A SHRINE to a great North- East brewery has been unveiled, ten years after last orders were called.
As many lament the closure of the Vaux brewery a decade ago today, Richie Morgan marked the occasion in a converted garage at his Sunderland home.
Mr Morgan’s museum, set up in tribute to Vaux Brewery, features items spanning many decades.
Mr Morgan, who used to work for Federal-Mogul, of Sunderland, said: “Two years after Vaux closed, demolition people were throwing out some signs. I asked if I could have one and my collection started there.
“I got bits and bobs from former employeEs and bought items at boot sales and on eBay.
“I decided to convert my garage into a museum and bar with a Vaux theme.”
The collection includes posters, pump clips, magazines and beer to celebrate the Russian linesman who flagged to give England’s controversial third goal in World Cup final in 1966.
He has also collected ashtrays made from pottery, mirrors from the Fifties and Sixties and a plaque from outside the brewery.
Maxim Brewery – set up by the former directors of Vaux Mark Anderson, Doug Trotman and former head brewer Jim Murray – donated a cask of Double Maxim to mark the anniversary.
Mr Anderson said: “I think it’s fantastic keeping the pieces of history and memorabilia together.
“It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since the closure of Vaux.
“It was City of London and shareholder greed that caused the closure of a profitable Sunderland business employing lots of people.
“It could have still been a going concern. The dividends it would have paid out over the last ten years would have far outstripped the short-term profit made by the sale.”
Mr Anderson added, on a brighter note, that Maxim Brewery ensured that customers would still get Double Maxim, Samson, Wards and Lambtons on draught in a growing number of pubs in the North-East.
He said: “Current draught beers sales are about 300,000 pints a year, compared to Vaux beer sales of more than 30 million pints, so we have a little bit of catching up to do.”
■ Former Vaux workers will gather for an informal reunion to mark the tenth anniversary of the closure of the Sunderland brewery tomorrow.
Ex staff members are welcome to attend the gathering, at the Gunners Club, in Vine Place, from 7pm.
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