Former Captain Cook Pub in Teesside, Middlesbrough

Grade II-listed– 1893 – Robert Moore.

The former Captain Cook Pub has stood boarded up and empty for ten years. The sorry state of the building today is a far cry from when it featured on English comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. The Jacobean style building has vast potential, although plans in 2017 for Python Properties to convert it into a high-end gastropub fell through. Coving and ceiling roses remain – the building also features the Vaux Breweries blackbird motif. Vaux Brewery was a major brewer based in Sunderland. A plaque on the pub explains that it is named after the famous explorer Captain Cook, who was born in Marton on the outskirts of Middlesbrough.

Griff said:‘This pub has a huge amount of potential. Once lockdown is over people will be looking for places to meet. In an area with few historic pubs left, a sympathetic restoration of this listed establishment would surely be popular. Let’s hope it is Auf Wiedersehen and not adieu for the Captain Cook.

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