News

POT IN THE PUB

AUGUST will see the introduction of superb quality pub grub at Oddfellows. A range of home cooked meals, prepared using fresh, locally sourced ingredients, will be available all day, every day. The menu will take the form of pot meals and will include:

Steak and Ale Cottage Pot – Beautiful, tender pieces of beef cooked in rich, real ale gravy and topped with creamy and buttery mashed potato.
Pheasant Balti – Locally sourced pheasant cooked to a traditional Indian recipe and served with basmati rice. Medium hot.
Chilli Macaroni Cheese – Macaroni cooked in a cheesy white sauce with fresh chillies added to give it a kick. Medium hot. Suitable for vegetarians.
Traditional Fish Pie – Locally sourced fresh fish from North Shields fish quay cooked in a white sauce and topped with creamy and buttery mashed potato.
Mince and Dumplings – Top quality steak mince cooked in rich gravy and served with traditional suet dumplings.
Five Bean Casserole – Red kidney, black eye, borlotti, pea navy and baby green lima beans casseroled with fresh vegetables and garlic in a tomato based sauce. Suitable for vegetarians.

All pot meals will be served with fresh crusty bread and butter, ideal for dunking!

THE BERKELEY TAVERN

HAVE you visited Oddfellows’ new sister pub, The Berkeley Tavern in Whitley Bay, yet?

Similar to Oddies with quality real ales, a relaxing atmosphere and even a daytime saver scheme. There’s also dart boards and TVs, plus a pool table and lots of comfortable seating in the bar and lounge and there’s even a function room free for large parties.

CHEERS TO ALL

THE observant amongst you may have noticed a new addition to Oddfellows of late. ‘Cheers’ is a quality and free publication written for people who believe in, and frequent, quality pubs.

It is the brainchild of Alastair Gilmore who is a former winner of the title ‘beer writer of the year’ which is a national award. He also contributes regularly to the Newcastle Journal via his column in the ‘Taste’ supplement. Cheers will provide information and articles that are relevant to pub goers including drinks reviews, pub reviews and pieces on all aspects of pub life.

We at Oddfellows wish Cheers all the best and can recommend it for a good read.

DAYTIME SAVERS

REMEMBER we are still running our daytime saver scheme. From Monday to Friday until 5.30pm you will receive a saver card when purchasing a pint of draught product. Each time you buy a pint the card will be stamped. When the card is full (after 5 pints) you will receive your 6th pint free. This effectively knocks up to 59p off a pint for daytime drinkers.

CALLING THE CIDER DRINKERS

FOLLOWING the recent success of the Beer Festival we are now proud to announce that our 2nd annual Cider Festival will be taking place during the first weekend in October. Yet again this will be one of the only dedicated Cider Festivals to take place in the north east of England.

The format will be very similar to that of the beer festival with the bar set up in the beer garden. We will be offering a total of 16 real ciders, perrys and even the odd pider. Helping us out over the festival are the fantastic, self-styled, ‘Cider Tarts’, who will be sporting their own design in cider tartware! The tarts will be using their experience to order a selection of ciders that all will be able to enjoy and will be on hand throughout the festival to guide and advise those not used to the real kind of cider.

Details of the ciders available will be known closer to the event so watch this space. The cider festival will open at 7pm on Thursday 30th September and will run through to last orders on Sunday 3rd October – stock permitting. Don’t forget we always stock Weston’s Organic Vintage, a real cider, throughout the year.

BEER CRAWL

THE annual jaunt around almost all of North Shields hostelries took place in July. As usual the brave and thirsty participants were collecting sponsorship and donations for the Stroke Association and a good night was had by all – those who can remember it anyway!!

Sixteen pubs were visited and the course completed (on time for once) raising somewhere around the £500 mark although most of the sponsor money is still to come in so this could rise yet. This is an annual event and is always a fantastic night. Anyone interested in taking part in next year's 'beer tasting event' (or pub crawl) should watch this space or have a word with Graeme in the bar. Visit "Oddfellows Pub, North Shields" on Facebook to see the photos.

CRICKET

ALTHOUGH there are only a few games left of this season we are still looking for recruits for our mid-week cricket team, particularly Oddfellows drinkers. Home games are played at Priors Park, generally on Mondays and the remaining fixtures are on the notice board of the pub. Results are beginning to improve but don’t be fooled, the social side is the most important. Phone James on 07590 321197 if you are interested in joining us.

