Hey, a bit more on Sunderland. The Deptford area and the walk towards it is the place to be. Sadly, the characterful Saltgrass is currently closed due to a fire in December. But from the centre, a good crawl would be the Dun Cow (CAMRA National Inventory), Fitzgeralds, The Ship Isis(!), The Museum Vaults and the Kings Head. All lively traditional Northern boozers.

The Steamboat in South Shields is definitely worth a shout, but the metro journey is about 45 minutes and involves a change at Pelaw, or that was the case last time I was there.