THE RED HART, BLYTH. YOUR A1 LUNCH STOP

May 2026. Blyth. Nottinghamshire.

Off on our latest trip south to see Dad and source blog material from Transylvania. Sis gave me a book of lunch stops off the motorways a while ago, most of them at garden centres and alpaca farms. I missed the turn for the alpacas.

A man cannot live on Greggs macaroni cheese and KFC alone, so we stopped early, at Blyth.

No ! Not that Blyth, the one in Northumbria where I celebrated the end of the first lockdown.

This is the prosperous looking Nottinghamshire village of 1,265 souls, the A1(M) service station, 4 pubs, 4 bridalwear shops and an Indian restaurant.

The Blyth where in 1995 Mum told off a smoker for the crime of smoking, 12 years before the ban.

Oddly, the White Swan wasn’t serving lunches on Friday, so the GBG Red Hart gets our trade. At the age of about 10 Matt made us go in a pub rather than a McDonalds for tea as he wanted “proper food“, a precociousness that stuck in the memory bank.

I forgot to take a pic from the road, so here’s the mirror.

The tap room is basic,

and celebrates a stellar run of Guide entries.

But the trade is an unfussy lounge where the gentlefolk congregate for Phil Collins (“One more night”, knew you’d ask), lasagne and Pie of the Day.

Always go for pie of the day, folks, and if there’s a “Managers special” you must pick that one. I seem to have taken a photo of Mrs RM’s calves liver, oddly.

On the adequate side of very good, I’d say. CAMRA would say “stop for another one, if you haven’t had one already“. Two ladies opposite us looked like they could have eaten two mains and the pudding too.

“Where ARE you ?” bellows someone to the bloke finishing his second pint of Ossett Blonde (cool, tasty, 3.5),

“I’m finishing my pint of beer in the pub” he bellows back. Hope it wasn’t his boss.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

9 thoughts on “THE RED HART, BLYTH. YOUR A1 LUNCH STOP”

  1. Regarding “that” Blyth, many moons ago, Mark & Lard on Radio 1 had asked listeners to get in touch to let them know what things had put the town on the map. I e-mailed them informing them that the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in Blyth in 1912.

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    1. A bit like “Wesley first preached HERE”, it’s apparent that the Titanic sank gradually in several places, including Belfast and the centre of Burslem where the commemorative beer was brewed.

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  2. Oooh, good rec, I have my car serviced very near there, so pass through all the time.

    My middle name is ‘pie of the day’, so unless its liver or kidney, I’m having it .

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  3. “I’m finishing my pint of beer in the pub” he bellows back. Hope it wasn’t his boss.
    I’ve had bosses who would have replied, “No problem, get ’em in, see you in five minutes.”

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  4. Well done your mum in 1995. And well done your son, too. What a family!

    Not sure about the pub though. Calves liver, Phil Collins and an Ossett beer served in a Timothy Taylor glass? No, no and thrice no.

    And as for the classy car park sign. Words fail me.

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  5. Good on your family members, hanging onto decency. One More Night is a frequent ear dweller, when I am not even thinking about it. Blyth is not somewhere I would rush back to but I was still glad to have the experience of visiting it in 2025.

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    1. There’s a large number of ’80s tracks like that, and Eurythmics, which I’d never play but are indeed “ear dwellers” (great word) and you know every word when they come on.

      Your Blyth is the one near Newcastle seaside, and I entirely share your view on that one !

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