A Great North Run....

I've recently been on a great trip to the North East which combined catching up with the family, visiting a new football ground, and enjoying some excellent beer in a cornucopia of different pubs and bars....

So here I was heading up to Newcastle first to meet the local branch of the family, then the next day I was off to see FC Halifax Town at a new ground in a town I had been to before but never really lingered. The town in question was Hartlepool, situated on the coast to the north of the Tees estuary.

I arrived at my Travelodge around 2.30, just before the official check-in time, but was able to get in to the room, with bags dropped off, and a pint front of me at the Broad Chare by 3pm, the official time. This wonderful place, which hosts a Michelin-rated restaurant, is nonetheless very welcoming to non-diners and has a decent range of cask and craft beers. I went for a pint of the house beer, Writer's Block an easy drinking 4.1% pale ale, which is now brewed by Anarchy, and enjoyed it sat in some rather pleasant sunshine in the courtyard out back (NBSS 3.5).

A lovely space at the back of the Broad Chare, Newcastle

I wandered from there to the Crown Posada, a few minutes walk away talking in part of the Quayside where preparations were well in hand for the Great North Run later in the weekend. The family had begun their journey in to the toon by bus, and feeling like a guilty schoolchild I was sneaking in a beer before they arrived. The cask range was a little disappointing here for once but I was more than happy to see that Small Man's Wetsuit from Sureshot was available on keg. I repaired to the banquette seating by the entrance, admired the wonderful surroundings of this beautiful pub, awaited arrival details from the fam, and checked out the Uber options. The beer was excellent of course.

Crown Posada

I got the message, so the Uber was called and I got dropped off at the Strawberry, situated in the shadow of St James' Park, aka the home of Newcastle United. My daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters were sat in a corner of this shrine to the Magpies. I had been here before but never on a matchday when apparently it is rammed. There are loads of images and old photos of the team on the walls, along with sketches of former players like Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne, Malcolm Macdonald, and Peter Beardsley. For the cask ale lover there are 5 beers available, which all seemed to be from local breweries - my pint of Hoop from Full Circle was pretty decent (NBSS 3). The pub was busy and there was a warm atmosphere to the place, with my youngest granddaughter excited to discover there was a strawberry-themed toilet lid in the ladies!

The Strawberry, Newcastle

We were eating at a place in the lee of the hugely impressive stands of St James' Park, which dominates this part of Newcastle. We had a lovely evening catching up in a sports bar with food called Shark Club (no beer of note), and after I'd bade farewell as the guys went for their Metro home, I wandered through the busy streets around the station to the Town Wall, a great bar in a historic building that attracts a discerning crowd with its good selection of beers on both cask and keg, served from a central bar off which there are several separate drinking areas. I enjoyed a pint of the house beer brewed by Wylam, now owned by the bar's owners, the Vaulkhard Group. The beer, pale and hoppy, was good of course, as you would expect from one of the best breweries in the North East (NBSS 3.5). I wandered back in the general direction of my hotel, with a stop off at the Bridge by the High Level Bridge. Here I enjoyed a pint of Jarl, from top Scottish brewers Fyne Ales, and as usual this well-balanced 3.8% pale golden hoppy ale was spot on, with plenty of citrus flavours in evidence (NBSS 3.5). An excellent way to conclude the evening's proceedings.

The following morning I walked down to my usual breakfast place just off the Quayside, which was busy getting ready for a number of pre-events prior to the Great North Run on the following day. There were runners of all ages with their numbers and badges milling around in the misty morning air as a cheery guy was going through the order of the day over the sound system. The queue for Greggs was longer than usual and I was lucky to find an empty table at the cafe. After a sausage sandwich and a pot of tea, it was back to the hotel to check out before heading south to Hartlepool. It was a straightforward drive down the A19 through County Durham and I got there quickly enough, finding a large and cheap car park in a bit of a rundown part of the town close to the football ground. 

Hartlepool originally grew up around a monastery founded in the 7th century on a prominent headland. Here there was a natural harbour around which gradually grew a fishing village, which expanded modestly over the years. However with the coming of the railways in the 19th century a bigger port was built to enable the export of coal from the Durham mines, which also meant imported goods could be moved to elsewhere in the country. Shipbuilding became important and the newer town, which was called West Hartlepool, grew to eclipse its older neighbour, though eventually they merged as a single borough. During the First World War, the town became a target for the German Navy and in one attack 117 people were killed by shelling. Maybe due to subsequent periods of high unemployment and a decline in shipbuilding and other traditional industries, Hartlepool is modest in showing off its charms, but it has much of interest aside from the pubs and football which I'd come for on this visit, with its industrial and maritime heritage, marina, and some interesting old buildings. There is a Royal Navy Museum which features a re-creation of an 18th-century seaport with its centrepiece a sailing frigate, HMS Trincomalee. This complex also includes the Museum of Hartlepool, whilst on the Headland there is a museum focussed on the First World War based in the Heugh Battery which was one of a number of defences that had been set up to protect the town and its industries. And one of the frequent stories involving Hartlepool relates how during the Napoleonic Wars a French warship ran into difficulties off the coast, in sight of local fishermen. The only survivor was a monkey which was dressed in French military uniform. The fishermen had never seen any French people, so assumed the monkey was French, and after a brief trial, the unfortunate beast was hung as a spy. And that is why Hartpudlians are often referred to as Monkey Hangers. 

