A PUB?

Had a lie in this morning.  No shopping trip with my friend Jan this week as she is away on holiday in Norway.  Becky phoned at lunchtime.  She is getting excited about going to Prague at the weekend. She is hoping there will be loads of snow there.  We had a few snow flurries here but nothing much. 

As the weather was OK - ish ( just cold and windy ) I decided to get the bus to Gateshead.  I got off the bus one stop early so I could take my blip shot.

No this isn't a pub.  It used to be one of the busiest pubs in Gateshead and official records show a licence has been held for the site since 1850. It closed a while ago and is now used as a study centre for Jewish Biblical, Mishrashic and Talmudic research. It has classrooms, an internet cafe and library downstairs and bedrooms for students on the first floor for 21 male students.  Because of the historical interest of the building the pub sign has been retained.

Nearby Bensham is home to a large  community of Orthodox Jews and is referred to as "Little Jerusalem" by its non-Jewish residents. Within the community is the Gateshead Yeshiva (an Orthodox Jewish college or seminary) -   the largest Yeshiva in Europe -  and other Jewish educational institutions with international enrollments. Following the Holocaust the area became home to the largest Orthodox Jewish education complex in postwar Europe and the most significant outside of the USA and Israel.

The Jewish community live in peace in the area generally minding their own business. However last July there was an upsetting incident. A gang of four teenagers from Newcastle hatched a plot to randomly attack a member of the Jewish community in Bensham. They attacked a Rabbi on the streets as a protest about conflict in the Middle East. Just yesterday these four attackers were sent to young offender institutions after admitting racially aggravated common assault. Hopefully this type of behavior was a one off and the Jewish community will be left in peace in the future.

After taking my photo I walked the short distance to Gateshead town centre and did a bit of shopping.  I have just had a quiet evening watching TV.

Steps today - 7,605