew kit has gone in,” he says.

An opening date has yet to be confirmed, but Cheers will keep you posted.

12 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

THE VERY IDEA Some people relish a challenge. It’s often not that they simply look forward to the hard work and anxiety that goes with big projects, but that their ideas and gut instincts will eventually be proved to be correct.

Entrepreneurial publican Dave Carr (think Brandling Villa, South Gosforth, Newcastle, and the initial transformation of The Tannery in Hexham) is one such guy. His ideas for how a pub should look, how it should welcome guests, and how it should function, might be offbeat to some and out of kilter to the traditionalist, but it’s safe to say a brewing giant like Heineken wouldn’t be investing the thick end of a million in the transformation of the Punch Bowl in Jesmond if they had any doubts about his approach.

Under pressure: Dave Carr at the Punch Bowl in Jesmond, Newcastle

UPDATES

“It’s quite an overwhelming size of a job,” says Dave, picking his way through the building site that, come mid-July, will be one of Newcastle’s liveliest pubs. “Two weeks of delays have taken it to a 15-week project. It’s definitely not going to be a craft beer pub, but strong on cask, so there’s a lot of pressure on me.

“The Punch Bowl will be like those Spanish and Italian bars where young and old gather happily. The Brandling Villa grew organically and we’ve learnt from that.”

Dave Carr is happy to admit he takes ideas from places he has been to all over the world and combines them into his notion of what a pub should be like. New large mirrors at the Punch Bowl, for instance, have been inspired by the glorious La Morte Subite pub in Brussels.

Dave’s left-field taste in literature will see books such as Soviet Bus Stops available to read. Two vintage record players playing Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground, Japanese toilet seats that talk to you, a train set running round above head height, toy soldiers, art exhibitions, chesterfield settees with dog-friendly attachments, jazz guitar workshops, poetry sessions, stand-up comedy, free cinema, and Question Time panels featuring local politicians like Nick Brown MP, are all in the Punch Bowl mix.

Live music, regular events, an eclectic menu, plus a fabulous range of beers right across the board from straight-forward

and old-school to the more experimental and one-offs, dished up with a whole lot of fun, are Carr standards. A dedicated Vermouth Bar will also make quite a point of difference.

Dave says: “I took my mam to Madrid to try and get her into vermouth, thinking if she can get a taste for it, anybody can.

She did and we missed the flight home.

“We’ll also have a cinema which we won’t charge for but people can donate to the Maggie’s cancer centre at the Freeman Hospital.”

This will be themed on Soviet space travel (something of an obsession). The Bobik Room is named in honour of one of the first dogs in the Russian space programme which ran away just before blast-off. Dave likes that sort of positive mentality, particularly from a dog.

Several upstairs rooms are being converted into small bedrooms, particularly for visiting bands who would normally have to be accommodated elsewhere.

“We’ll get artists to design them individually who’ll then ’sell’ the room and get a percentage of the booking fee,” says Dave.

An area of vintage wallpaper has been uncovered on the main bar ceiling, which is being retained – and reconstructed where it’s damaged – as a reminder of where the pub stands in people’s memories. And there a lot of them. The Punch Bowl is visionary; we’ll see you there for 9am brunch. www.bobiks.com

MEAN COMMENT The Mean Eyed Cat in Newcastle’s Haymarket area has been given approval for an outside seating area, in good time for a (hopefully) nice spell of sunny weather.

However, not everyone thinks the pub is the greatest in the city, as a Twitter post reproduced on the A-board testifies.

S C H O O N E R T U N E Ss Brought to you by Mean-Eyed Cat

June Sun 2 June The Palominos 4:30 pm Fr 7 June Dust on the Needle & Beat Root Jam 6:00 pm Sun 9 June ‘1977’ 4:30 pm Thurs 13 The Ranch Hands 8:00 pm Sun 16 June Sour Mash Trio 4:30 pm Sun 23 June Emma & The Ragmen 4:30 pm Sun 30 June The Stax Brothers 4:30 pm

every Wednesday night we quiz from 8pm

South Shore Road, Gateshead, NE8 3AF 0191 477 7404 | www.theschooner.co.uk

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 13

PROFILE

A SHIP-SHAPE LIFE IN BREWING

When brewers retire, do they still wake at dawn ready for a 6am mash? Do they take up a new business idea they’ve harboured for years – or do they sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labours?

It’s a bit too early to gauge which way Michael Hegarty will lean – latterly the brewer at The Ship Inn Brewery at Low Newton by the Sea in Northumberland – as he’s still not quite used to being around the house every day. One thing, though, he’s left brewing for good.

“I’m six weeks into retirement and I can say it’s the best job I’ve had in my life,” he says. “But the first couple of weeks were strange.”

Michael had been brewing the

likes of Ship Hop Ale, Sandcastles At Dawn and Dolly Day Dream at The Ship Inn for the past 12 years. His beer-producing career is extensive, having been an accomplished home-brewer for decades – starting on a Geordie brew kit – before setting up Font Valley Brewery at Netherwitton, Northumberland, and Barefoot Brewery, which eventually settled at Whitehouse Farm Centre near Morpeth.

“Fifteen years and three different breweries, but I don’t miss it at all,” he says. He describes himself as a traditional North East character – “worked down the pit, chased jobs, drank proper beer”.

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Retired but not shy: Michael Hegarty, pictured at the Trent House, Newcastle Following a 15-year spell as an electrical engineer underground at Whittle, Shilbottle and Ellington pits – which reaches seven miles out under the North Sea – after redundancy, he went off to Lemington Brick Works, Newcastle,

THE COUNTY

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14 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

in 1992 where a colleague who had sampled his home-brew loved it so much he advised him to do it for a living.

