The industrial backdrop of the Ship Inn brought many local workers to the once popular St. Hilda’s pub (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

Middlesbrough across the decades has boasted a vibrant nightlife and a rich array of bars, clubs and pubs. However, many of the watering holes that were once at the heart of community life and where many lifelong friendships were formed have in recent decades closed and some demolished, whilst others have been repurposed as offices, community and cultural venues.

As emphasis is placed on town centres as spaces of entertainment and leisure amidst unprecedented challenges faced by the High Street as consumer retail patterns change and the nation faces a ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ that threatens the survival of remaining retailers and pubs, Historian Tosh Warwick delves into his latest book Historic Middlesbrough, featuring material from private collections and Teesside Archives, to look back at the town’s lost and historic bars and pubs and points to some lessons from history.

Historic Middlesbrough is available from local bookshops and online at www.heritageunlocked.com/shop/historicmiddlesbrough

Do you have any photographs or memories of Middlesbrough’s old pubs? Get in touch at info@heritageunlocked.com or share your memories below.

The Ship Inn

For over 170 years, The Ship Inn in St. Hilda’s was a popular pub in the heart of industrial Middlesbrough. A favourite of the St. Hilda’s community, local workers and visitors to the town from the nearby River Tees.

A busy scene outside The Ship Inn (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

These previously unpublished photographs by the late Les Bulman from the collections of Teesside Archives capture life inside and outside of the iconic, historic pub in the 1970s.

The Ship Inn (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

They include a photograph of pub manager Ken Whitfield playing darts, who was famed as a nail throwing expert who could dislodge a bottle top from a willing participant’s nose by throwing a nail that would then go on to hit the dartboard!

Later known at the Middlehaven, a fire ravaged the building in 2012 to drive a final nail into the coffin of the historic watering hole.

Ken Whitfield in The Ship Inn (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

The Masham

Dating back to Victorian Middlesbrough, The Masham boasts a rich history including playing host to Middlesbrough FC fans and players celebrating FA Amateur Cup success in 1898. For over a century, The Masham was one of the town’s most popular public houses and many have fond memories of the warm chicken sandwiches and the camaraderie to be found in the town centre venue. .

Les Bulman’s photograph captures The Masham in the 1970s (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

Later converted into retail premises in the 1990s, The Masham is now home to Navigator North and hosts a number of events and exhibitions celebrating Middlesbrough’s heritage. The move to bring the former retail space into use as a cultural and community space reflects shifts in town centres across the country where changing consumer retail and leisure practices have necessitated creative reuse of both small and large units previously occupied by national chains and well-known brands. The buildings past is not forgotten however, and the Grade II Listed historic gem features an impressive tiled frontage and mosaic lettering reading ‘Masham Hotel’ that serves as a visible reminder of the former Bass house.

The Corporation Hotel

The imposing Corporation Hotel is shown here on the left with Amos Hinton’s on the right of this postcard image (Paul Stephenson Collection)

The Corporation Hotel or the ‘Corp’ is remembered fondly by many Teessiders as a beautiful building and is noted as the birthplace of Wendy Richard who enjoyed TV fame, including as Pauline Fowler in Eastenders.

The Corporation Hotel’s Corporaton Road entrance taken from the junction with Albert Road (Teesside Archives)

The grand building was demolished as extensive change of the Middlesbrough skyline occurred in the town centre owing to the development of new retail and office space in the 1970s through the construction of the Cleveland Centre and Corporation House.

The Princess Alice

A relatively recent loss to the Middlesbrough pub scene, The Princess Alice was a popular town centre pub for entertainment and sports fans for many decades. The pub eventually closed in the mid-2010s but unlike some of its predecessors, has avoided the threat of the wrecking ball and after life as a pub was repurposed as office and training space.

A man enjoys a pint and smoke in The Princess Alice (Teesside Archives, Les Bulman Collection)

Thankfully, the community life and figures who frequented the ‘Alice’ in the 1970s were captured through the foresight of Les Bulman and we are able to get a sense of pub life in the the town half a century ago.

The Bodega

The demolition of the Royal Exchange is arguably one of the most divisive topics in the town’s history, with many decrying the loss of the derelict former home of Dorman Long and British Steel Teesside as an act of architectural vandalism.

Bodega Bows Out, 1984 (Evening Gazette & Teesside Archives), featured in ‘Memories of Middlesbrough in the 1970s and 1980s’, available at www.heritageunlocked.com/shop/middlesbrough1970s1980s

As well as felling the Drawing Hall and offices where landmarks such as Sydney Harbour Bridge were sketched, the demolition of the building also meant the end for the Bodega and last orders were called in September 1984.

The Middlesbrough Empire

Whilst many of Middlesbrough’s famous pubs and bars have disappeared from the local skyline, leaving behind only memories and a void for many pubgoers, there are a number of examples throughout the town where bars, pubs and nightclubs have brought new life to historic buildings. Arguably the stand out example of this is the transformation of the Empire Palace of Varieties - and later a Mecca Bingo Hall - into one of the leading nightspots in the North East in the form of the Middlesbrough Empire.

This Empire Palace of Varieties in the early twentieth century (Ernest Burniston Collection)

Lessons from the Past

Whilst it is clear that city and town centres across the country face huge changes and need to embrace change amidst the move from retail-dominated centres, by looking back at examples from Middlesbrough’s history there are certainly lessons from the past around valuing pubs and clubs as important parts of local leisure provision. Since the Victorian era local pubs and clubs have been key features of a vibrant Middlesbrough town centre and an important part of local community and social life. Support of local pubs - many based in historic buildings and repurposed venues - will help ensure the businesses and buildings remain a prominent feature of the town centre. Where pubs have closed down, it is important that these historic venues are not left to rot and by embracing creative repurposing of historic buildings as we have seen with The Masham and the Empire, we can also help ensure the survival of the town’s historic buildings so that current and future generations can appreciate Middlesbrough’s history and heritage. For those that have been flattened, we are at least able to turn to the rich collections and records of archives such as Teesside Archives to discover this rich part of the area’s cultural, economic and social history.

Historic Middlesbrough by Tosh Warwick is available to buy at www.heritageunlocked.com/shop/historicmiddlesbrough and selected local bookshops.

Photos: Ernest Burniston, Geoff Lumb, Middlesbrough Libraries, Paul Stephenson, Teesside Archives

Features

Middlesbrough's historic and lost pubs: a pub crawl through time to the town's famous watering holes