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The Station Hotel in Birtley was situated on Station Lane. It was a commercial hotel and it was situated just behind the railway station - in fact it was so tall it seemed to overhang the station itself. It was a very large brick building - 4 stories. The main features - doorways and windows - were picked out in sandstone. The front of the building was on the road leading up to the steel bridge over the 4 tracks of the main railway line between Newcastle and London. The back of the building was on ground level facing south, so - 4 stories at the back, 3 stories at the front. At the front, facing North, was the bar with a door from the street at each end. It was a typical Victorian bar with frosted glass windows bearing the name of the pub, large ornate mirrors, dark wood panelling and a very large, ornately carved, dark wood bar. The ground floor, entered from the road leading into the station itself at the back of the building, was taken over completely by a large ballroom and dining room. The upper two floors held the bedrooms. Outside, at the east end, was a tapering garden in which was a Victorian, brick built, open air, Gents urinal! It seems the heyday of the Station Hotel was in the 1920’s and 30’s. After the war, there was little call for a hotel in Birtley, and Birtley had a number of other public houses on offer, so the Station’s popularity declined. By the late 50’s, the hotel part had ceased to trade and the ballroom was closed up, leaving only the bar. The final death knell was the closure of the railway station. By the late 1960’s the whole building was closed up and gradually became derelict. It was eventually demolished in 2005.

Source: Alan Norwood

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