Federation Brewery, Gateshead, came next on the Hegarty career ladder as a pub and working men’s

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club technical services engineer (“another eye-opener I tell you”), which wasn’t exactly the happiest time of his life. Dealing with club stewards and committee men was to him going back in time while he was looking to the future.

He says: “It was the end of an era but I’m pleased I did it, meeting amazing people like Arthur Bryant who went on to pass on his skills to students at Brewlab in Sunderland.”

Five years at a Cramlington biotech company where he was employed in fermentation processes came in very useful for an electrician who had designs on being a full-time brewer.

“I jumped ship to start a brewery,” he says. “I had been running a couple of small tanks while at The Fed which I had bought from a farmer in County Durham. I got them for £50 with all the fittings.

“My seventh brew at Font Valley got a bronze at the Newcastle Beer Festival which I was delighted with.

In those days you could just ring up a pub and they’d take two nines (casks). I could get a lot of beer out of a 2.5-barrel kit.”

“We used to supply the Ship Inn when I had Barefoot Brewery and I got chatting to owner Christine Forsyth who said ‘do you fancy bringing your brewery here?’. Having put it together myself, all run by electricity, it had become part of me.

I did 1,015 brews at the Ship Inn and never lost a pint, not one.”

Despite his beer awards and peer plaudits, Michael never liked tasting his own products, saying it was too much like looking for perfection and that he’d never be happy until he found it. He has never taken the craft revolution on board with its mango and passion fruit, grapefruit and coffee concoctions and now prefers to seek out the beers he cut his teeth on such as Newcastle Exhibition (the Trent House, Newcastle) and McEwans 80/- (“to die for at the Joiners Arms in Morpeth”). Draught Bass is another lure, while Shepherd Neame Spitfire he reckons is a better English version of an American IPA than anything he’s tasted. “It always reminds me of the fabric of an Elastoplast.”

Now in early retirement with his National Coal Board pension easing things along, Michael has time to reflect.

“The Ship Inn was a lovely place, but when you’re at work all the time and it’s all a bit of a rush, you don’t see the benefit.”

CHEERS ON TOUR Cheers readers Phil and Trish Thompson have been on the road – this time to Northern Ireland – so naturally they took a copy of Cheers with them.

Phil says: “Sadly since Bushmills is now owned by a Mexican company there are no more free whiskey samples.

Shame that.”

Still, the pair managed to find many a watering hole in Belfast. “Great city and well worth a visit."

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www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 15

VAUX: THE FINAL DAYS

SUNDERLAND’S LOST BREWERY It’s twenty years since one of the great tragedies of North East brewing occurred. Alastair Gilmour reports The final throes of Vaux Brewery were full of complex management structures, financial intrigue, indecision, and dare we say it, duplicity. It’s 20 years since this North East icon was sent down the drain when the region not only lost a hugely committed workforce and 160 years of brewing came to an end but when Sunderland lost its heart – both emotionally and physically.

Two decades ago, Vaux Brewery staff made their final visit to work to collect their redundancy cheques. The company had been linked with the Nicholson family for five generations and on that final day, managing director Frank Nicholson summed up its closure as “a civic tragedy because we are the heart of the city”. “It’s a human tragedy, the scale of which people will not be able to see for years to come,” he said.

There were 430 workers at the Sunderland site with another 150 employed by the group at Wards of Sheffield which also closed. Shortly after, Hartlepool-based Pubmaster signed a deal to take 659 Vaux pubs into its portfolio.

On that final day, grown men and women had tears in their eyes as they said a final farewell.

Most of them had worked there for decades; people such as Pauline Phillips who had 22 years service, John Doyle (19 years), David Armstrong (26 years), Ian Atkinson (26 years), Tom Greenlay 16 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

(46 years), Keith McKnight (31 years), Jack Howe (30 years), and Stan Harrison (34 years).

But even those with short service were devastated. Pat Stephenon had only worked for the brewery for two years but put on a brave face when speaking to a reporter from the Newcastle Journal.

“It’s probably the last time a lot of people will see each other,” she said. “It is terrible for the town. I never found such a friendly atmosphere as there was in Vaux.”

The brewer had celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1985 with two breweries, 5,024 staff and 750 licenced premises. By 1997, the company comprised of Vaux Breweries Limited, Wards Brewery and 34 Swallow Hotels – a shining example of North East business acumen.

But then the wheels fell off. Vaux fell prey to City investors – some might call them asset strippers – who can smell blood 300 miles off. A new chief executive was appointed, indoctrinated by the twin mantras of “management focus” and “shareholder value” and the belief that these could only be delivered by getting rid of the brewery and concentrating on hotels and pubs.

This led to opportunism and a new company board, and created the wounds that the merchant bankers got wind of.

Frank Nicholson, who was managing director

at the time, says: “The Vaux story had been an inspiring one, but then quite suddenly it was all over because the company lost its head. The madness originated in the fear of takeover that had haunted us for years, so an opportunistic approach from a hotel company in June 1998 immediately put the fear of God into us and everyone else.

“I protested in vain that the brewery was the heart of Vaux and a company without a heart cannot survive. So, off I set in pursuit of a management buyout to prove that the board’s decision, with which I so strongly disagreed, was wrong. Wrong commercially because we were profitable and wrong philosophically because a huge community of employees, customers, suppliers and citizens of our home city depended upon us.

“One of the board’s banking advisers started doubting the financial standing and business motives of the venture capitalists who were funding our buyout. The trouble is when poison drips it eventually corrodes and that is what it did to the nerves of our board members.

