We at the Trade would once again like to welcome you to another weekend of fun at our place, and it's another weekend of firsts;
-Our first Cider event,
-Our first Brewery weekend, &
-Our first Oxjam charity gig.

The fun starts off on Thursday 8th when we are the first stop on the '5th Annual CAMRA Cider Pub Crawl'. We've got 7 very special brews in from 4% Strawberry Ciders to 7.3% brain cell killers.
It starts at 19.15 at the bar...

http://www.cannybevvy.co.uk/html/cider.html

Thursday night will also see the first of the beers for our OSSETT brewery weekend appearing. We are very pleased to be able to work with the Ossett brewery partnership to be able to bring you a great selection of ales from the Ossett, Riverhead and Fernandez breweries. We have 10 beers from the 3 breweries which will be on all weekend with plenty to variation so there should be something for everyone.
Ossett is a multi award winning brewery at both regional and National level renound for the excellent quality of their ale. Take alook at their website for info on the brewery, the beers and their awards.

 

The cider pub crawl this year will be held on Thursday 8^th October beginning at the Free Trade Inn. We’re aiming to gather there for 7:15pm, reach the Cumberland Arms for 7:45, leave there for the Cluny at 8:45, drift along to the New Bridge for 9:15 and finish off at the Bacchus at 9:45. The lists of what ciders and perries will be available in each pub are still being drawn up, but we should see a good number of different ones as we wander round.

 

Ladies, if you have any clothes you don't wear any more and would like to get yourself a new wardrobe, get yourselves down to The Art Works Galleries on Thursday 14th May at 6.30 for Swish North.

£5 entry and a complimentary drink on arrival.

Local arts and craft stalls, some great raffle prizes, and a lot of fun.

BBC weather girl Sara Thornton will be hosting the night and you can find out more on The Art Works Galleries website.

Pub regular Michael Mitten will be heading off on the trip of a lifetime on Monday 30th March. He will be attempting to reach the geographic North Pole on skis trying to raise £50,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

If you'd like to donate you can do on his justgiving website. BBC Look North will be covering the expedition while he's away during the first two weeks of April and you can check out regular updates by visiting his blog.

The Free Trade would like to invite you to out first ever beer festival.

Over the weekend we will be showcasing the beers of High Farm Brewery as well as a host of other local favourites and national specials. We will also have two ciders on draught for the first time. In total we will be serving over 25 beers in 3 days. To find out more please check out the festival beer list.

High House Farm Brewery is a small independent brewery based near Matfen in Northumberland. They have been brewing since 2003 and the popularity of their ale continues to grow.

The beers have won awards including, CAMRA Regional Awards, SIBA Regional and National Awards, and a Bronze award in the Taste of North East England. Nel's Best, their best selling ale, has been one of 8 finalists in the UK Champion Beer of Britain Awards in 2003 and 2006.

We will over the course of the weekend have a selection of Hight House beers available at all times, including the award winning Nel's Best and seasonal special Farmer's Pride. We are delighted to be working with High House Farm in planning this festival and know our customers will love their beer.

We are always looking to expand the range of ales we serve at the Free Trade, whilst also continuing to support our local breweries. We are therefore pleased to let you know that as well as bringing in a host of  specials for the upcoming beer festival, we will now be occasionally souring beers from the Durham Brewery, Daleside Brewery and Heskett Newmarket Brewery.

All three are well established breweries with excellent reputations and a host of awards to back them up. We'll let you know when they come in, and in the meantime, have a look at their websites for more info...

www.dalesidebrewery.com
www.durham-brewery.co.uk
www.hesketbrewery.co.uk

The Free Trade has been included in yet another book about British pubs.

On sale his month is the 'Rough Pub Guide: A Celebration of the Great British Boozer'. The Rough Pub Guide is part guidebook, part paean to a disappearing England, and part investigation into a completely insane drinking culture. It's a road-trip across the British Isles and a celebration of the great British boozer.

So where does the Free Trade feature in the top 50 British pubs?

15th, not bad ey?

A review of the boozer, by authors Paul Moody and Robin Turner, states: "The last ten years may have seen Newcastle transformed from a dowdy spinster into a sexy starlet but The Free Trade remains defiantly unkempt.

"The Trade retains a loyal following thanks to a local beer supply, a cracking CD jukebox and unrivalled Tyne views."

The book also adds that rocker Jimi Hendrix took a shine to the pub while staying with manager and ex-Animal Chas Chandler in Heaton.

You can read more about the Rough Pub Guide here:

 

 

As you can see we're in the middle of building our very own website. There's not much to see at the moment but maybe you can visit us again in a few weeks time to see how we're doing?

See you then