Given its part of the town's fabric it's easy not to take notice of the old Wallsend cafe, but it's certainly up there in one of its finest buildings.

The Wallsend Cafe, or "coffee palace" it was mooted as, was built in 1883 with funding from George B Hunter (one of the men behind the shipyard) as a community hub for local people and his shipbuilding workforce. It was designed by Frank Caws, the man behind the Elephant Tea Rooms in Sunderland as well as Corder House & Sydenham House. This was also the first building to be lit by gas in Wallsend.

There were meeting rooms for associations and clubs, a lecture hall, games room, library and a kitchen to provide meals for the community. All these efforts were to uplift the standard of living in the area. It was hoped that, in turn, such programmes would produce a more resilient, happier and healthier workforce.

The community loved it too. A Wallsendian wrote into the Jarrow Express to refute opposition towards Jarrow's own institution, giving it was to aid the temperance movement and people worried about being mollycoddled. The building was open without payment except for provisions and use of the billiards room, with the hall large used for social meetings, dancing and games. He notes it has been so successful that there is nothing to compare to it anywhere else in the neighbourhood. While noting its struggles in making a profit, he highlights it was not there to make a profit but for the pursuit of social enterprise and community.

It opened with George present alongside Thomas Burt, who was from Murton Row and one of the first working class MPs in parliament. He was himself a pitman, so I imagine he was enthused as such attempts to bring such initiatives to working people.