Home > Northumberland > Newcastle Upon Tyne > NE1 > Haymarket Hotel Haymarket Hotel
Date of photo: 1987	Picture source: Marc Johnson
The Haymarket Hotel was situated on Haymarket. This pub opened in 1833 and was closed and demolished in 1987.
I absolutely loved this pub. We were students and lived in here around 1980 -83 in the back room which was covered with posters of rock bands and had the best jukebox anywhere. The tunes I remember were Hollywood nights, Dixie Chicken, lots of Stones and Run Rudolph Run - Keith Richards version. We drank Brown Ale and Pernod chasers. I asked for wine once and got it in a half pint glass with lots of gubbins at the bottom. Never again. In the afternoon it was dotted with lecturers having a quiet pint like Peter Jones, famous classicist. If we went in at lunchtime we never got out until the next morning. Evenings were packed. There was one ladies toilet. You had to stand on the seat to flush the chain until the seat vanished altogether one day- tricky after a few beers. There was an unwritten rule that you could not do your trousers up before vacating the cubicle. There was always a queue and it was frowned upon to be in there for any longer than absolutely necessary. We all wore jeans and old green army jackets. The boys loved the two girls who worked the bar. I can't remember their names now but my boyfriend had a fling with the dark haired one. Jimmy Nail was in the bar sometimes or rehearsing upstairs. We always stayed in the back room. There was communal singing to the juke box. There were faces we knew, didn't know names, but we shared somehing special. There was an older lady who was always drunk and wanted to borrow your eyeliner or lipstick. We just used to give them to her. It had a reputation for being very rough and I think it was rough but the manager kept an eye on me if i was in there alone beacuse we were regulars. Once someone cut his wrists in the back room and lay on the floor in a pool of blood until he was taken away. I think he worked at the shipyards. We all signed petitions to save it. Looking back now I can see why they might have closed it but I thought it was magic.
Lily Sinclair (June 2012)
I believe it was the pub featured on the inner sleeve photos of the Lindisfarne hit album "Fog on the Tyne" There are five photos, one of each band member, taken inside the pub having drinks.
Nigel Walden (December 2014)
I left for Australia and couldn't believe that it had been knocked down when I returned on holiday. I had great lunchtime sessions in this pub. It was a real mix of people from all walks of life. Janice was one of the barmaids. The managers name I can't recall but I can still see her face. A brilliant juke box- I can remember Eric Claptons Layla and Boston more than a feeling blasting out. I recently returned to the toon and showed my family the site of the Haymarket. I still can't understand why they knocked it down.
Mike Reid, Lake Eacham, Australia (April 2017)
The Haymarket Hotel in Newcastle was, and remains, my favourite pub. Used to drink in there at lunchtimes regularly. I remember well the fantastic juke box, especially Radar Love by Golden Earring which always seemed to be playing when you went in. Also the small back room with all the rock posters on the wall. I bought a couple of Amon Duul albums off Terry the barman (who rode with the Newcastle Ghost Riders if I remember correctly?). It was criminal that the university knocked the pub down to build a car park. But if anyone out there remembers the Haymarket Hotel and is in Newcastle, the bar and gantry from it are installed in the upstairs bar at the Cumberland Arms, Byker.
Chris Purdon (March 2018)
I used to live in Newcastle up until 1971. Quite often me and friends would go into the bar on our Friday nights out. On one occasion my mate Doug spotted at the other end of the bar Alan Hull. However being young lads we did not have the courage to go over and say hello. Therefore I can confirm that at least he had been in the pub, which was alluded to in the piece I read that all members of Lindisfarne had their photos taken there. A few years ago I went to a gig in Clitheroe, Lancashire and got to meet with Ray Laidlaw. We got talking after he mentioned a gig that they put on at Newcastle Town Moor. I was supposed to go to that festival but had been the worse for wear after too many pints etc. the night before. I regret that I did not get to see the fledgling Lindisfarne on that day but did get to see them numerous times since.
Alan Tierney (March 2021)
Do you have any anecdotes, historical information, updates or photos of this pub? Become a contributor by submitting them here. Like this site? Follow us on Make email contact with other ex-customers and landlords of this pub by adding your details to this page.
Other Photos
Fog On The Tyne album cover taken inside The Haymarket