Jewish Mother, Leazes Lane

Newcastle had reached saturation point in the 1980s as far as pubs and clubs were concerned, and new licenses were almost impossible to obtain. Mike and Peter Gosney spotted a loophole in the law and got a restaurant licence for their premises in the basement of a former synagogue, which meant that punters could drink and dance to their hearts' content as long as they'd consumed a meal. The brothers manned the door themselves, to keep the riff raff at bay.

Pete Gosney had opened the Broken Doll pub a couple of year earlier which was famous for its live music, and was keen to repeat this at the Jewish Mother. Most of the acts and artistes were 'gadgie bands' from the Doll, middle aged musicians who were guaranteed to spend as much money at the bar as the punters. Before long the takings from drink eclipsed those from food, and the latter was more or less abandoned.

Then one night a fifty-two seater coach pulled up outside, and its occupants were welcomed with open arms. They were served drinks without being offered a meal, at which these plain clothed cops whipped out their warrants and arrested everyone, in one of the biggest raids of the decade. It reopened a few years later as a comedy club and is currently a restaurant again, albeit one that sells food.