By Sue Wilkinson
During its heyday, North Shields was known as “the most drunken town in England”. A dubious reputation gained in the 1800s when the town had more than 200 pubs serving thousands of rowdy customers.
The Low Town was a maze of winding streets and alleyways. One writer described it as “the lounging place of Jack Ashore”, the stereotypical drunken sailor. Renowned for muggings, murders and prostitution, its dimly-lit taverns were no place for a respectable person!
Today much has changed. Names like The Fountainhead, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Aquatic Arms and The Gardeners have been lost in time. The Northumberland Arms and The Chain Locker have been converted into smart apartments or business offices. The Golden Fleece, once an office for North Sea pilots, and latterly The Port Hole pub, is now a design office. Look above the main doorway and you can still see the golden fleece logo.
I live on the site of an old herring smokehouse close to Clive Street, where there were once 25 pubs on just one street. So let’s step back in time and go for a walk along the riverside to find somewhere for a drink. We’re going to be spoiled for choice!
The Northumberland Arms, once known as ‘The Jungle’, was one of the lower town’s most infamous pubs.
“You divvent want to go inside after dark, bonny lass,” was the advice given to me by a work colleague in the late 1970s. Undeterred, I ventured inside and felt like a lamb to the slaughter. It was renowned for its rowdy locals and “women of ill repute”.
Originally designed as a town house for the Duke of Northumberland, by 1822 it was being run as the Northumberland Arms pub. The new landlords kept the Duke’s collection of stuffed animal heads lined up along its walls, which earned it the nickname, ‘The Jungle’.
Next on our route is the long demolished Cock Tavern on Clive Street, infamous for cock fighting in the early 1800s. Then on to Liddell Street where you’ll still see the Prince of Wales, with its large red “dolly’“ outside. Dating back to 1674, it was once a favourite meeting place of the Royal Order of the Buffaloes.
Further along Bell Street no trace remains of The Swedish Arms, named after the large numbers of Swedish seamen who arrived in the 1850s. The once busy Seven Stars was another popular draw for sailors coming off the boats on the quay. Today it’s been swept away to be replaced by modern flats.
Nearby was the “Cabbage Patch”, a notorious drinking den and the nearest thing North Shields had to an illegal “shabine”. This unlawful watering hole was hidden inside a vegetable store room in William Wight’s former grocery emporium. Fishermen would come in off the boats after an overnight shift and enjoy drinking with their mates inside the store room, perched on sacks and crates of food. A blind eye was turned to this overnight carousing, and it was easy for the men to sneak out just before the store opened in the morning. Today, Wight’s has sadly closed and has been transformed into a legal drinking establishment – Allard’s on the Quay.
Let’s carry on walking to the Fishnet Tavern, formerly known as the Staiths House, and before that the New Dolphin. In 1998, the Star of Peace fishing boat picked up a large whale bone in its nets, which still stands outside the pub.
Turn up Brewhouse Bank and head inside the Low Lights Tavern, said to be the oldest pub in North Shields. During Victorian times it was sometimes used for inquests due to its proximity to the waterfront. It’s gained massive street credibility through its association with musicians – most notably Sam Fender – and real ale aficionados.
If you can manage another drink, head up Brewhouse Bank to the How Do You Do on Hudson Street. It was originally the site of a pub called the King’s Head, notorious for a court case involving the unlawful harbouring of bottles of rum which had evaded customs duty in the early 1940s. In the 1970s it was called the Wooden Dolly, one of my all-time favourite North Shields’ pubs.
At this point you might like to stop for some food. I recommend the panoramic view across the Tyne from the pub restaurant.
Read the longer feature on the Tammy Tour Guide blog
www.tammytourguide.wordpress.com
Look out for part two of this series next month…