“Fearing criticism from faceless City institutions, they decided to revisit their earlier decision to accept our offer and, for reasons which even I – emotionally close to it as I was, but not a fool commercially – failed to understand.

VAUX: THE FINAL DAYS The board, men of straw all, reversed it and rejected our bid – the consequences of which was the closure of two modern and efficient manufacturing plants, the redundancy of more than 600 people, the devastation of local suppliers, the disappearance of famous and popular brands like Samson and Ward’s Bitter, and the end of support for numerous local initiatives, charities and communities.”

Battler: Vaux former managing director Frank Nicholson.

Below: Some archive images of the Sunderland brewery

But not all is lost. The independent Houghtonle-Spring based Maxim Brewery produces former Vaux beers Double Maxim, Samson and Lambton’s along with Wards Best Bitter and a host of original creations.

Maxim managing director Mark Anderson (one of the Vaux “casualties”) says: “Maxim Brewery is incredibly proud to still be producing famous Vaux beers along with our own distinctive and

innovative creations. The history of our brewery business is intimately aligned with that of Vaux and all that it stood for.

“It’s our history and we kept the links through procuring the old Vaux brands like Double Maxim and keeping them going. It’s a sad story but now a good one in that we’re still going. We did it for heritage reasons.”

To mark the 20-year occasion, Maxim is producing a special Gold Tankard Mystery Ale inspired by the story of three solid gold tankards belonging to Vaux that were still on site when most workers left in 1999. Gold Tankard was a core Vaux beer.

“Where are they?” asks Mark Anderson. “We recently had a call from a lady whose husband is a former engraver who remembers sending the gold tankards to some investors in London. It was investors who closed Vaux and effectively the tankards are the property of Vaux Breweries Ltd. They were probably sipping champagne out of them in the City of London.”

The determination in his voice suggests that he’s ready to follow that one up – brewing history never stops being written.

Frank Nicholson’s pride in Vaux and its Sunderland roots remain undimmed, despite his enormous regret which is equally close to the surface.

He says: “In less than 160 days a company with more than 160 years of history had committed commercial suicide and the company’s directors paid the price of worshipping only at the altar of shareholder value, forgetting that such an altar requires to be built on much broader foundations, ones that embrace all the stakeholders – employees, customers and suppliers, as well as shareholders.

“The last line of the editorial in the Sunderland Echo on the evening of the closure said it all: ‘Goodbye, old friend’.”

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 17

VAUX: THE FINAL DAYS

‘THE SOUL OF THE PLACE’ NEW ARRIVALS AT THE BEER STATION Wearside company Lonely Tower Film & Media, operated by Marie Gardiner and Mark Thorburn, has produced a film – A Passion For Vaux – Sunderland’s Lost Brewery – that captures its almost mythical spirit.

Mark says: “Sunderland built ships and dug coal and the end of Vaux came as a last blow to ‘the old ways’, a last blow to Sunderland’s identity if you like. The beer that came out of Vaux was a part of everyone’s life for 162 years; it crept into pubs at the end of every street and into the soul of the place..”

It was while writing a couple of books, Sunderland Industrial Giant, Recollections of Working Life and Secret Sunderland that Marie Gardiner realised the Vaux story was crucial to the city.

“It quickly became clear that it stirred up a lot of feelings; people really wanted to talk about it,” she says. “We were repeatedly told by those who had connections to Vaux, that the business was different.

It wasn’t just a workplace, it wasn’t just a brewery, it was a family.” *The first public screenings of A Passion for Vaux – Sunderland’s Lost Brewery are at the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens on the 20th anniversary of the Vaux closure – July 2 – with more screenings announced soon.

Visit wwww. lonelytower.co.uk for info.

18 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

It’s no exaggeration to report that there’s a new beer available – often from a new brewery – almost every day of the week.

Cans, bottles and craft keg dominate the new release field but cask still holds its own, although it tends to be less of the “here today” variety. Some of the region’s fresh faces that have come to our attention include:

DURHAM BREWERY The near 25-year-old brewery is pushing further into the popular craft styles. Durham loyalists will already have tasted Cashmere Blanc, an aromatic IPA. Following this is Azacca, named after a hop variety, and a Brut IPA with a pinky blush colour which is dry as a bone, aromatic and fruity.

To come soon is a Gose (pronounced “gosa”), an ancient beer of German origin, which is a tart, slightly salty, wheat beer, deliciously refreshing and ideal for summer.

Helles (pronounced “hell-ess”) is Durham’s Lagerbier with more than expected flavour which is becoming something of a core beer because of its popularity and under consideration for bottling and canning.

S3 S43, formerly Sonnet 43 Brewhouse, has launched two new craft beers as part of its brand involvement and diversification plans. Fat White Milkshake IPA (6.0% abv) and Big Dank Hazy IPA (7.0% abv) join the

NEW BEERS flavour-forward direction of GoGo Juice and Get Snozzed which were introduced into the UK craft beer market earlier this year.

S3 lead brewer Alex Rattray has brought his American brewing experience to bear on the brewery’s production. He says: “I’m trying to push the creative boundaries with each new beer we produce as well as listening to the consumers; what flavours they like, plus the styles of beers they are really excited about and wanting to experience.

Brewing beers that people love is the whole point, but I also want to be adventurous with the profiles of our beers and will always be experimenting.

“With Big Dank I really wanted to focus on the resinous, piney and dark fruit hop notes and the combo of Simcoe, Citra and Amarillo seemed like a fun way to go and get a huge blast of hops.

“Big juicy IPAs with tons of tropical fruit and soft bitterness are really popular right now – and very delicious – and our GoGo Juice was very much in

that vein, so with Big Dank we wanted to go a very different direction and have a substantial bitterness in it.

