West Monkseaton station has been around since 1933 where it was part of the London and North Eastern Railway but was taken over as a metro station in 1980. It has retained a lot of the original fixtures and fittings from the LNER, most notably the platform canopy which also survived the 1999 refurbishment.
If you leave the stations main entrance, cross over to the other side of the road the turn right, if you walk for about 2-3 minutes you’ll see The Beacon Hotel.
The Beacon is owned by Ember Inns and has all the markings of your bog standard, run of the mill family pub in the middle of a housing estate. It’s plushly done out inside with loads of large tables for family dining, sport on the TV to encourage groups of friends, pop music on the juke box and real ale. It’s certainly a pub that can be all things to all people depending on what you want.
My best mate Ang was my drinking partner when we visited a few weeks ago and were greeted with a really warm welcome buy the guy behind the bar as we deliberated over what kind of wine we wanted and (perhaps more importantly) what flavour crisps to have.
We weren’t eating on this occasion by the food menu was all the pub classics you’d expect from a chain pub at good prices and what we did see coming out the kitchen looked delicious. They have lots of offers on if you become and Ember Member, possibly most noteworthy a free bottle of prosecco on your birthday, something i’d most definitely take advantage of if it were my local.
I’m normally put off by big chain pubs that are quite family centric, and a hidden gem this wasn’t. However, perhaps it was the warm welcome, the real fireplace or maybe I was just full of salt n vinegar crisps, but Ang and I had a splendid time when we visited and I would have no reservations going back to sample their prosecco, whether it’s my birthday or not!
Contact:
Earsdon Road, Whitley Bay NE25 9PT, England
0191 253 6911
https://www.emberinns.co.uk/nationalsearch/northwest/the-beacon-hotel-whitley-bay
Find out where else we’ve been on our metro adventure here
Looks lovely – I’ve been here a couple of times but not recently. I had no idea it was also a hotel!