The Kings Arms, Deptford, Sunderland

A short walk uphill from the Saltgrass, the King's Arms is the better of the pubs in this old industrial area, which has seen much brighter days. This is a good local boozer, which hadn't long opened when I arrived and had just 3 customers and the barmaid. The front room envelops the bar, with toilets just behind the bar in a passageway. Ossett White Rat is the regular beer here. Guests were Ossett Yorkshire Blonde, Great North Eastern Golden Tap, Timothy Taylor Landlord & Maxim Swedish Blonde. My Golden Tap was very enjoyable. It's not normally the sort of beer I would enjoy. Reading the previous review, it is strange that I also felt that the landlady seemed wary of me at first. Maybe I was the first stranger to have visited since 2016?! I'll definitely consider making the hike out to this pub again some time.

Built in 1834, this fine traditional riverside pub in the former shipbuilding area of Sunderland has a strong claim to be the oldest pub in the city. The main bar comprises one long, L-shaped space, but the presence of four external doors (three of which are now disused) suggests that the space was originally compartmentalised. To the left of the one remaining entrance is a small carpeted space with a series of short, white partitioning screens, each with a nice frosted glass insert. The main bar area is bare boarded and has half panelled walls around which standard chair and low stool seating has been squeezed. Various black and white photos and old enamel advertisements have been put on show and further into the room there is a nice fireplace with a pleasing, decorative mirror above. The ceiling is panelled with dark wood and has a pulley hanging from it above a trap door to the cellar. The servery is also L-shaped and has an excellent broad counter and a bar back set a little further back than you might normally expect and with some fine detailed woodwork and mirrors to admire, plus an excellent top with unusual bracketing. To the rear right is a separate space which has been carpeted and offers a few more seats and a dartboard and is quite a cosy spot to bag. Apparently there is a further room to the rear, but I think this was closed when I visited. Apparently it contains some seating which was removed from Sunderland AFC's Roker Park ground when it closed in 1997. I wasn't expecting much on the ale front here, so was somewhat stunned to find one of the best selections I encountered across the city. Options were Copper Dragon Golden Pippen, Allendale Golden Plover, York Guzzler, Cullercoats Shaggy Boat Blonde, Mordue Northumbrian Blonde, Lancaster Blonde, Wylam Gold Tankard plus Weston's Old Rosie cider on the final pump. The landlady seemed a bit wary of me at first, but she poured a decent pint of the Cullercoats and I enjoyed supping it whilst taking in the atmospheric setting. I'd included this pub on my crawl because of it's historic features but ironically it was arguably the beer range, which I had no real hopes for, that turned out to be the real star. This is that great combination of an interesting old pub offering a strong range of ales and for that reason alone this is well worth the trek through the dull retail park to seek out.

Handsome traditional pub a few minutes walk down a less-than-promising road from town toward an industrial estate with views toward the football ground. The U-shaped interior (linked by a rear corridor behind the bar) retains a good amount of original interior character and fittings in an alehouse style (the dark wood fireplace especially was very nice, as were the wood cornices behind the bar and varnished wood ceiling). For modernity, there were a couple of TVs turned to silent. Nice laid back atmosphere. Seven pumps with a good number of local ales plus Old Rosie cider. My Brockwell (Durham) ale was in decent shape though a dirty glass let the side down a bit. Worth the extra few minutes walk from town if you have the time.