Curley's pub, a Gateshead High Street venue once described as “full of laughter,” is set to be demolished in the new year, prompting former regulars to look back on the site's history. Gateshead Council confirmed earlier this week that it would flatten both Curley's pub and Park Lane club as part of a long-promised town centre regeneration plan.
The announcement has sparked an outpouring of nostalgia, with the council's social media channels flooded with hundreds of memories of the derelict watering holes, including accounts from couples who met for the first time at Curley's.
Regeneration plans and demolition
After being left boarded up for months, Curley's was purchased by the local authority last year in a drive to buy up privately-owned sites in the area to make redevelopment simpler. The planned demolition work, which follows the removal of the Gateshead Flyover, is part of a vision to replace rundown properties with a new neighbourhood featuring modern homes, green spaces, community facilities, and pedestrian and bike-friendly routes.
On Thursday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to people in Gateshead to get their views on the scheduled change in the area and its potential future.
Former regulars share memories
Samuel Livingston-Reid, 64, of Slatyford, said: “It is a shame all these bars are going, all of those memories of when I was a young lad. It’s a shame, honestly, but at least we are seeing what kind of modernisation we will get.
“That’s what you call modernisation, out with the old and in with the new, and I don’t blame them. It might be an improvement; it might not be. It will all depend on society. What I expect is a lot of flats and office spaces for start-ups.
“It was full of laughter; it was friendly. There used to be loads of bars here, and I knew when I was younger, before long they would be gone, and they would build apartments.”
Council criticism and future hopes
A £90 million vision to breathe new life into the high street was showcased back in 2019, but the slow progress since has consistently been a source of criticism of the council. George Wade, 68, of Teams, said: “It [Curley’s] has been empty with no one in for the last 12 months or something. But what are they going to do with it?
“How many pubs did we used to have? The Park Lane, you had the William, you couldn’t have a pint in every pub [because there were so many]. But something else needs to be done with Gateshead High Street.”
The 68-year-old continued: “If you can keep a pub it’s better; people will come and do a bit of shopping anyway, but if all the businesses go you’re snookered, aren’t you?”
Curley's is not a listed building, but is recognised on Gateshead's local list of historically significant buildings. Last month, local authority chiefs were told that businesses in the area felt “abandoned” due to the lack of development since the 2019 vision was announced.
Town centre local Steve Miller, 67, said: “For 20 years they have said they were doing the High Street, so they should get on with it.” On the area's glory days, Steve added: “You’d walk from the top and be drunk by the time you got to the Metropole.”
On what the future of Gateshead High Street should be, he said: “It wouldn’t be pubs. It takes 10 minutes to walk to Newcastle and people might say, ‘I’ll meet you here,’ but then you go elsewhere. Before the Metro started, people would come to Gateshead, and that was it. The whole place needed regeneration, but it has done for years.”