Nuance was not a descriptor we were wanting with this one; it’s a real kick of hops in the face.

“Fat White is our first, hopefully not last, expression of a Milkshake IPA. It was a lot of fun to brew as well and while sweet, creamy, fruity elements are what you’re after here I also wanted to make sure it still tasted like an IPA, so keeping a bit of bitterness there and not letting the sweeter aromas overpower the dry hop was a balance I wanted to strike.

“We used a lot of vanilla beans and hand cutting all

of those wasn’t the most fun part of the day, but I think the end result will help my cramped fingers feel better.

I think Milkshake IPAs can appeal to a really wide range of beer drinkers so I hope this beer will be enjoyed by hopheads as well as the less initiated.”

However, S3 managing director Mark Hird remains rooted in cask beer.

He says: “We are still producing our cask range alongside these new beers and believe we are catering across the board for craft beer drinkers.”

BLACK SHEEP As pubgoers prepare for warm weather and the beer garden days that stretch un-noticed into the

twilight hours, Black Sheep has created a sessionable Yorkshire IPA. Twilighter (3.9% abv) is brewed with wholeflower Galena, Citra and Summit hops, providing a beer with exciting hop character and a refreshing citrus flavour.

Jo Theakston, Black Sheep sales and marketing director, said: “We have taken more pre-orders for Twilighter than any of our other seasonal cask ales in the past three years, which highlights its potential popularity. This strong demand is welcome news and builds on the success we enjoyed with Velo during the spring months which celebrated the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.”

MAXIM BREWERY Not so much a clutch of new releases, more a tweet about busy production schedules: “Four days, five different brews – Swedish Blonde, Double Maxim, Maximus, Simcoe Kid & Wards Best Bitter. Everything will be going into cask as we continue trying our best to keep up with sales. “

Grounding Angels Brew co is on a continuous journey of exploring new techniques, methods, ingredients and understanding to create quality beer. Grounded in the North East with soul from the golden fields of locally grown barley.

www.grounding-angels.com www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 19

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NEW ARRIVALS AT THE BEER STATION ... continued

RUDGATE BREWERY North Yorkshire-based Rudgate Brewery has expanded its awardwinning portfolio to include something fruity. Three new fruit-based beers represent the Innovation Ales Range, available in 330ml cans.

Full of fresh juicy flavours, the beers are ideal for summer drinking. Blue Nose has deep

blueberry notes; Key Lime Pie oozes fresh and zesty citrus flavours, while Mango in the Night packs a punch of tropical fruit.

Craig Lee, Rudgate’s managing director, said: “We wanted to develop something unique, and are really delighted with the new range. The brewing team are already working on exciting developments which we

NEW BEERS hope to launch in the coming months.”

The full Rudgate range can now be found in independent outlets around the North of England.

Rudgate Brewery was set up in 1992 by two former Bass brewers in an old armoury building on the disused World War II airfield on Marston Moor in Tockwith. As the brewery was on the Viking road of Rudgate it seemed natural to use the name and theme the brewery

NO AND LOW

Findings by the Portman Group, the trade group concerned with best practice and social responsibility around alcohol, have revealed a boom in the popularity of low and no alcohol drinks.

Responding to the news, Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) chief executive Tom Stainer said: “Consumers hoping to cut down on their units can rejoice as Britain’s brewers rise to the challenge of providing fantastic low and no alcohol options.

around Vikings. Viking Bitter was released in September 1992, followed shortly after by Battleaxe. They were the only two beers produced until Ruby Mild was created around 1995.

In 2011 a new brewery facility was built’ volumes doubled between 2002 and 2008, then grew further under a new leadership to reach its current volumes of around 120 barrels (35,000 pints) a week and developing into the expanding market of craft cans.

“Five to ten years ago, most consumers had very little choice in the low-alcohol section, whereas today we are seeing some incredible initiative and innovation in the sector, from robust porters to hoppy IPAs. So you don't have to compromise on taste when you’re watching your units, making beer and pub-going still a viable option for today’s non-drinker.

“Even major beer festivals are getting on board, as Camra’s Great British Beer Festival in London offered its very first no alcohol beer stand last year.”

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OVERHEARD AT THE BAR PUB TALK BY ED WAUGH

My mate Big Al came into the pub talking about that new play about Glenn McCrory called Carrying David. “It’s 30 years this month since McCrory won the world cruiserweight title and was the very first world champion from the North East,” he said.

Mike then reckoned it was the greatest achievement by a local sportsman in the 20th Century but Les, who has run the Great North Run in one hour and ten minutes, hoyed in Steve Cram.

“He set world records in the 1,500 and 2,000 metres plus the mile in 1985,” he said. “Crammy was the first man to run 1,500 metres in under three minutes thirty seconds.

Al asked Les if he’d swallowed a Wikipedia entry, but Les continued.

“He won the 1,500-metre gold medal in the 1983 World Championships, and the 1,500-metre silver medal in the 1984 Olympics.” Obviously Les had. The “greatest achievement” argument was a tough call. Barry agreed with Les, then added: “But Crammy’s a Mackem.”

Dave said: “There's no place to hide in a ring, whereas you can just stop when you don’t fancy running any more.”

So we asked Dicka to cast the deciding vote. He said he “didn't give a toss” and went to the bar – and that’s when we all started talking about how much we hate Mike Ashley. *Carrying David is on tour this month. Visit wisecrackproductions. co.uk for details. www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 21

WINE: COMMERCIAL FEATURE

A TWIST ON THE TRADITIONAL SUMMER DRINKS

What will be summer 2019’s winning drinks? Every venue will offer the traditional summer staples of beer, cider, rosé… all great, but how about offering something different, created to both refresh customers and offer your venue a point of difference – with great margins too! Mark Roberts from Lanchester Wines explains: If we were to say “Port is the perfect summer drink” you might think we’ve got our seasons confused – surely Port is reserved for Christmas?

