Front Street,Winlaton included the Blacksmith’s Arms. The pub was known at varioustimes as the ‘Smiths Arms Hotel’ and as the ‘Blacksmiths Arms’ but was known locally as ‘The Clock’ in the 20c because of the large clock hanging at thefront of the building In the 18c the publican Joseph Errington was also a part-time bookmaker, a barber & an auctioneer and the owner of the cockfighting pit.
There was a sale of furniture at the Blacksmith’s Arms, Winlaton in 1760. A lady who lived in Dockendale Hall (at Blaydon Burn, not the hall of the same name at Whickham) bought a large, old bureau for 4/6d (22½p). She got one of her neighbours – a nailer – to help her take it home. As they were doing so, some loose gold fell out, which the woman and her friend quickly concealed. When they got the bureau home they discovered a considerable quantity of gold. She shared her good fortune and gave the man enough money to buy a house and workshop . It was known that the bureau had passed through various owners and had been in the possession of a wealthy family in Newcastle in 1715. None of the gold was dated later than the reign of James II (1685–1688).
In 1765 Dockendale Hall was occupied by a John Humble and Thomas Billy and from 1797 was rented by William Matthias Dunn who altered it into tenements for his keelmen. By 1840 Dockendale Hall was empty and it was in ruins by the time of the Ordnance Survey 1st edition (1856), noted as ‘old walls’ and the remains were destroyed when the electricity sub station was built in 1904, part of the Ottovale Coke works which remained open until 1959.
The Blacksmith’s Arms also known as Smith’s Arms Hotel & The Clock
Recorded in Sykes Local Records & The History of Blaydon.