New In Town

I was watching the Great British Pub Crawl on YouTube yesterday and he was visiting Liverpool.  It was somewhat galling to see him do three or four pubs I've never been in.  So, despite my medical difficulties (Have I mentioned my dodgy back?) I headed into town to correct the omissions.  I started at the Queens Arms:

This one only opened eight days ago so I can be excused for not having ticked it yet, especially as I was in Scotland for five of those days.  And, wow, they've done it again!  Another wonderful job by 1936 Pubco.  The main double height room is beautifully done in standard 1936 style, although they seem to have spared the sledgehammer here.  I don't know how much is original but it looks great.  There is a wood panelled side area plus a couple of small rooms off, and then more seating on the balcony.

I look forward to seeing what they do to Molly Malones, as far as I know it isn't open yet, but then I didn't know this one was until I saw it on YouTube.

Favourite White Rat (With CAMRA discount) was a little hazy but tasted fine, and it came in a White Rat conic.  We never get the official glass in the Big House!  As I drank it someone else ordered one and it ran out, so I think mine was the last pint out of the barrel.  A few minutes later the clip was turned forward again as a new cask was fired up.

At one on a Saturday the place was doing a good trade but there was plenty of seating available.

Now a stroll to the other side of the city centre, to McNasty's:

This new pub has been open for a month or more but it is very hard to go in with the wonderful St Peters Tavern over the road.  I resisted the temptation this time and found a very well done Irish bar with lots of dark wood panelling.  Do I detect the influence of 1936 again?  A stag's head and a boar's head are displayed on the bar back.  1936 or not, it's a great space.

No cask ale, I had Guinness of course.

Only four other customers when I came in, the place was pretty empty.  A few more arrived as I drank.

I keep seeing Liverpool fans, but they're not playing today, what's that about?

Nearby is the Boston Pool Loft.  Does it count as a bar, I wonder?  Let's see:

A rather fine enormous upstairs area of an old warehouse, bare brick walls very well done out with umpteen neon signs and the like.  Full, of course, of pool tables but there's a significant drinkers area by the counter, with tables and seats, so definitely in the guide.  Having said that, everyone else was here to play, I was the only one who remained in the bar area to sink my Carling.  The leather sofa looked tempting but with my back (Have I told you about ...) I wasn't sure I could get up from it!

There were plenty of people in here, although not every pool table was occupied, so plenty of room for more.  I don't know how playing works, presumably you have to pay to play? Ah, yes, I saw some people come in and go to a counter at the end of the bar to pay for their games.

As I looked around I realised some were playing table tennis.

On the big telly Everton lost the (woman's) derby 2-3.

Where next?  Black Cat's city centre outlet has never been ticked, so how about that one:

Four handpumps and one of them offers Bass.  I may have mentioned before the unwritten rule of pub researching:  If they've got Bass you have to choose it.  So I did.

A contemporary bar on two floors, this, fairly empty at three I'm afraid, hopefully it does well later.  My Bass was spot on but I was almost sorry not to try the Thornbridge brew they had on as well.

Visiting here, and the YouTube video, reminded me I haven't done the Black Cat on Rose Lane since they took over the former Pi/Haul.  In my database it is not yet due for a visit because I don't consider name nor ownership changes.

Four pints, four new pubs, time for home even though it's only three o'clock.  I'm playing trains next Saturday so maybe no survey.

Pub of the day: Queens Arms
Beer of the day: Bass
Miles walked: 2.0
Maybe coming soon: Undecided

New Ones In The Sunshine

On another beautifully sunny, if somewhat chilly, day I headed out to Ainsdale where there are some cafe/bar type places I need to visit.  I started with two almost next door to each other, first the Tipsy Toucan:

A small shop conversion, pleasant inside but perhaps a little too green.  I'm not sure how much of that was for the upcoming St Patrick's Day.

Unfortunately the cooler was broken, so no draft beer at the moment.  On the spur of the moment I had a bottle of Desperado, I'd forgotten how sweet and tasty this beer is.  I first met it in Arizona back in 2001.  Does it still have Tequila in it?

Not much custom at one on a Saturday afternoon, I hope they do better later.  No draft Guinness is not good for this week, although they said it was fixed and was cooling down so should be OK later.

More customers came in and were advised of the lack of draft by the cheerful bar staff.  All seemed happy with bottles instead.

Next door is the Harbour Bar:

Another very nicely done shop conversion, this one has been here since at least 2016.  No problem with the chiller so I had a pint of Theakston Pale, which I must say was a lot less flavoursome than my Desperado.  It came in a Theakston branded goblet.

This place felt slightly busier than next door, and quite a few people were sitting outside.  I'm not that keen on drinking al fresco in general, but in ten degrees I can't understand the attraction, even with the sunshine.  Of course, some of them were smokers. I stayed in the warm in a very comfortable armchair.

On my way from the station I had spotted another possible target not previously recorded in my database, so let's try Dukes:

Well, this is something of a contrast to the previous two.  Also a shop conversion, I assume, but this one has been a bar longer than Streetview goes back.  It is larger, more aimed at food, and remarkably busy.  Nonetheless they were happy to serve me a pint of Brooklyn Stonewall, and immediate payment also ticks a "does it count as a bar" box.

The waitresses/barmaids were kept extremely busy, and I was only about a quarter down my pint when the last free table was occupied.  Not sure what their secret is but this place is doing really well.

