Nestled between the River Tyne and the Seven Arches Bridge at the Old Wall was a large jumbled structure of fieldstone, timber, borrowed blocks, and enough ivy to fill in the holes called the Spotted Cock.   This was an Inn where boat builders and sheep wranglers, noblemen and masons, profiteers and lawyers would share a story and a pint under the same roof.  Such was the case on a day in 1059 when a King and an Earl sought a hot bowl of rabbit stew and refuge from a punishing cold rain.

On that day the Inn’s cook needed help to keep up with the demands of no less than three large parties who enjoyed a workman’s holiday due to rain, or completion of work, or simply because their friends were at the pub.  There was a group of ship builders who celebrated completion of their contr...

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