“Free Trade Inn,” state solid red letters on an equally sturdy building, sat on a hill by the banks of the River Tyne. The north-eastern city of Newcastle has weathered massive change over recent decades, and the riverside is a clear-cut example.

The smoking shipyards and floating steel hulks that once powered the area are gone—this section now boasts the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and Michelin-starred restaurant House of Tides. But while the landscape may continue to shift, it’s hard to imagine this pub’s view ever losing its appeal. Summer drinkers can watch the sun glint on the river, or off the silver shoulder of Gateshead’s Sage music venue. On winter nights, the river’s arcing bridges are framed by the pub’s tall windows and lit by the city behind.

Still, a spectacular setting like this doesn’t guarantee success on its own. For a pub to be truly special, an alchemy of different elements is required, and the Free Trade Inn has its own unique mix. When I visited on a raw January day in early 2020, Pub Manager Mick Potts had arrived to open and found 20 Oxford United football fans stood patiently outside, two miles from the city-centre stadium their team was due to play at later on.

Locals are so strongly tied to the place that even the city’s newspaper mourned the death of its resident cat—affectionately named Craig David by locals. And although I’m not originally from Newcastle, having left in 2016 after five years living there, I can’t help smiling at the thought of what is still my favourite pub. What makes this awkward wedge of red brick so special?

Step inside and you’ll find wallpaper peeling above round tables stamped with the Scottish & Newcastle star. The interior is made up of various shades of brown; spindly chairs are darker, while a few nicotine ghosts linger in the tan ceiling. The bar is fairly short, its curve more pragmatic than elegant. Drinkers are comfortably arranged on stools, opposite blackboards detailing what’s on tap in a cheerful white scribble. The hum of easy chat and the empty window seat means the beer list becomes the script for an idyllic Saturday afternoon. Stay for a couple and you might learn that the writing continues downstairs; the gents’ walls are thick with graffiti: political, poetic and profane.

“While it’s not furnished with the comfiest seats or nicest toilets, its understated charm surpasses what it looks like,” Daisy Turnell, marketing manager at Anarchy Brew Co. and author of Craft Beer Newcastle tells me. She first visited the Free Trade as a toddler in the early 80s, when the pub was run by her parents’ friends.

“With all the older pubs in the Ouseburn area—The Cluny, Tyne Bar and The Cumberland Arms—it’s part of a wonderful community of artists, musicians, and creatives,” she says. “But it’s only in recent years with craft beer’s rise in popularity, and the decade of hard work Mick has put into events, tap takeovers, and charity fundraising that the pub has gained more and more fans from the beer community.”

These days, Daisy finds visitors to Newcastle often suggest a drink at the Free Trade before she has the chance. For her, its wide mix of customers perfectly demonstrates the way pubs can bring people from different walks of life together. When speaking to Mick—who has managed the pub since 2009—it was clear a heartfelt focus on people underpins each and every decision that’s made there.

“I’ve never been in a pub where so many people feel like they own part of it,” he tells me. “It’s a mix of being on the edge of Byker, the Ouseburn, the Quayside—different areas and opinions. And the history: Tyne Tees Television was nearby, you had actors coming from the city centre, guys from Viz still drink here.”

Although the pub’s regulars have endured, the tipple of choice has been transformed from the John Smith’s and Heineken pump clips which remained several years into Mick’s tenure. In fact one old blackboard still remains, advertising beers that have long since been absent from the taps.

Historically, the cellar and all of the beer dispense equipment was owned by Scottish & Newcastle (now part of Heineken UK), which meant gaining control of what was on tap was prohibitively expensive for an independent pub. However, the explosion of small, independent breweries in the UK over the past decade made it possible to find equipment like beer lines and taps more cheaply online. As a result, the Free Trade has offered an entirely independent tap list since 2015, and seeing drinkers’ money flowing back to independent breweries remains Mick’s proudest achievement.

““While the landscape may continue to shift, it’s hard to imagine this pub’s view ever losing its appeal.””

The selection now spans nine cask and 12 keg lines, plus six ciders. Regional representation is clearly important: house beers from Almasty (Newcastle) and Allendale (Northumberland) sit next to fixtures from national leaders like Leeds-based North Brewing Co. and Scotland’s Fyne Ales. “Everything’s a reflection of the pub. It’s not local for local’s sake—it’s local and good,” Mick tells me.

Quality control in the north east has certainly been crucial for Reece Hugill. He served behind the Free Trade’s bar while he worked on establishing Donzoko Brewing in nearby Hartlepool, testing his trial recipes on unsuspecting locals.

“It was good to have that cross-section of the community, because the Free Trade isn’t a craft beer bar,” Reece says. “It’s like a community hub, and a landmark.” Reece now makes weekly deliveries to the venue which poured 15,000 pints of Donzoko’s flagship Northern Helles lager in 2019.

“You’ve got craft beer people and non-craft beer people—it appeals to everyone without sacrificing its integrity or ethos for independent producers without shouting about it. Although it’s a nationally renowned beer pub, that isn’t the be-all and end-all,” he continues. “If you just popped your head in, you’d be like: ‘what the fuck’s going on in there?’ But if you stay and have a pint, you’ll realise the staff are really nice, the beer’s world-class, and you just get it.”

While you accustom yourself with the Free Trade Inn’s distinctive atmosphere, one marker that will quickly help you get a sense of the pub’s atmosphere is a small blue plaque. Sitting proudly above the (free of charge) jukebox, the metal circle commemorates Craig David—no, not the quasi-popular UK Garage singer—the late, and sorely missed pub cat.

“This little dirty cat turned up, wandered in and never left,” Mick laughs. “Customers adored him, and he became this massive celebrity in the pub. It definitely got to his head—he’d be sprawled out on a barstool—but he’d still get up and do a lap of the place.”

Craig David lounged at the Free Trade for four years until he sadly passed away in 2017, but regulars still fundraise for a local cat shelter in his name. That sort of spirit isn’t at all surprising from a pub where staff have also encouraged voter registration through the promise of free pickled eggs.

“It’s nice that we’re known as a beer pub, and that’s what we’re trying to be,” Mick says. “But it’s really nice that if I look round now, I can honestly say most of the regulars were here 10 years ago.

“When I started drinking here, I wanted to come back because the diversity of people was interesting. That’s what the pub is. With all we’ve tried [to do], we’ve kept that.”

It feels like the Free Trade Inn has remained true to its core values while also winning national acclaim, while consistently offering new drinks options to suit different visitors. Special-occasion sharing bottles from hyped craft brewers like Burning Sky and Cantillon sit between local ale for £3.60 a pint, and a now permanent offering of low-and-no-alcohol beers. Bar snacks include everything from Northumberland meat pies to flat-white cream and cardamom sugar doughnuts. And while various food trucks now regularly offer different cuisines, the longstanding “beige buffet” lives on at the weekly quiz night.

This all reflects the Free Trade Inn’s commitment to quality and inclusiveness. The food and drink range is evidence enough that the staff really care about the pub and its customers, but speaking to Mick underlined just how much thought goes into making this pub such a welcoming and worthwhile destination. That open, unpretentious willingness to adapt has definitely helped to keep this pub so special. However, some things are constant: whether you’ve been 100 times or are on your very first visit, that view is always worth another trip.