Historic South Shields pub The Steamboat celebrates picking up cask ale award

Staff at The Steamboat, on Mill Dam in South Shields, are celebrating being named as The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood's (SPBW) North East Pub of the Year.

The Society aims to promote the brewing and drinking of traditional draught beer drawn from wooden casks by gravity or a hand pump, rather than using gas.

The award recognises pubs for their commitment to SPBW's aims and quality of the ales that they have on offer.

Kath Brain, the landlady at The Steamboat, has expressed her joy to the Shields Gazette at picking up the award, especially for something that the venue takes a lot of pride in offering.

She commented: "Everyone at the pub is overjoyed to have won it.

"I think it is something like ten years since we were last selected for this award so for it to come back to us is amazing.

"The judges were really pleased with the range of ales that we offer and when giving us the award, they said it was 'no competition'.

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"Wooden casks are something that we take a lot of pride in and we always try to get them from local breweries to help support other businesses.

"We offer a wide range of ales and it is great to be recognised that we maintain them at a high quality."

The award is part of a double celebration for the pub, which has also been named as runner up Sunderland and South Tyneside's Pub of the Year 2024 by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).