The Dog Beck

The Dog Beck was opened as a Wetherspoon in July 2014. The building is an amalgamation of several properties, most notably a listed early 19th century building, previously a nightclub – Toppers, which had quite a reputation – and earlier still the Cumberland County Clinic.  It emerged from what was a back street, next to a football ground and a car park, when the whole area was cleared, a new development – Penrith New Squares appeared, with Sainsbury’s and now a Premier Inn. It used to be a scruffy building, with boarded up windows - I don’t suppose you need a lot of windows in a nightclub! But now it has been smartened up, the windows have been opened up and it looks a lot better.
 
I was intrigued by the name Wetherspoons chose and really this was what started me on the idea of finding out more about Thacka Beck and the River Petterill.  There is a plaque on the wall explaining how a stream, the Dog Beck, historically known as Tyne Syke, used to flow openly through this area and into Thacka Beck. It is still there, but now largely underground. The area where it joins Thacka is known as Tynefield.
 
Not a terribly exciting picture – no rain today, but no sun either. A day spent baking, making beds and more shopping, left no time for anything else. And the puzzle of the dragon still remains a puzzle, but it may be solved in a few days.