Port is traditionally made in the Douro region of Portugal, famed for its Mediterranean climate so, if you think about it, drinking Port as a refreshing summer drink makes perfect sense – you wouldn’t want a warming drink on a hot day.

If you’re unfamiliar with Port, it’s a fortified wine produced from grapes grown and processed in the

Douro region in the north of the country, an area extending from the city of Porto to the eastern border. The wine is then fortified by the addition of a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente to stop the fermentation, leaving residual sugar in the wine and boosting the alcohol content (usually 19% or 20% abv).

As with wine, there are vast variations on brands, qualities and prices so for ease, we’ll focus on colour – White Port, Ruby Port, Tawny Port and Rosé Port

(technically a Ruby Port, a Rosé Port is fermented in a similar manner to a rosé wine, with a limited exposure to the grape skins, thus creating the rosé colour).

Port is incredibly versatile. Most of us associate it with the end of a meal served with a selection of fine cheeses – however, it may also be served chilled as a delicious aperitif.

The traditional way is to pour equal parts White Port and tonic or soda water (or lemonade for a modern twist) in a cocktail glass and garnish with a slice of citrus

(lemon, lime and orange are all good). Another super simple serve is to drink Port chilled straight up in a white wine glass or a short tumbler over ice.

Not only do these make for refreshing drinks, “Port plus Mixer” is a great alternative to gin and tonic. And, as well as easy to make, margins are attractive with a “house” bottle of Port available at around half the price of ‘house’ gin (based on a bottle of Vista Alegre Port, £9, vs Gordons Gin £19. Both 70cl, incl VAT).

WHITE PORT AND TONIC ROSÉ PORT BRAMBLE

Over crushed ice pour: 1 measure Rosé Port 1 measure gin ½ measure lemon juice ½ measure sugar syrup Fill with lemonade and garnish with summer fruits The beautiful colours in this cocktail make it perfect for Instagram

Aka the classic Portuguese aperitif Over ice pour: 2 measures White Port Top with tonic (around ½ bottle per glass) Garnish with a slice of citrus – lemon, lime, orange or a combination all work really well If you’re not a fan of tonic, soda water or lemonade also make refreshing alternatives.

ROSÉ PORT MARTINI

In a cocktail shaker combine 2 measures Rosé Port 1 measure gin Strain and pour into a chilled cocktail glass Add your own “house” twist by experimenting with White or Ruby Ports, or adding a dash of cranberry, rum or even mescal.

For more information on Lanchester Wines’ Port and Wine selection, please visit www.lanchesterwines.co.uk 22 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

CHILLED WHITE PORT OVER ICE

A refreshing summery drink – chilled Ruby, Tawny or Rosé port are also great!

2 measures of your favourite port This is a lovely and refreshing drink as it is, or top with lemonade for an extra spritz.

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MERCHANT OF (AD)VENTURE

Ross Quinn talks Trappist.

He is also fluent in Lambic, Tegernsee, Augustiner and DIPA. Beer is his business, representing Cave Direct from its relatively new depot in Newcastle.

And this month he has cause for celebration – Cave Direct is 40 years old, being founded in 1979 in the days when an adventurous beer was Skol Lager (brewed in Scotland) and The Police topped the charts with Message In A Bottle (which, thinking about it, was quite prescient).

“A lot of people think of us as being new,” says Ross, “but at 40 years old, we’ve actually been going longer than any other craft beer wholesaler. The company developed into beer distribution through the original wine business by going round and picking up some great beer products, particularly from Belgium.

“Late last year we appeared in the top one thousand list of exciting new businesses on the London Stock Exchange, demonstrating how efficient we are. Currently our portfolio of core beers numbers around 350 and that can just about double once specials are factored in.”

Cave Direct operates from a warehouse in Hoult’s Yard, Newcastle, servicing the North East, Cumbria and Scotland,

which supplements its national distribution from hubs in London, Maidstone, Manchester and Bristol being fed from continental Europe.

“We’ve been in Newcastle for just under two years now,” says Ross, who is Cave Direct’s Newcastle managing director.

“The premises used to be Shindig nightclub so it has a license that will be useful for tastings and sampling sessions once we get our private taproom up and running. Anybody in the trade is welcome to come along and see what we’re about.”

Cave Direct keeps control over the beer brands it represents so the customer gets the best service possible. It isn’t a logistics company that simply drops beer off, but a merchant that can also offer technical services and training, plus helps customers run events.

Ross says: “As well as being the exclusive importer for many brands, such as Paulaner, Kona and Lervig, and have access to fresh beers most importers dream of, we also work with many of the exciting UK breweries, including Beavertown, Wild Beer and Tiny Rebel to name a few, so we know we have the best selection.”

Talk messages in bottles with Ross Quinn on 07881 100 041 (email ross@cavedirect.com or visit cavedirect.com for further details).

Monday Night Quiz – 8:30pm Poker night every Wednesday from 8pm Hadrian Border tap take over Thursday 27th until 1st July Meet the brewer on the 27th June 7pm-10pm

41 FRONT STREET, TYNEMOUTH NE30 4DZ TEL

0191 257 6547

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 23

GUEST COLUMNIST

JAMMING ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON Poet/singer/songwriter Simma visits pub heaven

There are many classic pub conversations. Dream teams, greatest movies of all time, how much the local area has changed, worst job you’ve ever had, best night out of your life. Every so often, the question “who are your dream party guests?” comes up, and, depending on the company, Nelson Mandela, John F Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King are usually trotted out, despite the fact you know your mates would pick Caligula, Rasputin and The Rat Pack if they were honest.

