One of the great advantages of being a football supporter is the opportunity to follow your team around the country. Not only has my lifelong support of West Bromwich Albion given me a textured, cultural knowledge of areas of the country I simply would never have visited without my footballing affliction, but it’s allowed me to gorge myself silly in pubs nationwide.
As the new football season came screeching around the corner in late July, my palpable excitement wasn’t about being reacquainted with the sinking feeling of watching the Albion lose (again), but the opportunity to spread my wings and travel around the country drinking in fine, local pubs. This excitement was heightened by the fact that on fixture release day, it became clear that Albion were starting their campaign away in Middlesbrough – an opening day trip to the North-East beckoned!
Middlesbrough – despite its reputation as a dangerous, post-industrial hellscape – has always been a favourite destination of mine. I’ve found the town to be surprisingly vibrant, the locals aggressively friendly and the atmosphere (in the stadium at least) one of the best in the land. What a pleasure then, in the hours before the big kick off, to stumble across a pub so reflective of the character of the local population.
I’d been tipped off by some fellow football supporting friends about the pleasures of Baker St. in Middlesbrough. Situated in the city centre, to the naked eye Baker St. may appear as a typical downtrodden row of former industrial-era terrace housing. However, the houses have been transformed into a series of micro-pubs, bars and independent restaurants, turning the street into the thriving heart of the city’s nightlife. On this particular Saturday, the place was playing host to the Orange Pip Market, a streetfood lovers’ paradise, with fare ranging from local Parmos to Indian specialities. Of course, the entire street was flooded with a Red Sea of local football support, flecked with the blue and white stripes of my beloved Albion.
The Twisted Lip is surely the jewel in the crown of Middlesbrough’s mini-cultural quarter, and truly one of the most fun pubs I’ve visited. Like most other institutions on Baker Street (see Dr. Watson’s, Orange Pip Market and Sherlock’s), The Twisted Lip takes its name from a classic Conan Doyle novella. Though the connection to Holmes seems entirely incidental – derived entirely from the Baker Street connection – the late-Victorian architecture and steampunk murals along the street really do give the place a unique feel.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Twisted Lip, which has an aesthetic of controlled dilapidation comparable to the Ruin Bars which make the nightlife in Budapest, Hungary so special. Narrow staircases, tiny rooms and blackened, gothic wooden panelling would make the place feel positively haunted, were it not for the raucous atmosphere and pounding music.
Even for a game day, the Lip is truly buzzing. The locals are proud and forthright – quick to scold an obnoxious DJ for stifling conversation with his ear-bleedingly loud selection of 90s house classics – but friendly, open and warm in their welcome. They are quick to invite us to sit and drink with them, even though we’re sporting enemy colours!
If you’re looking for a meal, the Lip isn’t for you – they don’t appear to serve food – and despite the presence of a couple of really nice craft beers on the menu (alongside the excellent Oberhausen German Pilsner), the beer selection is solid if unspectacular.
But the bottom line is, you don’t go to the Lip to focus on the beer. It’s all about the atmosphere, the local community and the feeling that despite the town’s wider reputation, Middlesbrough is truly worthy of a visit when it can still boast institutions like the Lip.
- Beer selection: 4.5 / 7
- Food selection: – / 7
- Ambience: 5.5 / 7
- Aesthetic: 6 / 7
- IPQ: 5.75 / 7
- Overall: 77.67
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