OK, it’s a tough job – but
BLOGGER SAMPLES CLOSEST PUB TO EVERY STATION ON THE METRO
Reporter BOOZE blogger Helen Newman has just completed the ultimate Tyneside pub crawl – by having a drink at the nearest boozer to all 60 Metro stations.
It was a task completed with not a little help from husband Dave Newman and a number of very willing friends.
The crawl took 12 months to complete and meant a visit to 61 hostelries in all. The extra pub trip was because the Botanist and the Charles Grey were as close to the Monument as each other and – being thorough – the pair went to both.
Helen, from Kingston Park, Newcastle, said: “I’m a bit relieved to have finished it – I think my liver could do with a rest. But I’m also a bit sad because I’ve got some great feedback and I’m really proud to have finished it.” Helen admits the original idea wasn’t hers – she read a 2013 blog in which a group of men were trying to do the same thing who she tried unsuccessfully to contact. The site doesn’t exist now and she could find no record of them completing the crawl. Helen Newman on the day she and husband Dave racked up NINE pubs
Helen, 35, who works in the NHS, began at the Victory pub near to South Gosforth station in December 2016. Just before New Year she completed her last trip to Wardles Bar at Hebburn with Dave and some friends.
She said they began at pubs close to home, then ventured to others near where friends lived.
After that it was a case of turning up at a Metro station and using Google maps to locate a pub – or simply having a walk round until they stumbled upon one.
Helen said: “We had a funny experience at Howdon. We got off and weren’t particularly sure of the right direction to go in. We asked someone and he said ‘there’s nowhere to drink around here’ which didn’t bode well.
“But we walked up the road and past an Aldi and next to it was a social club (High Howdon Social Club). There was no-one on the front door and we walked in. We said we’re not members but could we have a drink and they said no problem.”
Helen said the welcome was typical of the experience they had on the crawl.
“The big thing that surprised me, genuinely, was how friendly all the places were. Maybe at 10pm at night at some of them it might be a different matter, but we found that us North East folk are a friendly bunch.”
Helen said on one day she and Dave visited NINE pubs in one day.
“We drank halves. That was a long day and we realised then this was a big challenge.”
She said her favourite was the Carriage in Jesmond.
“It was just my type of pub,” said Helen. “It was right next to the Metro station, there was an open fire and Tom Petty was on the juke box. What more could you want?”
The challenge is detailed on her Honestly Helen blog https:// honestlyhelen.com/the-winebeer-metro/