Free Trade Inn, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Probably the best pub of the day as it had Jaipur which is one of my favourites. One of our companions was starving by now so he had a pie which looked OK. By the way, take a pen to the toilets and see if you can find a space to write something!!

Just off the Quayside, close to the mouth of the Ouseburn, this is a lively and popular local's pub and ale house. A corner entrance takes you into an L-shaped room with a similar shaped servery opposite. The bar has a nice dark wood counter and traditional bar back and was pretty tricky to reach due to a long line of bar blockers perched on high stools the entire length. To the right of the entrance there are high stools opposite the bar underneath windows that give you a great view out across the Tyne. Three steps at the far end lead you down into a small seating area which has a handful of tables and chairs, a couple of benches and a fireplace on the end wall. Pictures of well known local landmarks adorn the walls which have been painted in a truly unlovable colour scheme and seemed to be in a pretty bad state of disrepair. Over on the left hand side of the pub there is a space for standing room only, beyond which you'll find a decent looking lounge area of sorts, where plenty more seating can be found in a relatively smart and well kept space. Music played quietly throughout my stay, with the chatter from around the room periodically drowning it out entirely and I also noticed a juke box on one wall. The ale range here was particularly strong, as befits a pub that won the Tyneside CAMRA Pub of the Year award a few years back. Options on handpull this time were Fyne Ales Jarl, Out There Celestial Love, Left Handed Giant Lactose Tolerant, Wylam Silver Ghost, Credence Pale and a collaborative brew from Wylam and Left Handed Giant called Ctrl, Alt Del. There were a couple of pumps with turned clips and a good keg range included numerous beers from local micros. My pint of the Lactose Tolerant was outstanding and I was served by a very helpful barman who talked me through some of the options. This place is a great community boozer with an outstanding ale range - a winning combination if ever there was one. I found the place a bit tatty and frayed around the edges and felt that with a little bit more care and attention, this could be a real destination pub. I really enjoyed my time here and could quite easily have settled down for the rest of the evening had there not been other exciting pubs to discover further up the valley.

Doesn't look too promising from outside and to be fair the wedge shaped interior isn't much to get excited about, painted a hideous nicotine/faecal yellow with fairly battered fittings. However two aspects work in its favour. Firstly. the fantastic elevated view of the Tyne (and bridges) from its windows and beer garden; secondly, the ale range - six in total, from Jarl, Allendale, Thornbridge and Top Out. Unsure whether the ‘Free Trade Inn’ pump featuring a cat's face actually dispensed anything, but said moggy was perched atop the (free) jukey and as happy as Larry. My Top Out Smoked Porter was in good nick, if rather heavy going. Also of note was the fridge stocking a good variety of bottled and tinned foreign fayre, plus nine craft keg offerings, the prices of which varied from reasonable to silly but were clearly marked on a blackboard. Friendly barmaid but she wasn't good at basic chores, with dead glasses littered around inside and out. If you have a day to do Newcastle and the weather’s decent, it’s worth popping out here for a pint and a view. With a bit of TLC and less litter, it could have been classed as essential.

Excellent pub, well described in detail below. It's one basic room really but with a couple of distinct areas. We sat in the area just to the left and rear of the bar and had a good look at all the pictures on the walls. There's a jukebox, the top of which is apparently the favoured lounging place for the pub cat, who for some reason is called CraigDavid. He has his own Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CDPCfreetrade. 5 beers available on our visit and between us we tried 4 of them, all were in excellent nick. Friendly, knowledgeable barstaff add to the appeal. A pub we'll be visiting again and again I suspect.

Situated in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle, a short and pleasant walk along the riverside walkway from the City Centre, is The Free Trade Inn. It’s a single split level room with basic seating and nicotine coloured walls and ceiling. There’s something of that lived in proper pub feel, enhanced by the absence of any TV’s or fruit machines, although there is a renowned free juke box. The local CAMRA branch magazine describes the interior as “shabby chic”, reflecting the fact that the area as a whole is allegedly on the up. It’s an unusual mix of old factories and warehouses and modern apartment blocks. Up a slight incline from the riverside, large windows and a small seating area over the road provide superb views of the various bridges over the River Tyne and the Newcastle skyline. The interior features plenty of black and white photos of old Newcastle city scenes and industries. A local deli and butchers provide a selection of sandwiches and pies respectively. Wednesday’s quiz night offers the chance to win 18 bottles of Budweiser, should you feel the need. A blackboard over the bar advises us to “drink beer, smoke tabs at The Free Trade Inn – a better bar by far”. The pub is a keen supporter of microbreweries and is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular. Despite the blackboard advertising beers from Mordue, Jarrow, Hadrian Border, Archers and Wylam, it transpired that none of these beers were on when I called in one Saturday lunchtime in September. Instead, notably, there was a dominance of beers from the Holmfirth Summer Wine Brewery with as many as 4 of their beers on – Zenith, Berry Big, Oregon and Teleporter supplemented by a beer each from Great Heck and Tempest Brewing Co. Beers sampled were in good form. Worth seeking out – and, in particular, do leave time to inspect the splendid graffiti in the gents toilets