A photograph from 1972 captures Newcastle’s Haymarket area, centered on the now-vanished Farmers’ Rest pub on Percy Street. The pub, with roots dating to the early 1800s, was demolished in the 1990s as part of a major redevelopment that expanded Marks & Spencer and Haymarket bus station.
The Farmers’ Rest: A Historic Pub
The Farmers’ Rest was first recorded in March 1837, three months before Queen Victoria’s accession. It was advertised to let with a brewhouse and stabling for 15 horses, reflecting its location on the turnpike route between Newcastle and Edinburgh. By 1888, it was a well-known landmark described by the Evening Chronicle as having “an excellent bar, bar parlour, snug, back parlour, kitchen, cellar on the ground floor, and two rooms above.”
Rebuilt in the early 20th century, the pub became a favorite for local traders and, in the 1980s and early 1990s, a match-day gathering point for Newcastle United fans and a weekend haven for rock fans.
1970s Revamp and Ghostly Tales
In 1973, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries revamped the pub, adding a beer’n’byte lounge and entering the pub grub market. A year later, the Sunday Sun reported ghostly occurrences in the cellar, once part of Newcastle Breweries’ ginger beer works. The manager said: “My Alsatian used to howl when I took him down. I heard laughing voices and the cold sent shivers down my spine.”
Redevelopment and Demolition
In 1994, Marks & Spencer announced a major expansion, doubling its sales floor from 72,000 to 140,000 square feet, making it the chain’s second-largest store after Marble Arch. Haymarket bus station was also slated for a full rebuild. The Farmers’ Rest sat in the middle of the proposed site. Early plans to rebuild it as a New Orleans-style bar met resistance from the Campaign for Real Ale, a Newcastle University architecture professor, and loyal customers. One local said: “It would be a real shame to change it.” Despite opposition, the pub was demolished and not replaced.
Legacy and 2026 View
A 2026 photograph shows the site now occupied by the expanded Marks & Spencer, the rebuilt Haymarket bus station, and the Eldon Square multi-storey car park. The Farmers’ Rest’s disappearance is part of a broader loss of traditional Newcastle pubs to redevelopment, a small but significant cultural subtraction.
