Famous pit in Tyneside hoisted tons (7)
I believe the answer is:
eminent
'famous' is the definition.
(eminent can mean famous or influential)
'pit in tyneside hoisted tons' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'pit' could be 'mine' (mining pit) and 'mine' is present in the answer.
'tons' could be 't' and 't' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'en' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eminent that I've seen before include "Respected; notable" , "Met nine who were distinguished" , "Outstanding or distinguished (7)" , "Important" , "Notable, outstanding" .)