Keith Scantlebury

Huh, they've all had me beaten

Boys from the Black Stuff

AS it has been said " Nostalgia is not what it used to be ".

Have they all played Shakesperian Kings ( Richard 111, Henry 11 etc,) ?

Malcolm's our very own Superman, Merc, how the hell he has not been arrested, pestering folk on the front st on a Fri / Sat night dressed like that is beyond me. Never mind Malcolm I agree, think you must be right......... Keith, hand him a prize befitting a super hero

Aye Brian, someone told me that they have moved to East View.

Just what we saying last year, if you remember. The litter on a weekend is terrible sometimes and the local rat population is well fed

If there is one way to get a freebie at the bar, that is it Merc !! The closure (and demolition in the Terriers case) should not be allowed. Many of these pubs are part of the towns history, peoples memories, were couples met. I know pouring money into a failing business does nobody any good, but it is the tenants that are doing all of the pouring ( pun intended) The breweries are doing nothing to help them. They want to see the money coming in and they dont seem to care where it comes from, the tenants rent or to the highest bidder who will take a well flogged horse off their hands. In the case of the Percy Arms, Harry has had that place on the market for a considerable time now, who can blame him for selling to the chip shop owners if they were waving a bag of cash in front of him. That man drank in the Percy for years and years before he bought it, he would have liked nothing better than to sell to someone who would carry on running it as a pub, he propably would have continued drinking there. The people who drank in those now closed pubs dont necessarily move on to frequent other pubs, many just dont bother going out anymore, they will stay in with a few cans in front of the telly. So one pubs demise does not mean another pubs gain , it is just a warning of what will come. Sad but true

somebody elses

YEP !! A proper martyr I was

Brian

Wether the Percy was anyones favorite or not Keith, the fact is that long established boozers are closing at an alarming rate, never to serve another pint. Re the George and Dragon ( the Queens bar) Can anyone remember the Pihrrana fish behind the bar ? They had to put a lid on the tank to stop people chucking bits of pie in.

School Transport ? Whats that ? I would have to walk 6 miles to school with holes in my wellies, wearing no socks. I would be wearing a sleeveless jumper (and I mean sleeveless, a jumper with the sleeves taken off, not a tank top). I had no coat on ( didn't have one) , only wearing school shorts. I would be walking over ploughed fields most of the way , head down pushing my way into the wind , rain and snow. ( it was only good weather at weekends in those days). My lunch box, containing a stale jam sandwich, was one that I found in the pit yard. I wasn't allowed to eat with the other kids 'cos I was infested with head lice. The journey back was often worse because I would have to carry one of the younger kids back home, the long days at school would have worn him out. This was the summer time, Winter was another matter, dark mornings and afternoons meant it all took a bit longer. But, when I got home, there was real bread, with rrrrrrreal butter, ( for everyone else,never me )

Done it.

It now looks like the Percy is no longer going to be a pub. Word is, the owners of the fish and chip shop next door have bought it and are to turn it into a fish and chip restraunt with flats above. Its a shame that this is allowed to happen.

Agreed with Merc, ssssssssssssssnnnnakes , now pack your bags Keith and head for the Port of Sheepwash (the Anglers Arms wharf)

Modern derivatve = SKANK

War of the worlds ? (or similar)

I thought (like keith) he checked out years ago

The Railway had a big fireplace in the lounge ( where they eventually put the juke box ) . It was used up until the early '70s. The Bank Top had one in the bar below the dart board, one in the telly / select room behind the bar and one in what became the pool room.

we took a tractor from the dairy unit on a few occaisions, even though there may have been half a dozen of us clambering all over the thing, you could bet your bottom dollar that it would be me that gotthe bollicking for taking it if we were caught out. Even if I was nowhere near the drivers seat !!

Aye gan on then

Yup , but it is up the road from Ponteland at Ogle the Wagon is on the opposite side . Good memories frequenting both establishments while I was a student at Kirkley Hall.