Cllr. John Wilkinson, current Mayor of the City, is helping to keep alive the name of one of the most notorious of his predecessors and helping promote a local business as well.
Cllr Wilkinson’s predecessor, Cllr Les Thompson, was one of the first to pull a pint at the John Duck pub in Claypath, and has set the ball rolling for future Mayors to do the same:
Licensee Andy Hughes is more than happy to see the latest Mayor come in to lend a hand:
“We named the pub after the Mayor of the City from 1680 and it was a gesture from us to invite the Mayor at the time of our opening Les Thompson to help the launch. As the Mayor changes every year, we felt it right to invite the current holder of the office to see how we are progressing.”
Andy added that the pub is looking to help local businesses all the time: “We are very much a traditional pub in as much as we try and get our beers and real ales from local breweries. This works well for both us and the brewers where we have built up a great working relationship with a number of them in the area.”
John Duck, Mayor in 1680, has a dubious background. Indeed, there is not a lot known about his upbringing or his parents. Legend says that he was walking along the streets of Durham when a Raven dropped a gold coin at his feet. This was the start of his wealth – although there is evidence that he was not always on the right side of the law.
What is known is that he became one of the wealthiest men in Durham and had a mansion on Silver Street (now in City Centre) and later became Lord Duck of Haswell.
“After working hard to establish ourselves as a pub to come and relax in during the summer months, now we are gearing up to the very busy time of the year starting with the Food Festival later this week.” said Andy
More about the John Duck pub can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/john.duck.581
