About us

The Left Luggage Room was born in the minds of its creators, Spanish Steve and much more anonymous Andy, when the two of them met many years ago at an audition for the now defunct Fleetwood Mac tribute band Meatwood Flak (although for the right price they may reform one last time for the regular Sunday Buskers Night). The group had been originally formed, with extraordinary foresight, by local butcher and Battle of Britain flying ace Wing Commander Gerry Crabtree 4 years before the original band met. Drawn together, not only by their uncanny likeness to Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks respectively, but also a mutual interest in restraining orders and the healing powers of cats in eastern mythology, Spanish and Andy have remained almost inseparable since then but for the extensive periods of time which they spend apart.

Before the concept of a micropub even existed, SpAndy, as they were by then not known, were drawn to the idea of doing very little work and making a decent living. When the opportunity arose to serve a lifechangingly awesome range of mostly cloudy beers the two shifty shysters thought that this was the business for them. (By the way, cloudy beer is just like not cloudy beer but minus the fish. For those of you who don’t like beer without fish, pilchards can be added to any drink upon request.)

Finding a dilapidated part of Monkseaton Station with a yet to be fixed indoor water feature was the first step. Cheap rent and easy access to thousands of thirsty commuters made it an obvious choice of location. The less than arduous month long refurbishment was conducted with the slapdash charm that the pair have made their trademark. When one night in a pub Spanish was offered a job lot of hooky scaffolding boards in exchange for a rusty Lancia he found it an offer too good to refuse. With that late night deal the industrial parquet floor and rustic splinter laden seating was conceived. The rest of the supposedly cutting edge design was achieved with a combination of furniture which Andy had in his garage and some other statement pieces “liberated” from a skip in Cambois. (Please note anyone asking “when will the interior be finished” or “when is the carpet is going down” will be subject to a lifetime exclusion from the premises without further notice.)

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If this hasn’t put you off coming down and meeting the legend that is Spanish Steve and his anonymous sidekick then please pop along any day of the week between 12 noon until 10:30pm weekdays and 11pm Fri/Sat; praise is lavished on all customers who can work out how to get into the pub via the almost invisible door. There are 6 of the best beers on the planet on hand pull and 4 on keg (most of the time there is free cheese on the bar too) and the finest selection of cider, wine, gins and whisky available within 25 yards. Occasionally and quite randomly, they sometimes even dispense lager. If you have hated this story then feel free to pop along when they are not open and look longingly through the window at what you are missing.