It did get me thinking though, what would be my dream pub gig?

The bar jam band from heaven. If I arrived at the pearly gates and there was a queue, so I just popped into the local till it died down a bit.

Picture the scene, a Sunday

afternoon in my fantasy pub, where it’s permanently Sunday afternoon.

A real ale place, lots of wooden furniture with some quirky pictures and old gig posters on the wall. They definitely do full roasts and it smells amazing. They’ve got a jukebox, a Wurlitzer 1050 original, full of rare vinyl.

There’s a nice in-house sound system, nothing ear-splitting, mostly held together with gaffa tape and expired PAT test stickers.

The drummer arrives first, as they often do, having the most heavy lifting. He’s a slightly manic looking cockney chap, who definitely partied in his youth.

“Alright Keith?” a manc voice with just a touch of Dublin pipes up as the lanky bass player ducks through the door. The rhythm guitarist turns

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up, plugs in and tunes up, an angular scouser in NHS granny specs.

He says something appropriately sarcastic about how his usual bandmates won’t play live anymore and asks if Jimi is late again.

There’s a knackered old upright piano in the corner, attended by a permanently smiling American in dark glasses and full tuxedo.

A shockingly skinny bloke who seems to have odd eyes asks if he can sit in on sax. They agree and dutifully sit around and wait.

Singers and lead guitarists are never on time. In due course, everyone budges along to accommodate the left-handed lead player and his unfeasibly large pedal board.

There’s no stage, just the nearest corner to the plug socket where the bar staff have moved some tables around. They decide to knock out a few old blues tunes while they wait for the singer. When he arrives, he’s an impossibly handsome, shy looking man with a deep southern accent. He calls the landlady “ma’am” to the amusement of everyone. It turns out he stopped at the burger van outside and he thinks he’s getting a taste for them.

The setlist is, of course, all classic.

Every song performed imperfectly but enthusiastically. Most importantly, the band look like they’re having a great time, but for one moment when the rhythm guitarist gives a death stare to one of the punters who requests Mull Of Kintyre.

Several encores after the gig’s supposed end time, band and audience drink and chat until it’s time to wander off and see who’s on at the next pub. Apparently it’s a blues singer called Janis who they all want to see, and she puts on a real show.

I can already hear you disagreeing with me, but that’s kind of the point of these things. If there was one definitive greatest movie of all time, one all-star England team, one ideal set of party guests, then the conversation would end.

Having an answer to everything and everyone agreeing would actually only happen in the pub in hell (I believe it’s called the Fire And Brimstone and it’s got nothing on tap). Here’s to eternal debate, limitless possibilities and neverending pub conversations. www.simma.co.uk www.tynesidemusicians.com www.newcastlepoet.com

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BEER WITH A GOLDEN PROMISE

Jamie Robson isn’t a big fan of plastic. As a North Sea surfer, he has first-hand knowledge of its effect on marine life – so much so that five pence from every pint sold from his Northumberland brewery is donated to the charity Ocean Clean-Up. Jamie is also head brewer at Grounding Angels Brewing Co in Hexham, a 125-litre experimental pilot brewery which equates to just under one brewer’s barrel (36 gallons). You’d have to work every hour of every week to make a living out of that, but at present he brews his own recipes “gypsystyle” on much bigger kit in North Yorkshire.

He has big plans, however, keeping a look out for premises around Newcastle which would include a brewery, taproom and grassroots music venue which he believes would be the perfect way

of establishing the brand.

Grounding Angels started life last September on the most handsome little collection of brewing vessels you could find anywhere. If stainless steel could be called cute, they’re cute.

“At the moment we’re supplying the Heart of Northumberland in Hexham and the Free Trade in Newcastle,” says Jamie, “but I’ve been making trips to Edinburgh and Leeds to establish new contacts, as well as around the North East.

“Making beer is something I’ve always wanted to do, so I took a one-day Start-up Brewing course at Brewlab in Sunderland and loved it so much I signed up for the three-month one. Then when you’re finished you don’t know what the hell’s going on before you get the hang of it.”

The three core beers Jamie and right-hand man Jamie Hawkes

www.bytheriverbrew.co 26 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

have produced are Little Wing (3.8% abv), Chasing The Horizon (5.3% abv) and Lazy Rider (4.3% abv).

All nod towards the US and are unfined, unfiltered and vegan-friendly.

Grounding Angels – the name refers to being rooted in the local landscape with the “angel” representing the crucial action of yeast – uses Golden Promise barley grown extensively in the North Northumberland coastal strip and coveted by the scotch whisky industry.

Jamie’s commitment to Ocean Clean-Up is wholly admirable. It

Chasing the horizon: Jamie Robson, Grounding Angels aims to clear our beaches, rivers, seas and oceans from plastic waste.

He says: “I like the idea of giving something back.”

More at grounding-angels. com 0191 607 5852.

NEW FACES

THE SIGN OF A GREAT PUB

used for baking bread. The beer choice runs right across the board with two real ciders also available, while John has made sure the whisky bar is represented by every distillery on Islay – and more.

High House Farm Brewery Nel’s Best is a permanent ale (“It’s very, very popular here”) with two more local beers rotating from the likes of First & Last, Big Lamp and Hadrian Border breweries.

It has seven letting rooms, a dining room and small snug and the traditional food menu is about to see some chef-inspired changes.

The stunning view over the Tarset Valley from the beer garden is Northumberland in miniature.

Greenhaugh sits not only in the National Park but in the Dark Skies Park where an incredible amount of stars can be viewed on cloud-free nights.

