Category Archives: The Schooner

Measures

I’d planned on a day off today, but did have a couple of things to do in the pub first (till stuff and cleaning surfaces). So I walked to work, did what I needed to do, then took a slow walk home. Because the weather was so nice, I walked over to Newcastle and wandered through Ouseburn.

The place was eerily quiet, with very few people running or cycling, although the city centre was still busy-ish. Not that I can criticise others, since I was out too. In my defence, this is my first walk, other than strictly for work, in three weeks.

Anyway, some pictures of places usually teeming with people on a sunny afternoon.

It’s a little tough in the pub business right now.

Castle Eden

I’m currently drinking a (cheap) pint of Guinness in the Castle Eden Inn. In Castle Eden.

I’m here while I wait for my beloved to collect me after a rural development grant workshop. The workshop was fine, as fine as any I’d experienced in my days as a Civil Servant. But I’d already read the material, so didn’t learn a lot. Still, the presentation gave me a couple of things to take away and think about. So that’s a good enough outcome.

My beloved rang a few minutes ago. The mobile signal here is awful, but I ascertained that she was around 20 minutes away.

However, I’m hoping that I misheard that she was 20 minutes away from Castle Dean. Which isn’t anywhere near my location.

Pub II

I’ve been quiet lately, I know. Much of my time these past weeks has been spent in decorating and odd-job activities. These include renovating a flat, repairing chairs and bar stools, adjusting a door closer, removing a deceased dishwasher and making useful things. I’ve only changed two kegs, but I recently tapped my first cask (that might not be the correct term).
I’ve moved quite a few kegs and casks around, in and out of the cellar, and have occasionally served on the bar. Although I didn’t really know what I was doing. Anyway, enough of the routine of pub life. And a little more about the pub. The Schooner, originally the Ship Hotel, was built around 1880. I’ve not been able to learn much of the pub’s history, but it was the subject of a film in 1967, The Ship Hotel Tyne Main. This clip was taken from a compilation of pub-related films; I’ve not had a lot of luck in locating a copy of the full film. More recently, the pub featured in a TV commercial. The exterior is only very briefly visible, in the first few seconds, but the remainder was filmed in the bar. I’ll write more about the pub if I’ve time to look into its past. Meanwhile, some old pictures.