We believe this is the yard at the back of the Vane Arms Hotel, No 61 High Street, Stockton.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
We believe this is the yard at the back of the Vane Arms Hotel, No 61 High Street, Stockton.
As boys in the 1950s we used to steal orange boxes from the market and hide them in a yard off this alley and sell them later, door-to-door, for firewood. In 1962 I had my stag night in the Vane Arms’s Commercial Room.
Yes entrance door to Vane Arms also here and I worked here as a waiter in the early 60’s, should never have been pulled down!
Yes I have to agree, waste of a beautiful building. I remember the plush lounge they had up stairs, it was nice and quiet, especially if you wanted a chat with someone.
On Friday 14 November 1969, I can remember that my Stag Night started off in that Pullman Room. But for some unexplained reason I cannot recall where it finished !!!
I’m pretty certain that is in the passage between The Vane Arms and The Black Lion looking towards the High Street,
Vane Arms to the Right Black Lion to the left.
The sign sticking out may be the Ballroom entry to the Black Lion, Stockton Folk club used to meet there on a Monday night – we got half time pies from the bar of the Vane Arms.
On the right is the Vane Arms and there was a doorway there where we went into a back room called the Pullman Room (correct me if I’m wrong about the name). On a Saturday that is where we 1st met before visiting other premises around the Town. We played darts in there where when he was in there with Norman Toulson. Another to visit there was Norman Taylor the middle brother of the famous Jack Taylor bike builders.
If you played darts in there in the late 50’s. We would have played against you as myself and Keith Spence also started our Sat nights in there marking the board and playing whoever was in.
I remember going through there as a boy in the early 1960s