“The pub is 300 years old,” says John. “We want to work around its history.” www.hollybushinn.net 01434 240391.

Enjoying life: John and Lynne Thompson on another busy night

The holly bush is believed to be the first version of a pub sign. They were placed at each side of a door to signify that the building was a drovers’ inn which would provide sustenance and shelter for cattle traders on their way to mart.

Since the Holly Bush Inn at Greenhaugh, near Kielder in Northumberland has been traced to an 1170 alehouse on the same site, who’s to argue?

Today’s solid, stone-built Holly Bush Inn sits in a row of three cottages with private houses on either end. Nobody would guess that owners John and Lynne Thompson have been in charge for mere weeks; they’re so comfortable with the place – and their customers – that they appear to have had their feet under the table permanently.

They’ve lived locally for around a year, having taken the drovers’ road from Tyneside and when they discovered the pub was available

they decided it could work for them.

And they’ve enjoyed a tremendous response from locals with everyone coming in to have a look – then crucially, coming back.

“We hit the ground running,” says John, recalling their first three busy weekends. “People just go away happy.”

“We haven’t had time to think about the place being quiet,” says Lynne.

The main bar is dominated by a huge, beautifully tended cast-iron range with fireplace and ovens once

Fine ales, great atmosphere, honest food.

The heart of Birtley.

PROPER NORTH EASTERN PUB, GREAT WELCOME, REAL TRADITION, STUNNING BEER GARDEN.

Cask and craft Ales including Bass • Fine Lagers and Stouts • Regular Live Entertainment • All sports shown Quiz Nights • Pool • Great Juke Box • Discount for CAMRA members

Durham Road, Birtley • Tel: 0191 4102582 Mon to Thurs 11-11 • Fri & Sat 11 – Midnight • Sun 11.30 -11

www.railwayhotelbirtley.co.uk www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 27

FOOTWEAR

YOU THERE, ON YOUR FEET

We asked the question: You’re on your feet all day in a busy pub kitchen, restaurant or city centre bar – so what’s you’re preferred footwear? What makes it comfortable and bearable – Doc Martens, Crocs, Nike FlyEase? None of the above?

The answers came from The Rat Inn at Anick, Hexham; the Crown Posada, Newcastle, and the Wood Oven in Wylam, Northumberland. And they couldn’t have been more different in content and style.

But, you know something… that’s

the way we like it. Homogeny has its place but not in these pages.

VARIETY SHOW Karen Errington, co-owner of The Rat Inn, Anick, Hexham (with partner Phil Mason) sent this picture, saying: “This is today’s kitchen team showing off our new safety flooring recently fitted following a flood under the kitchen floor which resulted in major works. We look a bit scruffy but we’re trying to keep it tip-top.

“There seems to be a bit of a previously unnoticed gender

separation issue going on, as witnessed by the disparity in footwear. The boys are in Crocs and us girls seem to favour a sturdy lace-up. Practicality, however, is the name of the game.

“That’s me in the middle wearing my favourite Mizuna trainers. I was first fitted for a pair of these five years ago at Northern Runner whilst in training for an abortive and illfated attempt at the Great North Run “They are the bounciest trainers you could ever wish to own and I can literally bop around in them all day long, which is just as well as on a sunny day when the garden is in full swing and with diners regularly requesting different sauces in relay – which can result in me being back and forth to the same table on numerous occasions – I can clock up to 21k.

“I once tweeted I’d done 21k on a hot summer’s day and somebody tweeted back ‘congratulations’. I was a bit puzzled until I realised they thought I’d taken 21k cash. If that were the case the trainers would be diamond studded by now.

“I used to wear an Apple watch to record my mileage but the front fell off one day when I was doing the dishes. I’ve been dropping

hints for a new one for ages but nothing is forthcoming yet which is why I’m working on converting the 21k distance to a cash value.

“Anyway, it’s trainers all the way for me and, as me Mam always used to say ‘a lady never draws attention to herself’ so obviously always in a nice discreet colour...”

SAFETY FIRST Andrew Nicholson, manager at the Crown Posada in Newcastle: “I never go into the cellar without my steel toe-capped work boots. I call them my cellar boots. You don’t want to be moving casks around without something like these on your feet. I wear them all the time and go through three or four pairs a year.”

NOT QUITE SURE The message from the Wood Oven pizza place in Wylam may have been lost in translation, but here’s the photo anyway. Are they Crocs? They certainly look comfortable and airy enough for a day on your toes in a kitchen – but are those hands inside one pair?

You’re not taking this seriously enough, Wood Oven.

We’d welcome more footwear ideas, so please send a pic and description to info@ cheersnortheast.co.uk

Specialists in Beer Books, Postcards, Posters & Signs Our product range covers material from England, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Germany and the U.S.A. They will be of interest to beer drinkers, memorabilia lovers, brewers, publicans, bar designers plus many more beer enthusiasts.

We deliver by mail order and can also ship abroad.

