What is the roughest pub you have ever been to?

Market tavern and the bar in the golden eagle Hotel thornaby. North eastern and cattle market stockton. Aruba bar under the flyover opposite spensleys emporium used to have strippers matchday but was full of scrotes Thursday friday night.187481JPG.jpg



The tuxedo Royale at the riverside again rough as fu ck on the night with the revolving dance floor full of girls on the game. It was great prematch though
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Used to live in a rough part of Walsall (rougher then the rest). This was around 1999. Used to smoke tabs back then and there was no such thing as 24 hour supermarkets or petrol stations. There was, however, a Jamaican club over the road from our digs. They had a cigarette machine and you could access them at all times. A couple of times, me and my housemate went and buzzed the door, late at night. They let us in, all stopped their games of poker etc to stare at us and continued to do so until we had made our purchase. Never felt so uninvited!
 
Great thread.

Me and my scouser mate were doing some work in Belfast, early 2000s. Interesting area for the hotel, out in the suburbs, flags on kerbs. We went for a wander out of the Union Jack areas on the Sunday to find some folk music.

Ended up in a place that was banging, great Irish band. After the second round, everyone seemed very friendly and curious, kept asking us how we'd ended up there. By the third round we couldn't buy our own drinks, you'd be on your last couple of sips and a fresh Bulmers and Jamison chaser was handed to us by different people, or random people would jump in at the bar and pay. This went on all night.

People kept saying we had to meet the big man, so were escorted over to a table and had a chat for a few hours with the local Sinn Fein councillor, wish I could remember his name. It only kicked in what was happening when he mentioned Sinn Fein. Again ridiculously hospitable and nice older bloke, fascinated that we were from Boro and Liverpool. I asked if he'd been, he said, "No, I'm not allowed a passport anymore."

We ended up being guest judges for the singing rounds for the pub quiz and presented the prizes at the end as 'our guests of honour from England' 😁 Brilliant day out and what an experience, have no doubt it could have gone very wrong.

Another vote for The Duke in Wood Green, north London, still the only place I've bought "two pints and two pills please" over the bar, hairy.
 
Been in some right old dives in my time and concur with the Robin Hood over the border and the Brunswick on Wilson Street. My first pint was in the Brunny. It smelled and tasted of vomit and the only other people in were two smelly old toothless drunks, who were snogging constantly at a table in the corner.

Once made the mistake of having a pint with a couple of mates in Horden after working there one night in the late 80s. The pub's long demolished now. Place was dead except for a group of about 15 redundant miners. We ordered the beers and the biggest fella comes over (about 6'4", with the requisite 'cut here' tattoo and, scarily, actual scars in the same place). He introduces himself as "Harry, but everyone calls me Pip"(wtf?), smacks his hand down on the table and follows up with, "I've been banned out of every pub in Peterlee", then "Right lads here's the deal. I can either bash yers up in here or we can all go outside" (widening his arm out to include his pals). Fortunately, one of my mates - Mick - was an ex-bouncer and saved our skins by constantly being amiable with the guy, talking him down, while me and the other mate tried to force down our pints as quickly as we could. We were about to leave when Mick noticed a bit left in my glass and whispered "Drink it or he'll call you a puff and kick off again". As we're leaving, Mick's shaking hands with the psychopath who's trying to turn it into an arm wrestle. It was like something out of that pub in Shameless.

And was once doing a couple of weeks' work in Spain and ended up at 2 in the morning with one of the guys in a bar tucked away on a back street somewhere in Seville, but well away from any tourists. There was a pool table and a couple of locals challenged us to a game, which we won, so it turned into a best of three - and now for money. We thought nothing of it, they seemed good company and spoke decent English to make up for our rubbish attempts at Spanish. By this time we were on tequila slammers. Surprisingly, we were still outplaying them, when suddenly the atmosphere changed and our new found 'friends' began scowling and speaking only Spanish to each other and the pub went quiet. At the same point my mate whispered "Erm.....Harry, see those screens?" (I hadn't noticed 3 old-fashioned beach windbreakers strategically positioned in corners) "They're dealing crack behind them....and I'm sure that guy's got a knife on him as well" It was one of those moments when the drink inside you becomes immaterial and you sober up immediately. I told him to throw the game. "But we've got money on the table!"

I said, "Mate, we're in a dive bar in a city's back streets, we don't even know how to get back to the digs, they've decided they don't like us - and they're dealing crack. Throw the f**king game!" Left, somewhat lighter for cash but highly relieved.
 
