The former Captain Cook Pub has been left empty for more than ten years.
Grade II-listed, 1893, Robert Moore
The Captain Cook was built in the Jacobethan style in 1893, and incorporates various Classical and Baroque features, including a panelled Ionic doorcase with a segmented scalloped shell hood on the ground floor. A plaque on the side of the building explains that it was named after Captain Cook because he was born nearby, in Marton, and because its patrons were primarily workers at the nearby Port of Middlesbrough. It featured the blackbird motif of Vaux Breweries when it opened and, though it has changed hands several times since, it continued in use as a public house until 2010, famously featuring in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in the 1980s. Since closing, the pub has struggled to find a new owner and has been left vacant, becoming a frequent target for vandals and thieves. Its windows have since been boarded up, and, thankfully, temporary fencing has been installed to secure the site, but the root cause of the problem – that the building lies empty – is yet to be addressed. The building has considerable potential, and though the plans for reopening it as a gastropub fell through in 2017, such expressions of interest demonstrate that the sentiment is there for bringing it back into use.
Griff Rhys Jones, Victorian Society President, said: ‘This pub has a huge amount of potential. Once lockdown is over people will be looking for places to meet. In an area with few historic pubs left, a sympathetic restoration of this listed establishment would surely be popular. Let’s hope it is Auf Wiedersehen and not adieu for the Captain Cook.
Status Update / March 2026
The condition of the building is largely unchanged since appearing on our list in 2020, with rubbish and bird droppings littering the interior, but the picture is changing. The local authority is in the final stage of agreeing a lease with a developer who intends to redevelop the building as a gastropub. If approved, the sixties and seventies fixtures will be removed and the interiors will be restored to their original appearance.