A growing beer scene at the end of the High Level Bridge in Gateshead is bringing a real buzz to an area dubbed the 'railway triangle'.
Currently two new craft micropubs are taking shape under the Wellington Street arches and due to to join the scene where their bigger neighbours The Central and Station East - two of the town's oldest pubs - are already long established in the atmospheric quarter under the adjacent railway bridge. Microbus will opening on Monday while Axis, a few arches up, will be following suit in coming weeks.
Station East, directly opposite The Central which reopened after a revamp in 2020 and has just been named a 2022 CAMRA pub of the year, has just itself reopened following repairs for storm damage and is delighted that soon there will be new pubs on the doorstep helping making up their own pub crawl. Doug Musgrove, who with business partner Ed Robson took over the tenancy of Station East after it closed during lockdown, is hugely positive about the future, despite the unexpected five-week closure of the pub just 15 days after they opened it in January.
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Storm Malik took the pub's roof off and then they had to contend with damp in its cellar - a vaulted space at the back, under the railway, whose acoustics are ideal for the live music nights he intends to bring back. Both problems are now sorted and Doug, who also runs The Lane Head in Ryton with Ed, is back in business.
Together with those at the helm of the other three pubs, they make up a supportive community and have hopes to extend their offering - council willing - outdoors, with occasional events, tables and seating around Hills Street, which is now closed to passing traffic.
The Central, a 1856 gem which has been brought back to life by Graeme Robinson whose Ouseburn Leisure Group Limited also runs The Waiting Room at Durham Railway Station, already has a small outdoor seating area - as well as a roof terrace -and Station East is keen to add to the vibe. Doug, who had to find replacements for staff who moved on during the temporary closure, has yet to make up losses it caused and the waste of stock but his customers are glad to be back there, sampling the current array of brews which include spring additions and a selection from Hadrian Border Brewery, owner of the building.
On a sunny Wednesday, Microbus owner Gary Moore was in, enjoying a half and a catch-up with Doug before resuming the finishing touches to his own pub little more than a stone's throw away, ahead of Monday lunchtime's opening which will be celebrated with a live acoustic set. Space is limited inside the arch but he and the rest of the Microbus team - his girlfriend Suzy Isaac, business partner Phil Boyle and son-in-law Ian Langhan - have created wonders with its 'microbus' theme which is reflected in VW campervan parts, memorabilia and summery orange walls.
The fronts of three campervans catch the eye - and one passer-by, who saw them at work, actually thought they were in the business of restoring vehicles, said Gary. The front ends of two of the VWs - a 1972 and a 1978 model - have been sourced from Nottingham and King's Lynn and installed with more than a little difficulty, with a squeeze through the door that saw the window panels of one come a cropper.
A third VW front they built themselves from scratch from campervan parts to form the shape of the main bar and another unique feature is a campervan wall panel rigged up to dispense keg beer. In the widow there is a cushion for Gary's dog Harriet, a mini Labradoodle, who has been a constant companion during the two-month refit of what was a former hairdresser's shop and who already knows her way to their neighbouring pubs which have become a lunchtime stop-offs from the hard work.
"We've a thing about campervans!" Gary said of its theme, which is also reflected in table top artwork done by Suzy. They have their own cream campervan which has inspired the look of the pub replicas and which will be taking them to Glastonbury this summer for a break following the full-on project.
This is a first craft bar venture for all of them and it's something that Gary and Phil have long wanted to do; their initial plans held up by the pandemic. They've since had work in pubs, learning the trade, and Gary, who took early retirement from his job at HMRC, will be the one manning Microbus most of the time, with Harriett.
It will be open daily from Monday when, tying in with its theme, customers will discover a brew, Leith Juice, made by a Campervan Brewery as well as an aptly-named Microbus beer which is made by a Sussex company. All of the beers on offer - which also include local brews and other drinks - will be vegan. Gary and Doug are determined to help grow the craft beer scene around the area which is also known as the 'Bridges Quarter' and Microbus and Axis are quite literally filling a gap, occupying some of the space left in the row of arches where the likes of Block & Bottle and Estate Tea Company operated before making a move to Heaton.
Along the road at Axis - an amalgam of the names of its owners Alex O'Niell and Alice Hoy - work continues on a neighbourhood bar which will be brewing its own pilot beers for a menu which also will include a craft selection from around the UK as well as natural wine and soft drinks. Inspired by the kick-back bars of Australia and New Zealand, Axis, which takes over the first arch, a former popular cafe, nearest the High Level - a spot which Gary initially had his eye on - soon will be adding its own attractions to Gateshead 's developing bright and breezy beer quarter. Watch this space.