Most of the outside sitters were just drinking, perhaps I was supposed to go out in the cold as well?

Well, I think three brand new ticks has exhausted the opportunities available to me in Ainsdale, so it's time to move on to Southport.  Very close to the station is the brand new (opened ten days ago) Bugle Tap.

Annoyingly, I forgot to take a picture.  Sorry.

Gosh!  A small shop conversion, every table occupied but I need the tick so let's go in.  Oh yes, four handpumps and the coffee vanilla stout I had was wonderful. I forget which brewery, the pump clip design was of a compact cassette.  I'll try and look it up when I get home...  Whitworth Valley Brewing, from Rochdale.

After a few minutes standing at a table (Actually a barrel) one with seats became available so I moved.  Still a barrel but at least I had a stool to take my (not inconsiderable) weight.

A really popular bar, this, I wonder what they do that makes them so much better than all the others.   Or perhaps the nearby cask places (e.g. Tap and Bottles) are also packed?  I hope so.

This really seems to be a successful operation, filled with cheerful drinkers, a proper 2020s boozer.  Pub of the day, I think.

Time to go home?  Or maybe the Baron's Bar in the Scarisbrick Hotel is overdue a visit - If it has bothered to open?  And the answer is no.

So I had a quick wander past there to check out the other places nearby.  Bar 13 shut, Chop House shut, but I can hear some noise.  Some noise?  A lot of noise!  Jungle:

Jungle is lively, I would almost say frantic.  Not my sort of place really, but one has to admire a busy place full of happy inebriated people having fun at four on a Saturday afternoon in March.  Everyone in here is young enough to be my children or grand children, or so I thought initially until I spotted some people of my own age.  The DJ/MC was doing an excellent job keeping everyone active and entertained, with dancing competitions and the like.

A well decorated space on split levels, with a generous provision of ivy and the like giving it a very pleasant green ambience.

I'm too old for this!  I have to admit I'm at a loss to categorise this place, I don't think I've ever met one quite like it.  It feels like a night club but it is only four o'clock.  My honest reaction is that it's brilliant, why wait until eleven for this sort of atmosphere?!

What a tremendous result for a survey, five brand new ticks taking my total to 1,606.

Pub of the day: Bugle Tap
Beer of the day: Coffee Vanilla Stout
Miles walked: 1.3
Maybe coming soon: Undecided. 

2026 Book

 The Merseyside Pub Guide 2026 is now on sale.

The sixteenth edition of my book lists 2,104 pubs of which I have visited 1,601, and it is updated to 9th March.

You can order a copy direct from the printers by clicking here, or it should soon be available from Amazon and other popular distributors.

Stadia And A Milestone

Not a proper research trip today, in fact I wasn't planning on going out at all.  But, checking my stats yesterday I noticed I've done 1,599 Merseyside pubs in total.  As the new edition of the book will be ready soon I decided I needed at least one more tick before I publish.

So, on a warm sunny Thursday afternoon I headed to Bramley Moore Dock for a visit to Everton's new stadium.

I had to have my bag searched to get in the building (I think this is the only pub where that has happened.) and then it was up an escalator and I was in the Trinity Place Bar, tick number 1,600.

What a massive space, almost totally deserted at one o'clock.  Once the tour group had departed there were only about ten customers in this enormous space.

I ordered a pint of Camden Pale which cost £6.95.

I assume this place will be buzzing on a match day, but now it's rather soul-less.  There aren't even any external windows, I had rather hoped for a view of the pitch.  As I left I found there were a few doorways into the stand through which I could see the pitch.  Thinking about it, the big windows overlooking the pitch that I had imagined would of course be impossible because there are seats in the way.

Goodness knows how many staff it takes to run this operation.  There seemed to be a number of security people roaming around, plus a barmaid and presumably someone in the kitchen in case a pizza is ordered.  On the other hand, when the tour finishes there will probably be forty customers drinking and eating.

Now what?  Well, there is another never visited bar not that far away, although the two and a half mile walk did feel a bit gruelling.  (I spent part of this morning climbing up and down a ladder - My satellite telly is fixed but it can't be good for my ankles!)

Eventually I reached the other football ground where I quickly headed for the Kop Bar:

Just like the Trinity Place, this is the one bar open in the stadium on non match days, but unlike at Everton there was no security palaver.

Much smaller than the Everton one and with lots more people in, but not so full that I couldn't find a table.  I noticed, and ignored, the sign saying tables are for dining guests only - It wasn't so busy that diners would have to stand.

Certainly lots more people than at Everton, and many of my fellow customers seemed to be foreign tourists.  I suppose that's down to the difference between the clubs' fanbases.

What should I do now?  My dodgy ankle (Have I told you about my dodgy ankle?) was feeling a bit painful, so maybe it's time for an Uber.  Otherwise it's a mile to the bus home.  The weather has changed to very grey overcast, if it starts to rain that'll make my decision for me!  In fact I caught a bus immediately outside the stadium, so Uber lost out this time.

No survey on Saturday as I will be at the Wigan Beer Festival.  And tomorrow I'm visiting Manchester which will hopefully involve a mini pub crawl.  No wonder I'm below my ticking target!

Pub of the day: Kop Bar
Beer of the day: Shipyard
Miles walked: 2.8
Maybe coming soon: Undecided