The Hotspur, Newcastle Upon Tyne

A pretty good pub well described below. Friendly service and equally friendly locals. A few beers on including Cullercoats Jack The Devil and Tynebank West Coast IPA. Both were fine. Glad to have called in.

Opposite Haymarket bus station. L-shaped interior with a poor use of space - few seats and most of the floor area by the bar is empty space. Would have been multi-roomed years ago and following the joist is an old - if not particularly attractive - coloured and embossed wallpaper strip. There is also some etched glass to the left in nicely carved dark wood insets. A big screen above the bar showing cricket whilst my ears were assaulted by dreadful chart music blarting out in conjunction. Seven pumps with six ales on, almost all local. My Jarrow Red Ellen was OK but lacked condition (one of a number that day). It all felt a bit perfunctory in here and I wouldn't be doing it next time.