Duke of Wellington (Newcastle)

...in the city and the Duke of Wellington is one of them.

The Welly (as it is known) is situated on High Bridge, just a stone's throw from the bustling pub/bar area of the Bigg Market with it's noisy and raucous bars in which the guys wear short sleeved shirts all year round and the girls wear even smaller dresses to show off their suspect orange tans. The Duke of Wellington, though, couldn't be more different. For those who enjoy a ...
...shop, a haridressers salon and when you get to the mountain/leisure shop on the corner turn right. The Duke of Wellington is a few steps along on the right.

Give the Duke of Wellington a try if you're ever in town!


  ... more

I recently wrote a review of my home city of Newcastle upon Tyne in which I said that the city was rapidly being overrun with trendy chain bars - all looking like each other and with little personality. However there are some traditional pubs left in the city and the Duke of Wellington is one of them.

The Welly (as it is known) is situated on High Bridge, just a stone's throw from the bustling pub/bar area of the Bigg Market with it's noisy and raucous bars in which the guys wear short sleeved shirts all year round and the girls wear even smaller dresses to show off their suspect orange tans. The Duke of Wellington, though, couldn't be more different. For those who enjoy a decent pint in friendly, traditional surroundings this could be the place for you.

The Welly is in the style of a traditional English inn or tavern with wooden panelled walls, low ceiling, wooden floor and furniture and those frosted glass screens between seating areas. It is a small pub with only 5 or so tables and a couple of spots by the windows with high stools - a great place to people watch - otherwise it's standing I'm afraid. The seats along the wall are slightly padded but not especially luxurious and the free standing chairs and stools are not cushioned so in that respect the pub doesn't rank highly for comfort.

The pub has the feel of being a "locals" pub although there is little residential accommodation in the immediate vicinity. What housing there is consists predominantly of hip and expensive new warehouse conversions where the apartments cost the earth and I suspect that the peole who live in these buildings frequent much more modern and stylish establishments than the Welly. If you visit the pub regularly you will see familiar faces and whilst it is not an unfriendly place it is perhaps not the kind of place where regulars will strike up a conversation with a stranger. They will be friendly if you chat to them but you'll probably need to make the first move. The bar staff are very friendly and will chat as they serve you or during a quieter moment if you are drinking at the bar.

The pub serves the usual range of drinks you would expect of this kind of establishment - lagers (Carling, Carlsberg or Fosters) bitters (Tetleys, Pedigree and Burtons), a drinkable house red and white and the usual spirits. There are a few bottled lagers (Holsten pils, Carlsberg) and a small sleection of alcopops. The spirits and soft drinks are as standard.

In addition to these drinks, the pub plays host to guest beers, around four or five at any given time. This tends to be a mixture of real ales from local breweries and others from more distant parts of the country. On of the most popular is "Workie Ticket" made on Tyneside by Mordues. Once a year the pub hosts its own mini beer festival with a greater number of guest ales available. Sadly this is wasted on me as I have no appreciation of these ales - maybe I should start learning!

Food is available around the lunch-time period: this includes a selection of hot and cold sandwiches (tuna melt, cheese and pickle, ham salad, hot beef with onions, etc), jacket potatoes with a variety of toppings and standard pub meals like burger and chips, chilli con carne, shepherds pie and curry dishes. The food is reasonably priced, filling and tasty although not especially exciting. The usual bar snacks of crisps and nuts are always available.

The pub is well known for having a big screen television and is often busy when Newcastle United matches are being televised. There are several other sets around the pub incase you can't get in front of the big screen. During the day on the smaller sets tend to be switched on - usually with the sound turned down and are tuned in to various satellite sporting channels.

The Welly has a jukebox which has a fairly wide selection of music to choose from but tends mainly to have stuff I would say appeals to over 30s. There is someone (I don't know who) who frequents the Welly and always puts Thin Lizzy on the jukebox. The general trend seems to be rock orientated with a good sprinkling of classics that everyone knows (Blondie, Van Morrison, UB40, Rolling Stones, Beatles). The jukebox is loud enough but not so loud you can't have a decent chinwag with friends.

There is a multi-game quiz machine and two fruit machines but these are tucked into corners and are not intrusive.

The toilets are small,but clean and presentable. Sometimes when there is a match being televised, it gets so busy that to get to the toilets you have to go outside walk along the length of the pub and reach the toilets by the other door!

High Bridge, on which the Welly is situated, is a bustling street which is bisected by Grey Street. It is a cobbled street which allows access only to essential vehicles and is a street people often miss when they first visit the city. From Monument Metro station walk down Grey Street and cross over at the junction with busy Market Street. On the right you'll pass Blakes coffee shop, a haridressers salon and when you get to the mountain/leisure shop on the corner turn right. The Duke of Wellington is a few steps along on the right.

Give the Duke of Wellington a try if you're ever in town!

 

...less