The Diamond Inn: From Coaching Stop to Destination Pub

The Diamond Inn stands at the eastern end of the river bridge and dates from around 1830. It was originally a two-storey brick building. The hand-made bricks are thinner than those which came later in the 19th century and will probably have been made at one of the local brickyards which were close to Ponteland at this time.

Because of their size, inns often had a semi-public role in the 19th century, hosting meetings, inquests and auction sales. The first mention of the Diamond Inn in local newspapers is in 1834 when a house was auctioned on the premises. George Bates is listed as Innkeeper in a similar newspaper notice in 1839 but the 1841 census shows him living at the nearby Bell Villas. George Bates was still the landlord in 1861 when he is shown as living at the inn with his daughter and a maid. He died in 1868 aged 71. The inn was then taken over by Cuthbert Laws who had ran a shop in Ponteland before taking over the pub. He died in 1888. His wife survived him for another year but after her death, the inn was put on the market.

"Fully-licensed hostelry, the Diamond Inn, Ponteland, containing seven rooms, bar, and cellars, large enclosed back-yard, with excellent stabling for nine horses; together with a dwelling house of three rooms, and a two-storied joiner's shop. The lot also included a large productive garden of fruit trees bounded on the west by the river Pont, and the whole covering an area of 800 square yards."

The inn was sold to the Newcastle brewery, Leazes Brewery. The new tenant was John G. Wilkinson. Originally a grocer in Newcastle he moved to the Bay Horse Inn in Stamfordham before becoming landlord here. He was to remain at the Diamond Inn until his death aged 64 in 1908.

The 1890's saw the invention of the modern "safety bicycle" which made cycling available to the masses and by the mid-1890's, cycling had become a fashionable hobby. The Diamond Inn took advantage of this craze, catering for cyclists and cycling clubs. It became a popular destination for cyclists heading out of Newcastle for a day's ride. Before electric lamps and batteries, cycling after dark could be very dangerous. In 1896 a new portable lighting system was invented using calcium carbide to produce acetylene gas. One of its first uses was in bicycle lamps but before domestic electricity, or mains gas, it could also be used indoors. In 1897 the Diamond Inn became a pioneer of this new lighting system.

Cycling was one of the first recreational activities in which women could participate as freely as men. The Newcastle Daily Chronicle carried an article in November 1897 on the popularity of the Newcastle — Ponteland route. It observed that business men would be seen during the early mornings and evenings but that during the day, "there is a continual procession of cyclists, almost exclusively ladies, in both directions, for the fair sex have discovered that it is one of the pleasantest, at the same time of the safest rides near Newcastle."

The beginning of the 20th century saw the replacement or modernisation of almost all the old pubs in this part of Northumberland, most of it driven by the breweries who were fiercely competitive at this time. Many of the brewers in the larger market towns in Northumberland adopted the mock-Tudor style in their "modernisations" incorporating gables adorned with blackened faux-wood timber framing. Four of these were added here as an additional third storey in stages in the first decade of the 20th century given the inn its distinctive appearance. Bay windows were inserted to the front of the ground floor and first floor around the 1950's.

The family most associated with the Diamond Inn during the 20th century was the Bewick's. Thomas Winship Bewick took over the licence of the inn around 1928. He also ran a butcher's shop behind the premises. His son Tommy took over the business after his father and then his son Geoffrey became the third generation of Bewick's to hold the licence. There was an extensive re-vamp of the interior carried out in 1988 to bring the old pub up-to-date.

The pub was then taken over by Margaret and Paul Holliday. It became popular with footballers and other North East celebrities who were moving into the area, gaining a reputation as the Newcastle United's legend Alan Shearer's favourite "local".

The Vaulkhard group took over the pub in 2018. They have enjoyed success in the face of a collapsing hospitality industry by concentrating on high-end character pubs and "destination" pubs and by investing heavily in them to keep them fresh. Since the smoking ban extensive outdoor drinking areas are now an essential and further profitability comes from quality food and accommodation.