The Duke of Wellington, Newcastle Central, Newcastle Upon Tyne

I passed by this pub earlier and immediately recognised it as the old CAMRA Investments pub from over 35 years previously. Way back in early CAMRA days they formed an offshoot company that opened a small chain of pubs, this being the last one as far as I can remember. Others were in Bristol, Cambridge, Hampstead in London, Belle Vue in Manchester and Leeds. I remember this one particularly for serving Jennings beers which in those days was unheard of outside the Lake District and their Cockermouth & Keswick tied estate when they probably only brewed a mild and bitter. How things have changed! It's now under the ownership of the Beast From The East (Greene King). Despite that it's still something of a real ale venue and consists of a wide open plan room with an island bar. The nine hand pumps had two unused, Robinson's Dizzy Blonde which had gone, GK IPA, Old Hoppy hen & Belhaven 80 Shillings, Taylor's Landlord, St Austell Liquid Sunshine and Deuchars IPA. I went for the Hoppy Hen (£3.60) which was in good nick. This pub is set in the heart of a hot spot for GBG listed venues but the current beer choice let it down although the quality was fine. If GK could get their act together by allowing a better choice of preferably local ales then this could be a real contender for a GBG place. It's a decent pub now but could be better.

The Duke of Wellington is a small L shaped boozer that is decked out with pictures and prints of its namesake. During my visit on Monday evening a couple of weeks ago there were twenty or so people in watching the Newcastle v Man City game on the two flat screen televisions. I found the service from the young barmaids to be very friendly and my colleague was offered a taster from one of the eight ales/ciders found on the nine hand pumps. The bar also supports a standard keg range alongside Birra Moretti, Peroni and Brew Dog’s Punk IPA. There were no obvious signs of food, but my visit was after any kitchen would have closed. I liked it in here so I would have no problem returning if in the area