NEW FISHING CLUB

IT has been suggested by an interested group of regulars that Oddfellows could support a fishing club.

The exact form it would take is still to be settled but it has been mooted that the club would give a social aspect to the past-time (or sport if you prefer), giving members access to company and to the knowledge, tips and stories that are associated with such company.

All types of fishing would be catered for so whether you are into sea fishing from a boat or from land or whether river fishing is more your thing maybe this could be for you. The club would provide a platform for beginners to get into fishing and could even, maybe, run in-house competitions.

There is a sheet up in the bar and anyone interested should put their name down with a contact number. If there is enough interest the club will receive the full backing of Oddfellows.

SATURDAY TEA FOR FREE

DON’T forget from 7pm - 9pm every Saturday night, every drink bought (or £2 spent) entitles you to an item from our Saturday BBQ, all freshly cooked to order

ODDFELLOWS CRICKET CLUB

ODDFELLOWS have recently entered a team into the North Eastern Midweek Cricket League. We are striving to keep this very much a pub team and have resisted the temptation to fill the team with ringers. This does mean however that we are intent on finding cricketing talent that also drinks in the bar. If you think that this could be you and you fancy playing the odd game please call James on 07590 321197.

Home games are played at Priors Park, Tynemouth, usually on a Monday, and away fixtures on other nights. Anyone who appreciates the sound of leather on willow can support the lads from 6pm onwards. Fixture list in Oddies.

BEER TASTING

ODDFELLOWS are running the 5th Charity Beer Tasting Event, in North Shields’ pubs on Sat 17 July.

This year we are hoping to see more participants, more fun and, more money raised for charity.

For those that don’t know the format, the “tasters” will be visiting 16 hostelries, sampling a half pint in each (for which they will firstly gain sponsorship), whilst carrying collecting buckets. The entrance fee of £35 (or £45 for vodka drinkers) includes all drinks and a limited edition t-shirt with any change going into the charity pot.

The evening is always a great night and even though a runner is sent in advance to order drinks the team often end up running from pub to pub towards the end of the night, mainly due to the generosity of local folk.

THE BERKELEY TAVERN

ODDFELLOWS’ new sister pub, The Berkeley Tavern, is now well and truly up and running.

If you are ever in Whitley Bay pop in and you will find a home from home with quality real ales, a relaxing atmosphere and their very own daytime saver scheme. You will also find multiple dart boards and televisions, a pool table and lots of comfortable seating in the bar. The lounge is even more sumptuously furnished and with none of the bar’s distractions is designed for relaxation. Plus there are plans to introduce home cooked food soon.

Upstairs there is a fantastic function room, which is free to hire for large parties, please call on 0191 252 7755. Trevor and Shelley are your hosts.

POKER PRIZE

THE latest Oddfellows’ Poker Champion is Richard Carr who won through against the other nine finalists to win the £100 prize money and the associated glory.

Finals tournaments are held every quarter with the finalists qualifying from the weekly, free to enter, poker nights held every Wednesday. Poker nights are open to all abilities whether semi-pro or beginner, with places available on a first come, first served basis.

MARKSMAN

THE latest Oddfellows’ darts trip saw 12 members of the A and B teams travelling to the Yorkshire Dales to take on locals.

A winning weekend was had by all, but in particular Mark Stephenson who walked away with the £100 first prize.

And judging by some recent performances, we suspect, that some members of the team are still recovering from this weekend!!

FUTURE FESTIVAL FRIVOLITIES

FOLLOWING the recent success of the 5th Oddfellows’ Beer Festival we are now proud to announce that our 2nd annual Cider Festival is pencilled in to take place this September. Yet again this will be one of the only dedicated Cider Festivals to take place in the north east of England.

Having witnessed the growing popularity of real cider and perry, not just at our own beer festival, but at festivals all across the region, we are confident that once again this event will be a big hit.

As with the Beer Festival, the cider bar will be set up in the beer garden (or should that be cider garden!) It will also be staffed by the infamous "cider tarts", usually seen patrolling the cider bar at the Newcastle Beer Festival. Watch this space for more details.

ARE YOU A CIDER DRINKER?

ODDFELLOWS is proud to announce that its inaugural cider festival is to take place over the last weekend of September. The format will be very similar to that of the beer festival held in early May with the festival bar set up in the beer garden. We will be offering a total of 16 real ciders, perrys and even the odd pider in what, we are assured, is the only dedicated cider festival in the North East of England. Helping us out over the festival are the fantastic, self styled, ‘Cider Tarts’, who will be sporting their own design in cider tartware! The tarts will be using their experience to order a selection of ciders that all will be able to enjoy and will be on hand throughout the festival to guide and advise those not used to the real kind of cider.

