Queen Vic refurbishment brings sense of history back

Feb 5 2010 By Alastair Gilmour

A LONG period of reign is forecast for Gosforth High Street. The landmark Queen Victoria pub has been revived following major refurbishment, which is a rare display of confidence from the licensed sector.

Gone are its previous incarnations as The Northern Lights and Ye Olde Jockey; the Queen Vic is back on its visually-imposing, red-brick, mock-Tudor, pointed-gable, corner-site throne. Records date the building to at least 1825, while a Queen Victoria Inn is shown on maps in 1828 and 1857. But over the last decade the pub has suffered from the bizarre “repositioning” that brought the two name changes.

Northern Lights was a switch too far and as Ye Olde Jockey it was draped in horse-racing paraphernalia in the belief that sporting knick-knacks would revive its fortunes. But hanging portraits of jockeys alongside bookmakers’ satchels, saddles and binoculars in the bar isn’t quite the way to do it.

Offering a good selection of beer, wines and spirits with well-priced, quality food in comfortable surroundings, in an enjoyable and secure environment, is.

New manager Justin Cooper has been actively involved with the changes and, as a former manager at the Tap & Spile in Darlington, he has a fine knowledge and terrific enthusiasm for real ale. Several permanent cask beers and a rotational choice will be key factors to its success.

“We reopened in mid-December and it’s going well,” he says. “We’re really pleased. One of the stipulations when we took it over was that we changed its name back to The Queen Victoria. Two name changes were enough for anybody.”

Justin is keen to learn more about the history of the two-storey pub and has issued an invitation for customers to help with the research.

He says: “I want The Queen Victoria to be a good old-fashioned pub. With such a prominent location on the High Street we hope to capture lots of passing trade, but its history is something of a mystery so I’m really curious to hear from anyone who has knowledge about The Queen Victoria of old.

“Any interesting facts or photographs on the building or even information on the people formerly connected with the pub would be very welcome.”

The Queen Victoria’s high-ceilinged interior is cleverly compartmented and solidly timbered with buttoned upholstery and a deliberate use of solid and slightly mis-matched tables and seating. The decor includes sepia prints of Gosforth High Street which are more appropriate and site-specific than racing silks.

 Sandwiched between are portraits of obviously worthy men in powdered wigs – Lord Collingwood is one, as is John Barras jnr, whose brewery was an original constituent of Newcastle Breweries Ltd, established on April 1 1890.

Curiously, however, the most important figure is conspicuous by her absence. The pub is Victoria-free, with not a single image of our longest-reigning monarch to be admired, apart from a silhouette on the drinks menu.

The Queen Victoria has a lot of well-established competition to contend with, not least from the Gosforth Hotel across the road (and a keen pricing structure) and also The Job Bulman, a Wetherspoons pub  in the former Post Office (and named after a prominent 18th century businessman, landowner and property developer).

Say what you like about the giant pub chain – and that includes criticism of low-priced beer and even cheaper promotions – they certainly do things well in their market.

The Job Bulman is big and it’s buzzing with couples, groups and families. Its Thursday Curry Club features a choice of 10 spicy meals “served with yellow basmati rice, naan bread, mango chutney, poppadums and a drink”. This is either a pint, glass of wine or spirit from a selection. And it’s £5.99 all-in.

 Tuesday is the Steak Club, while the Sunday Club offers a roast dinner, both served with the carrot of the drink selection.
The County, a Grade II-listed building, is another busy after-work High Street bar with an extensive ale choice, often reaching well into double figures. There’s something lacking about the atmosphere, however. Perhaps it’s because it can’t quite make up its mind if it’s a traditional bar or middle-range lounge.

Exposed floorboards create a sense of “rustic” but contrast with a leaf-designed carpet that is, shall we say, challenging on the eye. Its pattern moves in a nausea-inducing rolling motion and, on top of that, the 1960s “futuristic” stools are quite simply out of place.

The building was constructed by the Bulman family in 1826 as a private dwelling and converted into a pub in 1866 with four bars, including a Gents’ Buffet, for men only.

Its sanctity was breached on November 12, 1975, on the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act when three female journalists, armed with the might of the law, walked in and ordered one glass of cider and two fruit juices. The landlord told them: “You realise you’ve just made history in here. It’s a sad day.” Sad indeed. They could have at least ordered beer.

While on Gosforth High Street, we couldn’t possibly ignore its most significant “resident” and we make no apology for repeating our fine invention, the Greggs Corned Beef Pasty Cocktail:

50ml gin
juice of half a lemon
handful of torn borage leaves
white of an egg
50ml tonic water

Shake the first four ingredients with lots of ice, strain into a glass and add the tonic. Add a sliver of lemon and float a borage leaf on the surface. Unwrap a Greggs corned beef pasty. Live a little.

Elsewhere in Gosforth, at last month’s Brandling Villa Sausage & Beer Festival, visitors munched their way through 275 kilos (604lb) of sausage of every description. Top flavours were Pork and Mordue Workie Ticket, Allendale Chilli Banger and Venison and Havana Seven-Year-Old Rum.

The event was such a success, another themed festival is planned. Big Pie Day, which rounds off British Pie Week, will take place on March 5 and 6 when 25 different pies from Stewart & Co Butchery in Jesmond will complement 20 ales and 10 ciders. Live music will add sauce.

It looks like Gosforth is on the up. The Queen Victoria is amused.