Jesmond

Jesmond station as we know it now has, believe it or not, been knocking around since 1864 as part of the Blyth and Tyne railway which rain from New Bridge Street in Newcastle to to Blyth in Northumberland. That ceased operation in 1978 but the station remained and two years later was used by the newly created Tyne & Wear Metro system.

Come out of the stations main doors and down the stairs through the underpass on the left and the first pub you come to will be The Carriage. This has been the 10th pub we’ve visited on our tour and (so far) has been my favourite. Since Jesmond station was once such an integral part of North Eastern railway history, what better way to utilise the old station house by turning it into a pub?

We visited at tea time on a Saturday night in January where it was on a the quiet side however the many ales on offer, the large glass of wine for the price of a small and the roaring open fire was more than was needed to make us feel at home. It’s a shame really that we had dinner reservations that nigh because i would have happily tucked my feet under myself and settled down for the night, and with Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and New Order pumping gently through the sound systems, well all the needed to do was serve some marmite and cheese toasties and i’d have moved in there and then!

Walk in the main doors and the bar is directly in front of you with different rooms offshooting in either direction. It’s extremely old fashioned in it’s decor (or ‘vintage’ as i would call it’) and some of the tables and the upholstery on some of the chains could do with an upgrade, however it’s not messy or dirty and I’m sure there’s next hipster pubs less than a mile away that pay a fortune for that kind of nouveau traditional vibe. Some of the old station paraphernalia like the original ticket booth are quirky touches that gives it even more atmosphere.

While there were bandits and TVs present (grumble, grumble) the bandit wasn’t in the main bar, it was in a corridor on the way to the loo, and the TV was switched off so I was a happy bunny. Useful to know though that they quite possibly do have sport on show on a weekend.

Drinks wise they have loads of local ales on offer, as well as your standard wines of all three colours (prosecco was absent from what I could see but it’s not really that sort of pub), a generous whiskey collection and (randomly) offers on Jaeger Bombs, so quite literally, something to cater for all tastes.

It’s easy to walk past this place, which lets me honest isn’t much to look at from the outside and head for the more all singing, all dancing, polished, sparkly As You Like it further down the road, but since they tried to pass off 5.5% wine as the ‘house white’ I’ve gone right off them. The Carriage is the perfect session pub and if marmite and cheese toasties suddenly appear on their menu you have me to thank!

Find out more about our pub adventures here