Exactly which ciders will be available will not be finalised until closer to the event but watch this space for details. The cider festival will open at 7pm on Thursday 24th September and will run through to last orders on Sunday 27th September – stock permitting. Similar to our Beer Festival we are hoping that this will become an annual event and as the real cider market is growing every year we are optimistic of it being a resounding success. Don’t forget that throughout the year we always stock a real cider in the form of Weston’s Organic Vintage.

LOCAL FOOTBALL SUPPORT

THE football season is upon us and Oddfellows are once again entertaining the town’s football team after their Saturday home games and also have a Sunday afternoon team playing from the bar. Good luck to both outfits for the forthcoming season. We are also hopeful of North Shields Ladies F.C. using the pub on Sunday afternoons. Any other team that can offer patronage in exchange for sponsorship would be more than welcome. Interested parties please contact the pub and ask for Graeme.

Since then the kitchen has been extensively refurbished and the pubs interior has had a fresh coat of paint to freshen the place up. During the work earlier this month the pub was forced to close for two days which was unfortunate but hopefully the disruption was worth it and the shiny new décor will see us through the next few years without further interruption.

FUN IN THE SUN

FOLLOWING two dismal summers, the long term forecasters are telling us that this year things are going to be better. What better way to enjoy thesunshine than to spend it with friends in a South-facing sun trap whilst your drink of choice slips down effortlessly. Oddfellows beer garden can offer you all this and more. It is equipped with an outside television, smoking shelter (just in case it does rain), BBQ, dartboard, and has just been re-planted.

On Saturdays we are still running the ever-popular free BBQs in the garden. For those that haven’t spent a Saturday in Oddfellows, we should let you know that we will provide your supper. Every drink bought or £2 spent over the bar entitles you to a free item of your choice, freshly cooked on the BBQ. BBQs run every Saturday from 7pm until 9pm.

FESTIVAL FANKS

THIS year’s Beer Festival, held in early May, was a huge success. During 5 days of brisk sales we got through 20 beers, 3 ciders and 1 perry, a whopping 1,600 pints!

As usual we would like to thank Alan Stobbs for ordering the beer and arranging the festival staff as he has every year. Thanks also go to Dick Atlee of Real Ale Technical Services, Darren Wheatley of Alfa Property Services and all who Alan roped in to lend a hand. Next year’s festival will be around the same time of year (May Bank Holiday).

CUT THE COST

DON’T forget that we are still running our daytime saver scheme for our regular customers. From Monday to Friday until 5.30pm you will receive a saver card when purchasing a pint of any draught product and a stamp with each pint. Once the card is full (after 5 pints) hand it over and you will receive your 6th pint absolutely free, saving you up to 57p off every pint.

NEW CIDER

We can proudly announce a new draft product in the shape of Westons Old Rosie. We have sold this before (from a box behind the bar at room temperature) but this time it pours at a perfect 10 degrees centigrade. Old Rosie has been on sale for a few weeks now and is already proving a big hit although at 7.3% a few customers have learned to treat it with respect the hard way. Old Rosie is a traditional cloudy scrumpy.

NEW WINE OFFER

Oddfellows new wine offer will be unveiled in the near furure. Rather than selling lots of wine by the bottle, which although a grand and slightly romantic idea proved to be unworkable in the long run, the new offer will consist of a reduced list that is never the less wholly available by the glass as well as the bottle. The new list will consist of two whites, two reds and a blush as well as a sparkling wine that will obviously still be by the bottle.

QUIZ JACKPOT

Regular quiz nights have been held at Oddfellows for a number of years now on thursday(9pm) and Sunday(8pm) nights but following a small change in format the jackpot kitty has risen considerably. Entrants, who need to take part in the quiz, stand a chance to win a jackpot first prize of over £300.00. Every week someone takes home at least £10.00 and unlike some quizzes the winner doesn't need to guess a number question exactly. At the time of going to press the entire jackpot kitty lies at over £500.00. Entry to the quiz cost 50p per head and entry to the jackpot is £1.00 per head. The quiz consists of general knowledge, music and picture rounds as well as occasionally chain letters, blockbuster, connection and snooker rounds to name but a few.