East Boldon Station is one of the busiest suburban stations on the network with almost 40K passengers annually commuting to Newcastle and Sunderland. It was opened in 2002 with the rest of the Sunderland expansion and Northern trains still travel through the station (although don’t stop).
If you’re coming from Newcastle finding the nearest pub couldn’t be easier (actually if you’re coming from Sunderland it’s pretty easy as well) as Beggars Bridge is right there in the car park. And I love it when that happens. Beggars Bridge has a fairly recent incarnation as it was previously known as Sleepers before it’s refurbishment in 2016 which seems to have been long overdue and very welcome by the locals (although I’m not sure I agree with that demolition of the adjoining Chicken Shop that used to be there)
As with most pubs that have recently seen a facelift there’s an air of class and sophistication about the place. Now I never visited when it was Sleepers but I hear on the grapevine that class and sophistication are two words ever used to describe it. It’s the right side of trendy with light wood, cosy booths and tartan upholstery and old pictures of the local area on the walls.
There’s no distinct bar/lounge area you find in most pubs so if you’re eating, you’re sharing a space with people just out for drinks and vice versa, which isn’t a problem at all however would recommend nabbing a table first if ordering food. Drinks wise it’s what you’d come to expect however as there’s very little local competition I found them on the steep side, which means you could easily run up a hefty bar tab if you’re planning on a session. The one thing that ruined it for me was that when we visited (at about 5pm on a Saturday afternoon) what that there was a large group of teenagers/young adults in who used the C word as every other verb in their vernacular and without sounding like an old fuddy duddy, just isn’t pleasant when you’re trying to enjoy a glass of warm overpriced wine!
Contact:
Address: Station Approach, East Boldon NE36 0AB
Phone: 0191 537 3969
Find out where else we’ve been on our metro pub tour here
