Inside The Green(Image: Facebook)
The future of one of Gateshead‘s most famous pubs is surrounded by mystery, after it closed its doors at the start of this week and customers have had their bookings cancelled. People with reservations at The Green in Wardley were told by staff that pub is ‘having a refurb’ but there have been claims on social media that it’s closed ‘indefinitely.’
Anyone who used to pass the well known venue, just off the busy A184 near Whitemare Pool, in the 1970s will have known it as the Dixie Landers, before it became The Green in the 1980s and kept the same name ever since. A place that’s been part of the local community for years, it’s been a hit with football fans, families who’ve celebrated there and fans of live music, as well as earning good reviews for its generous Sunday dinners.
However, on Monday, January 12, strangely on the same day that the cover photo on its Facebook page was changed to a shot of an empty bar, there were reports on Facebook that it had shut down, as its future quickly became a big talking point. Someone with an existing booking at The Green for this weekend got in touch with ChronicleLive to say, when they rang up to ask what was going on, they were told the pub was having a ‘refurbishment’ and anyone with a booking who’d paid a deposit would be getting their money back.
The Green pub at Wardley, Gateshead(Image: )
Since Monday, all dates on The Green’s booking service have been greyed out, with no way of booking a table for any time in the foreseeable future. The Chronicle have contacted Ladhar Group, who acquired Sir John Fitzgerald at the end of 2020, for a comment but have so far received no response.
Rather tellingly, The Green now being listed as ‘temporarily closed’ on Google, as more and more comments about it are made in local Facebook pages and groups, including the pub’s own account, where one regular wrote: ‘Couldn’t believe how quiet it was last time I came in’ and another reacted: ‘Absolute disgrace this has been allowed to happen.’
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