Welcome...
Small, quiet, intimate and friendly are four of the common adjectives used to describe Oddfellows. The bar has a unique atmosphere conducive to relaxation whilst you while away the time amongst friends. Oddfellows is a pub run along traditional lines, being very much wet led, with only a limited range of lunchtime bar meals on offer.
Three trad ales are always on tap (Currently Jarrow Brewery's Jarrow bitter and Greene King's Abbot Ale plus one guest ale), and pride is always taken in their quality. Oddfellows has been included in every CAMRA Good Beer Guide since 2005. Also always on sale is an almost unique selection of bottle conditioned beers. For our bottle conditioned menu and tasting notes please follow the 'beers' link.
The pub boasts two darts teams, two football teams and a golf society as well as supporting and sponsoring the North Shields F.C., all of which help to enhance the pubs identity.
2005 saw the opening of the South facing beer garden and one year later a partial shelter was added in anticipation of the anti smoking legislation.
Oddfellows is owned and managed by Graeme and Jane who took over on 3rd March 2003. Graeme is 35 and was born in North Shields only a stones throw away from where the pub stands in the old Preston Hospital. His background is in the licensed trade and managing Oddfellows is his only job. Jane is 36, hails from Middlesbrough and has a 'proper' job in marketing. Graeme and Jane would like to extend a cordial welcome to all Oddfellows customers, both current and future.
Introducing Oddfellows staff...
Mark - 48 years old
Mark is our longest serving member of staff with his service dating back to approximately 1994ish, although no-one seems to remember exactly. Mark has become pretty much part of the furniture over the years, performing numerous reliefs for Peter and Janet and remaining a trusted stalwart today.
Tracey - wouldn't admit age! (about 21)
Similar to Mark in that Tracey has worked at Oddies for donkeys years transcending both the Peter and Janet era and the Graeme and Jane years that have followed. It's a fact that Tracey knows at least half of the good folk o' Shields, many of whom visit Oddfellows purely to hear her dulcet tones. Took on extra shifts when Liam left for pastures new and so is much more likely to be seen behind the bar than ever before.
Lynne, 35, has been working at Oddfellows since early 2008 but will not let anyone take her picture. If anyone can get a decent sneaky picture of her then there's a pint in it!
Thomas, 23, became the latest addition to the Oddfellows family in the summer of 2009. Many will recognise his face as Thomas played for the darts team on and off for six years previously and is the son of the late Eddy Cox who was an Oddfellows stalwart from the days preceding Graeme and Jane. Thomas seems to enjoy the job so hopefully will be a fixture for years to come. Picture to follow.
Other faces you may see behind the bar from time to time are Trevor, Shelley, Carl and Reg who all occasionally fill in when required.
