Many people say it was Sunderland's best loved pub and it opened 50 years ago today
The glass carpet, loud bands and a moose’s head - and it’s still many people’s choice for Sunderland’s best ever pub
One of Sunderland’s most talked about pubs of the past opened its doors for the first time 50 years ago today.
The Old Twenty Nine in High Street West opened in a building which was originally The Boilermakers Arms. It opened in 1873.
It ran for almost 100 years until it underwent a revamp and, when it was refreshed, it took its new name directly from its street address number.
The Old Twenty Nine had a reputation for many things - including the floor. Regulars knew it as the ‘glass carpet’ and one Echo reader previously told us: “You had to go crunching all the way to the bar over smashed glass.”
Some have even said that the pub’s carpet was cut to ribbons by glass and only held together by chewing gum. Flooded toilets and a moose head as decoration in the lounge were among the features.
But the local, named after its address, still holds fond memories especially for music lovers. It had a wonderful atmosphere and hosted great bands including The Toy Dolls, Angelic Upstarts, The Groundhogs and the DTs.
The Sunderland Echo got readers memories of it in a story nine years ago.
One said: “Dougie was a great manager and friend, fab place to be with friends and some of the best bands around at the time.”
Manager Dougie Bell was hailed as ‘a lovely guy with a heart as big as a bin lid, bless him."
Another commented: “We nicknamed it Crystal Palace with all the glass on the floor, brilliant music, many a fab night."
Over the years, readers have remembered ‘playing pool on a Saturday lunchtime, 50p in and winner bought the round! Best memory of a band was Little Ray and The Hipthrusters."
Another recalled: “a class pub, loved the Upstarts, pig’s heed and all, and the glass carpet.”
Others recalled ‘the weird UV lighting that made your pint look green’ and the ‘fab pub music blasting in your ears off the massive speakers’.
Sadly, the pub’s time in Sunderland was called little more than a decade after it first opened. It closed in the late 1980s and was demolished in 1989.
Share your own memories of one of Wearside’s best remembered pubs of the past by emailing [email protected]