West Kirby, Wirral:
One of two brewery taps for Spitting Feathers Brewery, the other being in Chester. It’s existed since 2014. Inside is a bit industrial feeling- I’m not sure what it was before (well, before it was another bar called Red Door)- but it’s pleasant and spacious. Great beer, pleasant staff, and there’s food at times, but sadly not when we were there. There’s some outside space out the front, but we sat inside, near to the wide-opening doors.
West Kirby, Wirral:
Lovely traditional pub near the town centre: traditional inside, good seating out front and a beer garden at the back, great beer, great staff, and usually there’s food, but not when we visited.
Liverpool:
There had to be one disappointment, didn’t there? This was another pub I specifically wanted to visit. Google has it as:
19th-century pub with a mahogany bar and an open fire, serving its own cellar-brewed ales.
Pub Curmudgeon’s blog describes it as
gave the impression of being unsure whether it wanted to be a modern craft bar or a traditional pub. It also seemed in places to be straddling the dividing line between shabby chic and tatty.
Which is fair comment IMO. I think we caught it at a bad time; we needed food and there wasn’t any, and we were expecting a bit more Victorian grandeur, but the inside is stripped out, a bit shabby, and was freezing cold (the aforementioned open fire was not lit); all the customers were wearing coats. Also, the toilets were being cleaned, leaving one disabled toilet for all customers (thankfully not that many).
Beer was fine, to be fair, but it wasn’t a comfortable or pleasant place to drink on a cold December day, sadly.
Liverpool:
Whatpub Link
Website
Heritage Pubs Link
Wikipedia
Part of the reason for visiting Liverpool rather than anywhere else, this is probably the best example of Victorian gin palace pubs I’ve been in- one that out-flashes the magnificent Barton’s Arms, quite an achievement in itself. The opulence of the slightly later Crown was a response to it.
We got there before mid-day on a Sunday, so enjoyed a short time of having the opulence to ourselves, wandering about and enjoying it, though the effect was a little spoiled by the modern, blandish pop music.
It’s part of the Nicholson’s (so M&B) chain, and like the similarly owned OC’s and both Shakespeare pubs in Birmingham, there’s decent ale and a traditional pub atmosphere.
Liverpool:
Glorious small, traditional pub right in the middle of Liverpool’s entertainment area. Lovely staff, great beer. Absolutely packed- it’s a small space- but friendly.
Liverpool:
Just down Lime St, this had a bit of a Micropub feel to it, but adding together all the floors, it’s a bit bigger than that.
Big choice of beer- some craft keg, some cask, some bottles and cans, rather like Beerbohm or The Whippet Inn. Nice staff, excellent beer, and the best music selection I’ve heard in a pub for some years (rock to rockish pop, 70s, 80s, 90s). Green Devil on tap too.
Liverpool;
Whatpub Link
Website
Heritage Pubs Link
Another Crown!
This one was so close to Liverpool Lime St station that we went here to locate our hotel, not realising the hotel was almost next door…
It’s a big, imposing old Edwardian pub, a typical city centre boozer, and great for it, with a magnificent interior. When we arrived, it was rammed with people watching the football, but we managed to get a seat. Great beer, great staff (serving people in order despite the crowds).
Southport:
Large, imposing Victorian pub on the promenade (but not the seafront…). Inside, it’s open plan (and biiig), outside there’s lots of seating on a terrace. Beer is Thwaites, and well kept, food looked OK, staff friendly. When we revisited in the evening, it was a bit loud with football types, but in the afternoon it was pleasant.
Southport:
We’d been tipped off by friends about this one- in a sidestreet. We sat outside, on benches on the pavement, but there’s a beer garden out back, and a lovely traditional pub interior. Several well-kept ales, friendly staff, and food that looked terrific value. Close to perfect.
Southport:
A by-the-numbers Marston’s family feedbag pub, but a few things lifted it above average. First of all, the location’s pretty good. Secondly, Marstons pubs are one of the few places you can get their Pedigree in a drinkable state, and thirdly, the staff were friendly, efficient, but not fake-obsequiously-pleasant. Food was pretty good too.