OVER the course of this locked down year, we’ve been looking at pictures of lost Darlington from The Northern Echo’s photo-archive.

This is the third selection, and now we’ve reached the second half of the alphabet, looking at Ns, Os and Ps. If you have any information, stories or memories connected to any of these pubs, we’d love to hear from you.

What of the Nag’s Head, said to be the oldest pub in Darlington when it was demolished in 1970? And if there is a lost pub which you think ought to be featured here, please get in touch. Email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk.

The Raby Inn in Tubwell Row in 1964 was unaccountably dwarfed by Darlington Building Society’s new headquarters, Darneton House, which sprouted quite hideously on either side of it. The Raby squeaks into our N,O and P collection because in its latter years it was known as the Pied Piper Inn. It, along with Darneton House, was demolished in 1988 and now the entrance to the Cornmill Centre is on its site. The old ghost which regularly haunted the Raby appears to have been laid to rest by the demolition - unless you have encountered it on Tubwell Row?

The Northern Echo:

The Nag’s Head in Tubwell Row, complete with an apostrophe in the correct place, in 1970. The back of this picture claims that the Nag’s was the oldest pub in the town, but it was demolished and rebuilt without any of the style of the old building. It is now the Joseph Pease. We will love any information about the old Nag’s Head

The Northern Echo:

The Old Dun Cow in Post House Wynd in 1974. It has threatened to flicker back into life in recent years - it got a paint job and a new name, but the new life never came

The Northern Echo:

Tubwell Row, April 1962, when the Darlington Building Society headquarters were being built around the Raby Hotel. The outcome of the construction project can be seen on today’s front cover. The Raby became the Pied Piper in 1985,(right) and was demolished in 1988. Old car spotters! Can you identify the first four vehicles from the left on today’s front cover? The first one’s parked, the second one’s on the move, the third one is black and the final one is a van. Please email chris.lloyd@ nne.co.uk with your answers

The Northern Echo:

The rebuilt Nag’s Head in 1998

The Northern Echo:

The Old Coaching Inn in Houndgate in April 1974 - before the year was out, this pub in Houndgate had changed its name to The Olde Tavern in the Towne. There was a lot of space behind it, as the picture above, enough space even for a spare horsedrawn cart to be kept

The Northern Echo:

The Old Coaching House in Houndgate

The Northern Echo:

The Old Coaching Inn in Houndgate in April 1974