Beer-Inn Print (Est 1997) Long High Top, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX& 7PF Tel: 01422 844437 Email: beerinnprint@gmail.com order online at: www.beerinnprint.co.uk

28 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

GIGS

Gigs ’N’ Festivals CIDER FESTIVAL

JUNE 10-16 The Station House, North Road, Durham DH1 4SE An exploration of apple varieties and terroir in cider – 15 draught and numerous bottled. Tutored tasting on June 10. Real ale, guest gins, craft bottle and cans, wine, single malts and more all presented by knowledgeable staff. stationhousedurham.co.uk

ALT MARKET

JUNE 22 Anarchy Brew Co, Unit A1, Benfield Business Park, Newcastle NE6 4NQ A call-out for stallholders and an invitation to buy their weird and wonderful wares. Start-ups, established traders, alt fashion, homeware with a difference, food stalls and creatives all welcome to apply (email: daisy@narachybrewco). Pitches £25 deposit returned at the end of the event. anarchybrewco.com 0191 389 7580

GRAPHITE - CAMRA NEWCASTLE BEER FESTIVAL CHAMPION DARK IPA 2019 HOPNICITY - SIBA NORTH EAST BEST PREMIUM PALE ALE 2019 Contract House, Wellington Road, NE11 9HS Dunston, Gateshead, Tel: 0191 4474462 email: gneb@mail.com

GIN FESTIVAL: THE BATHTUB SESSIONS

JULY 5-6 Wylam Brewery, Exhibition Park, Newcastle NE2 4PZ Wylam Brewery partners with partner with Fentimans – local legends and purveyors of the finest botanicals – to bring you a Gin Festival of the highest standard. A hand-picked selection of the finest gin distillers has been invited to come and serve their perfect pours as well as featuring a World Gin Bar with an incredible array of independent brands from around the globe, all set in the beautiful surrounds of Exhibition Park which is Wylam Brewery’s home at the Palace of Arts. As well as gin you will find super-fresh craft beers, a sumptuous array of street food, and a super soundtrack from some of the city’s finest talent in what is always a wonderful weekend. thebathtubsessions.com/tickets.html

GOSFORTH BEER FESTIVAL

AUGUST 2-4 Civic Theatre, Gosforth, Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle NE3 3HD Look out for live music from The Cornshed Sisters, Shipcote & Friends, James Leonard Hewitson and Worry Party plus amazing street food every day (Scream For Pizza, Good Times Tacos and more) with family-friendly activities and entertainment as well as – of course – loads of great beer from the best local and national breweries across our 30 taps.

What’s more, it’s totally free to enter and there’s no token system so you just pay for the beer you want, plus every penny spent at the bar goes back in to Liberdade Community Development Trust, the charity that runs Gosforth Civic Theatre. Gosforth Civic Theatre aims to be a community beer festival with a conscience. gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk 0191 284 3700.

HOLLY BUSH INN

Welcoming log fire and good company restaurant serving locally sourced home cooked meals a well stocked bar and real ales.

Discount on real ales for CAMRA members.

Bed and breakfast and beer garden with fabulous view.

CONTACT US:

01434 240 391 • www.hollybushinn.net Email: hello@hollybushinn.net The Holly Bush Inn, Greenhaugh, Near Kielder, Northumberland NE48 1PW Tel:

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 29

FUN STUFF

SIGN OF THE TIMES Spotted on a country lane in Yorkshire. No translation required but it gets the message across with a smile.

THE DIRTY DOZEN TWELVE HUMDINGERS TO FIRE ACROSS THE PUB TABLE

1 Frederick Leslie Fowell died last month. By what name was he better known?

2 Which football club has the highest average home attendance in Europe?

3 What type of goat produces mohair?

4 What is the last word in the New Testament?

5 The Afrikaans language of South Africa was developed from which settlers?

GOD WALKS INTO A HEAVENLY BAR… …AND SAYS “I’VE JUST CREATED A 24HOUR PERIOD OF ALTERNATING LIGHT AND DARK ON EARTH.” THE BARMAN SAYS: “WOW, THAT’S IMPRESSIVE. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?” GOD SAYS: “DUNNO. I MIGHT JUST CALL IT A DAY.”

6 How many dots are used in each character of the Braille system?

7 Kiss Me Kate is the musical version of which Shakespeare play?

8 Who is the patron saint of music? (Clue: Think Paul Simon) 9 Which takeaway food is so popular in Japan at Christmas it often has to be ordered weeks in advance?

10 Alpha, Dominant and Nevada are varieties of which vegetable?

11 Which mode of transport did Christopher Cockerell invent in 1955?

12 Vaduz is the capital of which European country?

EEH! NUMBERS 1984 The year the Belgian equivalent of the Campaign For Real Ale was created. Called Objective Beer Tasters (Bierproevers in Flemish), it differs from Camra in that it promotes the enjoyment of all beer drinking and not just one particular style.

1984: The year-long Miners’ Strike started on March 6.

1984: Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father on April 1, a day before his 45th birthday.

Nineteen Eighty-Four: The dystopian novel by George Orwell whose themes centre on the risks of government overreach, totalitarianism and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviours within society. Sounds familiar?

QUOTE

“THE RIVER FORTH WAS SO NAMED BECAUSE WATER IS SCOTLAND’S FOURTH FAVOURITE LIQUID” FRANKIE BOYLE, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, BBC RADIO 4

QUIZ ANSWERS: 1 Freddie Starr. 2 Borussia Dortmund (around 80,000). 3 Angora. 4 Amen. 5 Dutch. 6 Six. 7 The Taming of the Shrew. 8 Cecilia. 9 KFC. 10 Cauliflower. 11 Hovercraft. 12 Lichtenstein.

Last month’s quiz contained a couple of errors. The answer to Question 7 should be Radar and Question 9 is three. Apologies.

30 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

WITH A ROLLING PROGRAMME OF THE BEST BEER BREWED IN THE UK, YOU’VE JUST GOT TO

Come and visit us on Newcastle’s buzzing High Bridge, where you can enjoy the best of the classics, or let us introduce you to something new from our ever-changing range of craft beers from around the UK. Follow us to find out about the beers, tap-takeovers and The Beer Box Beer Club.

21 HIGH BRIDGE NEWCASTLE NE1 1EW

@drop_everything_and_drink www.blackstormbrewery.com/dead