A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 'ARMS'
The name Washington is known all over the world. In USA no less than sixty six states, counties, cities, towns, and villages are named Washington, while outside America there are twenty three mountains, rivers, lakes, etc., eleven towns and villages named after George Washington. But the first Washington of them all is the Washington in Tyne & Wear.
The Washington family took great pride in their heritage, such that when they emigrated to America they retained their family crest. As a result, when George Washington, became the First President of the United States, it was the Washington Coat of Arms which was adopted as the basis of the American flag. Expressed in everyday language the red banners on the white background were retained, but the red stars on a white background were replaced with white stars on a blue background. The stars and banners of Washington Village became the "Stars and Stripes" of the world's leading power! And it is in honour of this coat-of-arms that the Commercial Hotel was renamed "The Washington Arms Hotel"
Surprisingly little information on the history of the Arms can be found, a few old photos scattered around the pub walls reveal a few clues to the past, many of the scenes are from the turn of the last century but the pub is certainly at least two hundred and sixty years old. The royal ordinance survey map of 1750 shows the existence of the pub as part of a terrace of buildings that included a post office. A later royal ordinance map of 1856 clearly indicates the public house named as the Commercial Arms Hotel, the post office having now moved to a location in Village Lane. It held this name for over one hundred years until becoming the Washington Arms Hotel in the mid fifties. In the mid seventies the pub came under the tenancy of the popular Doreen and Warren. Very little work had been done to the fabric of pub which at that time consisted of the three separate rooms joined together by a central corridor running from the front door to the back yard where the outdoor urinals are located. The gents bar complete with dart board is to the left, `Oscars' wine bar to the right, to the back a comfortable lounge with a large open fire above which hangs a portrait of George Washington, on the adjacent wall hangs a magnificent reproduction of the Washington family crest embroidered using silk threads, sadly these items were lost to the pub in a later refurbishment, what a pity.
During the eighties the pub is given a major revamp into the layout that generally still exists today. Open plan is the vogue, consequently the intimate wine bar and the gents bar go, to be replaced by one large room. A conservatory is added onto the back and the rear lounge opened up. The dart board disappears, along with most of the regulars, as the pub developed into a distinctive `yuppie' establishment aimed at attracting the more affluent residents from the villages of the now rapidly maturing Washington New Town.
The Bass brewery takes over the tenancy of the `Arms' early in the nineties installing Steve Cowie as manager. Overnight the cliental visiting the pub changes. Whereas Doreen and Warren had kept a strict control over which patrons are allowed to drink in the pub Steve took a more liberal approach enabling him to tap into the massive market of young people with money to spend now available in Washington. Weekends more often than not are chaotic with the pub full to overflowing. The overspill falling out onto the village green, much to the displeasure of the local guest house proprietors! After a couple of years Steve Cowie is replaced by Steve Forster.
Steve introduces lunch time bar meals, these become a great success, another of his initiatives is to encourage the setting up of the football club. However the main core of the business continues to be the teeming hoards of cash rich youngsters. After a year or so Steve Forster moves on to be replaced by Paul Sains, one year later he too moves on to take over the thriving Washington Oasis bar in the Galleries. Gary Parker is the next to be put in charge. However the cash rich youngsters who had been a bountiful harvest are already deserting the village. The ban on drinking outside the front of the Arms, is the death knell, Fatfield riverside has now become the trendy place to be seen. The pub clientele is steadily reverting back to being middle class again when Anne Clinton takes up the gauntlet. At the time of her arrival the old pub is starting to look a bit run down, a coat of paint, a change of the paintings on the walls and the shifting around of the furniture and the introduction of a pool table does little to improve things. Anne's tenure is to last two years before she moves on to be replaced by the current host Wendy Tweddle during the Spring of 2004. Today the pub is thriving with a good cross-section of patrons, a large selection of brews and good food always available. Two well supported football clubs and an equally well supported golf society are based in the pub which along with the availability of SKY SPORTS ensures a healthy environment of sporting interests.
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