“DARLINGTON’S Wimpy Bar was on Bondgate next to the pub that was then the Tap & Spile, but is now The Old English Gentleman, on the corner of Commercial Street,” said David Pickup, who was one of many people who kindly pointed us in the right direction for the town’s first American-style fast food hamburger joint.
“As young teenagers, my pal and I would get the bus from Cockerton into town on a Saturday morning to go to the library, which would include a visit to the Wimpy Bar.”
Bondgate, May 19, 1965, with the Wimpy next to the pub. Below: A comparative image taken 25 years later in 1987 when Doodles restaurant had replaced the Wimpy
But it turns out that there was a real battle of the burgers, a true sauce-y story.
First, though, a little catch-up: as we told last week, the Wimpy Bar opened in early May 1961, part of an American chain that had started in Indiana in 1934 and named after a character – J Wellington Wimpy – in the Popeye cartoons.
Outside (above) and inside (below) Darlington's original Wimpy when it opened in Bondgate, next to the Old English Gentleman, in 1961
It was a franchise, opened by local businessman Leonard Bilton.
“The story goes,” says Mike Walker in Middleton St George, “that it was so successful that Wimpy, in total breach of the franchise agreement, opened a much bigger in-house branch on the corner of Bondgate and High Row.
The Wimpy on the corner of High Row and Bondgate in June 1983
“Mr Bilton sued and received very sizeable compensation.”
Mr Bilton, and his wife, then turned the original Wimpy Bay into Doodles restaurant, which also featured among our pictures last week.
Waitress Joan Carney plays the pianola at the Doodles restaurant in October 1980. An unfortunately placed rubber plant makes it look as if she is wearing rabbit ears
“In the early 1980s, I worked split shifts, starting at breakfast time at the Biltons' other restaurant, Lord Sandwich on High Row, which was next to another of their businesses, the My Fair Lady hairdressers," says a correspondent named Max. "I had a few hours break before going round to Doodles at 6pm for the evening shift.
“On Friday and Saturday nights I would finish late at Doodles and head straight to Rumours nightclub to meet my mates who had spent the entire evening going from pub to pub.
“I must have driven the customers mad in Doodles because there was a very limited selection of music to choose from so I played the Carpenters over and over again.”
So now the Old Yard Tapas Bar occupies the site of Darlington’s original Wimpy.
The second Wimpy, on the High Row corner, became the Golden Egg restaurant and is now part of the Santander building society.
The Golden Egg, which followed the Wimpy
A Google StreetView of the pub with the site of the original Wimpy now a pink tapas bar
“I WORKED in the evenings at the Bondgate Wimpy during my last year at school in 1961-22, cooking burgers at the griddle,” says John Harrison. The griddle was on the countertop so customers could see their burger sizzling away.
“Prices ranged from 1s 6d to 2s 3d depending on if it was single or double Wimpy or a cheeseburger. The buns were toasted and I used to peal, slice and grill the onions fresh.
“I used to wear a white jacket and blue checked pants but I drew the line at the big hat as I was already 6ft 4in tall.”
The original Wimpy Bar beside the Tap and Spile in Bondgate on an undated picture
“THE story about the long forgotten eating establishments reminds me that in the 1970s we delivered milk and cream to many of them, including the Wimpy Bar in Bondgate and the Ristorante Pulcinella in Northgate,” says George Wright in Sadberge. “Happy Days.”
READ MORE: SEVEN DARLINGTON RESTAURANTS YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN
The original Freemasons Arms where the Old English Gentleman now stands. The first Wimpy was on the left of it. Picture courtesy of Darlington Centre for Local Studies
AS a Bondgate pub is the focus of our wide-eye picture on today’s front page, it seems appropriate to tell a little of its story.
It was originally the Freemasons Arms, because from May 29, 1811, until 1826, the Darlington freemasons met in its rooms.
In 1892, it was the venue of a “free and easy” which gained a notorious reputation. When inspectors inspected, they shockingly discovered a female – the landlord’s servant – bashing out popular tunes on the piano and the whole place so full of people singing and dancing that they spilled out onto the pavement where one man was pounding out the beat with a hammer.
Magistrates ordered the landlord to stop such bawdy behaviour.
The pub was rebuilt in the early 20th Century – it looks like a late 1920s building – and in 1969, it changed its name to the Olde English Gentleman. In 1980, there were plans to turn it into offices, but it survived, and in 1986, it was renamed the Tap and Spile.
It is now back to being the Old English Gentleman – in fact, its Facebook page refers to it as the “New” Old English Gentleman – and it is known for its Friday night music nights, featuring lots of guitars but no men with hammers.
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