Then and now - the Broken Doll pub was a popular haunt of bikers and students
TODAY there’s no trace of it - but how many of us enjoyed a pint in this Newcastle pub at one time or another?
In 2017 there’s only the constant roar of traffic on St James’ Boulevard.
But for decades, the Broken Doll played host to generations of city drinkers.
Bulldozed in the 1990s, few would argue that in its later years it was in need of a lick of paint or two.
But its demolition much like that of the Farmer’s Rest and Haymarket pubs deprived the city of another of its traditional Victorian-built watering holes.
Many of us will remember the Broken Doll as a raucous, rougharound-the-edges live music bar with a mixed crowd.
Inside the walls were plastered with posters advertising local groups, and outside there was often a row of impressive motorbikes parked up.
Countless punk and blues bands plied their trade here, making it one of Newcastle’s most earthy and energetic live venues.
And the Broken Doll was also a favourite haunt of students from nearby Newcastle College.
But long before the punks, students, bikers and blues fans came calling, it was known as the Coach and Horses and was a traditional Toon boozer.
According to the Newcastle historian Steve Ellwood, there was a pub on this site at 23 Blenheim Street built around 1850.
It was rebuilt in 1903 and later came under the ownership of Richard Charlton Ltd, the business which also ran Charlton’s Bond on Thornton Street.
It became the Broken Doll in 1983.
More than three decades later, we can add it to the list of Newcastle’s favourite ‘lost’ bars.