Hartlepool marina, with HMS Trincomalee

I got my bearings from the car park and set off walking with the plan to visit the town's three Good Beer Guide pubs before the match. First up was the Anchor, which is the tap house for Camerons Brewery whose Strongarm bitter is synonymous with both Hartlepool and the North East. The brewery, which was established in 1865, is just to the back of the pub and after a few ups and downs over the years the company is back under family ownership and doing rather well. They have an estate of over 70 pubs in the North East as well as the Head Of Steam chain which covers a much wider area. 

The Anchor looks fairly modest from the outside, whilst inside it is basically one U-shaped room. The bar is on the right with a number of hand pumps dispensing their traditional cask beers as well as a number of beers on tap from Camerons own craft beer brand Tooth & Claw. Today there was only Strongarm available on cask, so I ordered a half. I heard some familiar laughter from around the corner, and when I investigated, it was just who I thought it was! Some of Town's real stalwarts who follow the team everywhere and who take every nearby CAMRA pub in their wake. I joined them for a drink, they'd come by train from Halifax and had already visited at least one pub in the town before this. My beer was in excellent condition, a traditional malty North Eastern bitter with a reddish hue and a lingering sweet caramel finish (NBSS 4), so good in fact that I went back for another half. The place was by now starting to get busier with a number of football fans from both Hartlepool and Town amongst the visitors. Based on this showing, the Anchor is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

The Anchor, with brewery beyond, whilst a loyal Town fan props up the bar

I had to move on as I had work to do before kick off, with two more pubs to visit. I followed Google Maps and a few minutes later I was at Hops & Cheese, a self-styled bar and deli in a former shop. As the name suggests, cheese as well as beer features in the offer here, as does charcuterie. I walked in to a decent-sized room with a crammed bookshelf to the left, with the bar to the right. I ordered a half of Soul Citra, a 3.9% pale ale from Durham Brewery, which was in good nick (NBSS 3) The bar had a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere with a mixed crowd including both local fans and a few familiar faces following Town. The ambience suggested this was very much a labour of love that is paying dividends; I enjoyed the eclectic soundtrack that was playing in the 20 minutes I was there, which ranged from 50's stuff to Nirvana's Love Buzz, taken from their first album, which I had never heard played in a bar before. A shame I only had time for a half, and I look forward to calling in to this rather excellent place again next season.

It was then on to my final pre-match destination, less than 5 minutes walk away. I had been once before to the Rat Race (opening image), a micropub situated in the railway station, on my last visit to the town when I was on my way to Sunderland. The day I had visited, Hartlepool United had also been at home, the place had been rammed with supporters so it was standing room only, and I was expecting much the same today. However, when I arrived this time, it could not have been more different. I walked into a scene of calm, with just a few generally old guys sat around the room; one looking at his phone, one lost in his thoughts, a couple engaged in conversation. There is no bar as such, beer being dispensed from four hand pumps situated in a separate room which doubles up as the cellar and store room. The beers are listed on a chalkboard and I decided to go for a half of Hit the Burners, a 4% pale from Bristol Beer Factory. I went in search of the landlord who was lurking in the back room, and I placed my order. He asked me to take a seat and he'd bring it to me. A few minutes later, he arrived with a glass, but as I was about to pay he realised he'd brought the wrong beer, a 5.5% stronger pale also from BBF. He apologised, and returned shortly with the correct beer, which like each of the beers I'd had this lunchtime, was reasonably priced. And it was another good one, poured I'd guess without a sparkler, cool and refreshing (NBSS 3.5).

The Rat Race was the second micropub in the country when it opened in 2009. It has stuck very much to the original ethos of the micropub ever since; it doesn't sell lager or spirits, whilst there is no music or bandit machine. The place is geared up for conversation over some good beer, and sat in this somewhat ramshackle room with old photos, notices, with much of the walls and ceiling covered in beer mats and with boxes of crisps and various odds and sods vying for space on the roof of the other room, there was a timeless feel to the place. I could have stayed all day, but I had a football match to go to. If you only have time to visit one place in Hartlepool, this is that place.

Victoria Park, home of Hartlepool United

It was about ten minutes walk from the Rat Race to the football ground, and I walked in to the away end and was greeted by plenty of familiar faces. In fact over 300 Town fans had made the journey here, and after a rather slow start to the season, they were treated to a battling performance with both teams going for goal all the way through the game. In the end it finished Hartlepool United 0, FC Halifax Town 0, which brought my first visit here and a great trip to the North East to a more than satisfactory conclusion....

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