Alan - your best bet is still first to get hold of a copy of Folk Roundabout, the contact address given in the mag is trevorl@ntlworld.com. It's one of the best regional mags, over 100 pages for just one pound still! And Trevor the editor's very helpful.

Otherwise, from my own (limited) experience, the Sun at Stockton (Mondays) is just about the best of the area's clubs, and it's no-smoking which helps considerably; singing-wise, the Brit at Darlington (Tuesdays) is every bit as good (only snag is the club room's much smaller and fills up really fast). Most of the rest tend to allow smoking, unfortunately, but as clubs go they are superb, especially for singing - particularly the Hartlepool (at the Causeway) on Sundays (Brian's) and the Welly at Wolviston on Thursdays. The Colpits one at Durham was great, but I haven't been since its enforced relocation.
And if you fancy a slightly longer trip while you're in the area, then there's The Bridge at Newcastle (Mondays), Ryton Village (Thursdays) - one of the country's finest clubs - and the awardwinning Davy Lamp (Washington) on Saturdays. Really, the North East is spoilt for choice!
Happy landings!
M