The Centurion Bar, Newcastle Upon Tyne

I can remember calling in here with a group of Luton Town friends after a match in Gateshead 15 years ago, and hadn't planned to add to that experience, but then my train was cancelled so I thought I might as well. For a station bar, it's lit like a nightclub, or what nightclubs used to be like when I went to them back in the 1970s. The architecture is splendid, so perhaps I should call again during daylight hours. It would be good to visit again as the Black Sheep Bitter, although the most expensive beer of the day at the equivalent of £5.30 for a pint, was pretty good (NBSS 3.5). I didn't make a note of what else was on. Maybe next time.

Built in 1893, this is a former waiting lounge for first class passengers travelling from Newcastle Central Station. Having spent a period of time as holding cells for British Transport Police and undergoing some rough treatment at the hands of British Rail, who crudely painted over the original tiling and smashed through some of the walls, the place was eventually taken over by a pub company in 2000. They have carefully restored the place back to its original state, leaving us with a great example of Victorian train travel befitting the building's Grade I listing status. The bar can be accessed from both street and platform sides, making it easier to execute a last minute dash for a train. Entering from the street side, you find yourself in a vast room with the servery to the right hand side. The bar has a curved marble topped counter with large integral lamps and a quite remarkable bar back of gigantic proportions which incorporates some huge decoratively tiled pillars, dark wood shelving units, decorative glazed tile capitals and a deep recess with an elaborate ceiling and some dark wood fittings. Some high tables and stools have been arranged opposite the bar, alongside a curved banquette, with standard tables and chairs and plenty more banquettes running through the rest of the room. Modern floorboards look a little incongruous throughout the room, but this fails to distract from the real highlight, which is the quite spectacular tiling on all walls. This sort of tiling can be appreciated in many heritage pubs throughout the country, but I don't think I've ever seen it on a scale as vast as this. The rear wall has a large tile painting of an idyllic rural scene of the sort you might glimpse from a moving train window, whilst the ceiling is dominated by a huge central skylight, around which all manner of decorative tile styles can be appreciated. Some epic pillars are positioned towards the rear and there are doorways on the end wall which both have matching pediments. Some of this grandeur was lost by the draping of Six Nations flags over some of the tile work and the presence of a TV screen which was showing a rather pointless Major League Soccer match for the benefit of no one, whilst a drab soundtrack played in the background. There is also a separate snug room, which I failed to explore and some seating had been arranged in a fenced off area on the pavement outside. The fine interior thankfully comes equipped with a suitably impressive range of ales from the row of hand pumps on the bar. Options on this visit were Hadrian Border Secret Kingdom and Tyneside Blonde, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Black Sheep Bitter, Consett Red Dust and Box Social India Brown Ale. I tried a pint of the Secret Kingdom which was in good shape, but maybe a bit pricey by Newcastle's standards at £3.90. This pub is well worth a visit to admire the wonderful interior which probably surpasses anything you're likely to encounter in the city. However, I'm not convinced that such a vast and rather cold feeling room makes for a particularly great pub environment unless you happen to visit at a busy time of day. For me this didn't work as well as some of the country's best station bars (e.g. York Tap, West Riding Refreshment Rooms, Sheffield Tap) but still very much merits a visit, making a great start or end point for anyone visiting the city by train.