Colliery Inn Wallsend NSW

The Colliery Inn holds the corner of Cowper and Metcalfe Streets in Wallsend and claims the title of the suburb's first pub. It does what older Newcastle pubs do well: schnitzels, rump steak and a Sunday roast from the bistro, a meat raffle, trivia nights and live music on Sundays. Dogs are welcome in the outdoor beer garden, so a pub lunch with the dog at your feet is an easy ask here.

The dog setup

Dogs are allowed in the beer garden only; the main bar and bistro indoors stay dog-free. Staff are generally relaxed about well-mannered dogs outdoors, but bring your own water bowl rather than banking on the venue to supply one. There is a shared balcony area too, and access from the footpath into the garden is level, which helps with older dogs.

Worth knowing

The pub also runs boutique accommodation upstairs, but pets are not permitted in the hotel rooms, so plan Wallsend stays elsewhere if you are travelling with a dog. Trivia and live music nights fill the garden and lift the noise; a quiet weekday lunch is the calmer bet for a nervous dog.

Getting there and parking

The pub sits at 39 Cowper Street (some maps list the entrance on the Cowper Street side), a short drive east of Newcastle's inner suburbs along the Lambton and Wallsend corridor. On-street parking is available along Cowper Street and the surrounding residential streets, usually without much trouble outside weekend mealtimes.

Pair it with

Leg-stretch options are close: Wallsend Dog Off-Leash Area is under a kilometre away, ideal for burning energy before the bistro opens. For morning coffee nearby, The Golden Goat at Kotara and Corner Lane Espresso in New Lambton both serve the dog-and-coffee crowd.

Max: positioned beside the raffle table at 6pm sharp, purely for research purposes.

More Newcastle-region options sit on the NSW dog friendly pubs list, and the local guide to Wallsend covers the rest of the suburb.