The Borough Arms, Gateshead

will now be used as a study centre for Jewish Biblical, Mishrashic and Talmudic research.

A recent (but not recent enough given my experience) Good Beer Guide describes the Borough as being the place to go in Gateshead for Ales. Someone must have pulled out the plug as, despite 6 hand pumps, only 1 was operational, a very ordinary Bombardier. 1 clip was reversed (no idea what it was) and the 4 others stood unused. This was first thing on a Saturday night when I would have expected everything to be ready for peak time action. Since we were looking for somewhere local showing ESPN and they didn't have any live Sports (“too expensive”) we only stayed for a brief in and out exercise so not really much to go on as far as ambience goes. The interior was fairly plain with a dated looking side section containing TV and darts. A few old pictures looked like a token gesture to make the place look a bit more eye catching but overall there wasn't much to get excited over and I get the impression that the place has gone a bit downhill since my guide was published (2007). Barman was welcoming enough, the ale quality fine (what there was) and prices seemed pretty reasonable. Hopefully I just caught them on a bad day as from what I could gather, Gateshead isn't a hot bed for decent pubs.