Ship Inn, Newcastle Upon Tyne

I've called in here a couple of times when in the area previously, and retained a memory of somewhere that becomes fashionable but doesn't last and has to be reinvented. Perhaps this is unfair or just inaccurate, but I still managed to persuade one of my dwindling group of drinking companions to try this rather than the nearby Arch 2. I was glad we did, as the bar had a row of five Anarchy beers on hand pump. I went for the Wor Beer 4.3% which was pretty good (NBSS 3.5). It was getting busy late Friday afternoon, so we drank up and moved on fairly quickly, but as another reviewer wrote, "this one is well worth a look" still.

An eye catching stand alone pub which always has a good range of cask ales. Five on our visit, Cullercoats Lovely Nellie and Polly Donkin, Anarchy Blonde Star, Out There Brew Co Space Dance and Alnwick IPA. The bar area faces you as you enter and the lounge wraps around either side. The interior was quite small and narrow in places and manoeuvring around was difficult once you get a handful of people in. However there was some good space outside along the front which was handy.

This original pub is directly opposite the Cluny. Inside it's a single roughly square room split into areas with a central bar. It was fairly quiet on a Tuesday afternoon. There are four hand pumps which had one unuswd, Cullercoats Portland, Lovely Nellie & Shuggy Boat Blonde and Sonnet 43 Aurora. I went for the Aurora which was in good nick. This one is well worth a look.