Trimmer's Arms, South Shields

Located a good 15-20 minutes walk from the town centre, along one of the main roads into town, this is a large, recently refitted pub and live music venue. Entering into the main bar which is on the left hand side of the pub, you find yourself in a vast open space with the servery over on the right hand wall. The room has a quarry stone floor and half panelled walls with brick and stone uppers. The bar counter is also bare brick and there is a smart bar back with a number of pleasant decorative features. The main bulk of the room has been left empty, as the space is seemingly used as a gig venue, with a stage positioned to the rear, and only a few upturned barrels break up a large swathe of empty space which leaves the room feeling a bit cold and soulless at quieter times. Seating is confined to two raised carpeted areas to the front and left where padded banquettes and standard chairs offer a degree of comfort. There is a dartboard to the rear left and there were several TV screens on showing live football with the commentary on. The live music theme is expanded somewhat on a high ledge on the back wall which has guitars, some figures performing as a band, large pictures of Johnny Cash and Bob Marley and an old keyboard. The stage bizarrely has a bookcase on it and there is a high shelf above the bar displaying old bottles, barrels, tins, radios and the like. Unusually, to the front right there is what appears to be a fully functioning street lamp. Doors lead through to a second bar to the right, but this appeared to be closed during my visit, so I couldn't get a proper look, but this side appears to be the older part of the pub and is particularly attractive from outside, with the old foundation stone visible from street level. To the left there is also a decent sized garden area, although this was off-limits in the poor weather. I was a bit disappointed to find just one ale available on this visit - Taylors Landlord - but it was at least served in decent condition. The barmaid here was very friendly and welcoming and there was only a small handful of other customers present, suggesting that the place probably comes into its own more on a live music night, rather than a cold Sunday afternoon. I thought this place had a bit of potential, but the decision to make this a live music venue had robbed the place of the warmth and ambiance you want from a pub. I do wonder if the other bar may have been a bit better on this front, but based on this particular visit I left a little underwhelmed and would probably not make the effort to return unless I wanted to catch a performance.