Back in the day we used to drink in the Buccaneer before the match. One day a father and son walked in wearing Arsenal scarfs. The whole pub went silent. Fair play to the Dad, He raised his hand up and said "Ok lads, we all think Juninho is amazing too" Big guy stood next to him gave him a Boro nod and the pub went back to normal. Poor younger Arsenal fan could hardly hold his pint glass, his hand was shaking so much. Luckily they managed to drink up and left with no bother.
 
Sammysmiths said:
Scorpions- Catterick
The Cambridge Boro.
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The Scorpion I'll heartily agree. It was a Pongo nightclub.
The Cambridge wasn't that bad until the Roseberry shut. Used to get a lot of middle aged/pensioner couples in there in the early/mid eighties. Used to see Alistair Brownlee in there a fair bit.
 
red_harrington went into that bar from a few dollars more when i was in El Toyo a couple of years ago......a bit friendlier now
 
In the early 1990s myself and a couple of other lads were based in north Manchester with work. We went into a pub in Blackley. Rough as a badgers bottom. We could hear football on the tv in the room next door and a few lads were playing pool. 'Boro were playing that night, not sure who though. My mate was desperate to know the Boro score, no mobile phones in those days or internet. He got up walked to the door and popped his head around and said 'Do any of you lads know how Boro got on tonight?' The place fell silent and I said a silent prayer to myself. One of the lads playing pool shouted something like 'won one nil' My mate said 'Cheers mate!' everyone started talking again and he came and sat down to finish his pint!
 
Heam44 said:
What about:

Tophouse in Wingate.

Pig and Whistle on Newcastle Bigg Market.

Wild Ox in Tilery.

Would the Captain Cook in Middlesbrough be up there? Only been in a couple times.
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The Captain Cook was mentioned in the Jamie Boyle and Brian Cockerill books. It seems like it was a favourite with all the hard men on Teesside! A gangsters paradise by the sound of it. Never been in there myself but wish I had to sample the atmosphere!
 
Went to Scotland v England 7 or 8 years ago, England won 3 - 1 I think, after the game we couldn't get a taxi so decided to go for a drink, went into the nearest bar which was Turnstiles Bar, huge mistake, ordered by pointing and gesturing, we drank up silently and left.
 
FatCat said:
A bar in Glasgow in the barrow lands - concrete floor. Only have a dozen lads in there all singing freedom songs - came up to me and asked me to pick some songs on the Juke box - I think it was some sort of test. Luckily I was with a local lad who managed to get me out of there discretely at an opportune moment. Never again!
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Was it the Hoops Hail Hail 🤔 I went in before a Celtic champions league game on my own as my mate who was the Celtic fan couldn’t go a lovely barmaid served me from three deep at the bar had one sip of my beer and the anti English/freedom songs started didn’t order a second 😬
 
The Cricketers and Clarry in Stockton stick out for me.
Once went in The Huntsman at Hemlington as well, can see why they call it the Zoo.

Most fearful I've been is when we played Rangers in a friendly and got off their metro system at Ibrox walked straigt across the road into a bar that had blacked out windows and Union Jacks everywhere.

Ordered a pint and necked it in one go virtually...........as one of my mates decided in his p***ed state to start asking about the Old Firm games etc to the locals.
 
jonny_greenings_sock said:
Great thread.

Me and my scouser mate were doing some work in Belfast, early 2000s. Interesting area for the hotel, out in the suburbs, flags on kerbs. We went for a wander out of the Union Jack areas on the Sunday to find some folk music.

Ended up in a place that was banging, great Irish band. After the second round, everyone seemed very friendly and curious, kept asking us how we'd ended up there. By the third round we couldn't buy our own drinks, you'd be on your last couple of sips and a fresh Bulmers and Jamison chaser was handed to us by different people, or random people would jump in at the bar and pay. This went on all night.

People kept saying we had to meet the big man, so were escorted over to a table and had a chat for a few hours with the local Sinn Fein councillor, wish I could remember his name. It only kicked in what was happening when he mentioned Sinn Fein. Again ridiculously hospitable and nice older bloke, fascinated that we were from Boro and Liverpool. I asked if he'd been, he said, "No, I'm not allowed a passport anymore."

We ended up being guest judges for the singing rounds for the pub quiz and presented the prizes at the end as 'our guests of honour from England' 😁 Brilliant day out and what an experience, have no doubt it could have gone very wrong.

Another vote for The Duke in Wood Green, north London, still the only place I've bought "two pints and two pills please" over the bar, hairy.
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wasnt kellys cellar was it?
 
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