The best and 'must visit' pubs in County Durham and Darlington have been revealed as part of this year's CAMRA beer guide. 

The Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide – the UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide – is celebrating its 51st edition.

The Guide, which surveys 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinker’s guide for those seeking the best pints in the nation’s pubs.

The Good Beer Guide helps beer lovers take a barometer of the local beer scene, and this year’s Guide tells the story of an industry under threat.

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CAMRA National Executive Ben Wilkinson said: “The recent, disgraceful events surrounding the Crooked House pub in the West Midlands captured the nation’s attention, but while that particular scandal made the national news, so many similar cases fly under the radar.

“CAMRA is responding on two fronts. Our Pub Heritage group is leading the way in safeguarding historic pubs, and fighting for them to be given the protection they deserve as part of our cultural heritage.

"But elsewhere, we’re working to expose the weaknesses in the planning system that affect all pubs. We want to see councils in England get the enforcement powers they need to tackle any illegal conversions or demolitions of pubs – including the power to order them to be rebuilt brick by brick if necessary.”

Here are 25 of the pubs in County Durham and Darlington that have made it into the 2024 CAMRA list: 

  • County - Aycliffe Village (13 The Green, DL5 6LX)
  • Old Well Inn - Barnard Castle (The Bank. DL12 8PH)
  • Bay Horse - Bishop Auckland (38-40 Fore Bondgate, DL14 7PE) 
  • Pollards - Bishop Auckland (104 Etherley Lane, DL14 6TU)
  • Stanley Jefferson - Bishop Auckland (5 Market Place, DL14 7NJ)
  • Scotch Arms - Blackhill (48 Derwent Street, DH8 8LZ)
  • Butchers Arms, Chester Le Street (Middle Chare, DH3 3QD)
  • Masonic Centre - Chester Le Street (Station Road, DH3 3DU)
  • Wicket Gate - Chester Le Street (193 Front Street, DH3 3AX)
  • Company Row - Consett (Victoria Road, DH8 5BQ)
  • Colpitts Hotel - Durham (Colpitts Terrace, DH1 4EG)
  • Half Moon Inn - Durham (86 New Elvet, DH1 3AQ)
  • Waiting Room - Durham (Northbound Platform, Durham Railway Station, DH1 4RB)
  • Turbinia - Newton Aycliffe (Parson Centre, Sid Chaplin Drive, DL5 7PA)
  • Frog & Ferret - Spennymoor (Coulson Street, DL16 7RS)
  • Grey Bull - Stanhope (17 West Terrace, DL13 2PB)
  • Britannia, 1 Archer Street, DL3 6LR
  • Crafty Merlins Bottle Shop  and Micropub, 6 Bucktons Yard, DL3 7QL
  • Darlington Snooker Club, 1 Corporation Road, DL3 6AE (corner of Northgate)
  • Half Moon, 130 Northgate, DL1 1QS
  • House of Hop, 4B Houndgate, DL1 5RL
  • Number Twenty 2, 22 Coniscliffe Road, DL3 7RG
  • Old Yard Tapas Bar, 98 Bondgate, DL3 7JY
  • ORB Micropub, 28 Coniscliffe Road, DL3 7RG
  • Quakerhouse, 2 Mechanics Yard, DL3 7QF