I decided that for a change I'd do a survey of the (mostly) closed pubs along the Docks before everything changes with the opening of the new stadium.
I headed to Bootle to commence my tour, starting at the long closed and never ticked Clarence:
Next, down to Regent Road which was to be my main route today. On the corner stands Kerries Bar, another one I never got to. I think it was also called Shenanigans at some time in its history:
A quick dodge back up to Derby Road for a picture of the Woodhouse, last visited in 1998:
Back on Regent Road, next came the Atlantic, which has been flattened I'm afraid, along with the Iron Horse concert room next door:
As I photographed the site of the Atlantic, a large gaggle of blokes appeared out of a side road and started walking along Regent Road ahead of me. What could they be up to? I guessed an organised party of Everton fans on a visit to look at their new home.
I carried on, to the long closed Sandon Lion which is still standing, perhaps poised for future football traffic:
But what's this a couple of doors further along? What used to be Coast, and before that Sherlock's and before that the Convivial Hotel, is now the Royal Crest Hotel, and the gang are going in.
I followed, half expecting to be told it was a private function, but I was allowed to share the pub with what turned out to be a stag party.
I was very pleased to get a tick here as I had recorded Coast as closed as long ago as 2011. A well done very recent refurbishment in modern style has created a very pleasant one roomed boozer. It looks so different inside compared to my visits to Sherlock's in 1999 and 2004 that I initially concluded I'd got the wrong place, but later internet research revealed it was the same building.
The massive quantity of customers all at once caused a bit of chaos, especially when the Stella turned out to be sour! The lone barmaid efficiently sorted things out, the stags were served and I got a Guinness.
The room was decorated with pink heart-shaped balloons, not really what I would expect for stags, perhaps left over from a function last night?
Was it specially open for the stags? Without them it would only have been me in here. On second thoughts there were two other blokes who weren't joining in, so actually three customers.
The party departed, to where I don't know, leaving the pub peaceful.
On a little further, looking at the new stadium, which is well on its way, to the only pub I had expected to be open along here, the Bramley Moore:
Would it be full of stags? No, just a dozen or more regulars. One has a new smart phone and was taking pictures of his pals and the landlady.
I wonder where the stags went, and why they were in this area in the first place. Why not do this pub as well?
Pretty much no change since the last time I was here, in 2004, but clearly it has had a couple of redecorations in the intervening years, because it's very well cared for and tidy.
Was this the pub where a regular once said to me "That's the first time anyone's ever done the Times crossword in here", I'm fairly sure it was somewhere around here. I used to sit quietly in a corner and attempt said crossword on my early surveys.
I must say I was surprised just how well this pub was doing, I had the area down as being totally dead, with the remaining pub(s) hanging on for the football fans, but no, there were seventeen customers at three on a Saturday. Hardly busy, but the room was filled with cheerful chatter.
The racing channel was showing somewhere in Ireland, I guess all local meetings are cancelled.
I continued my trek along Regent Road. Now here's two places I've never heard of. Murphy's Distillery was only open for a private party according to the sign at the entrance, so I didn't push my luck:
Next door is Ten Streets Social:
My goodness, this is a big room, full of bench seats and tables. A stage at the far end and a long bar counter along one side. Bare brick walls and a cement floor complete the industrial vibe.
No Guinness as far as I could see, I selected Staropramen for a change, two or three pints of froth came out before a pint of lager, but it tasted good in the end.
I could see food and drinks disappearing through a side door, there must be another room (Or could that be Murphy's?)
I rather like this place, I bet it would be good with music on. I have resolved to see more live music in future, let's see if I actually do... I studied the what's on listing. Most events seem to finish about 3 or 4 in the morning; I'm afraid that's well past my bed time.
Now here's an annoying feature of the decor. They've got no less than eighty of those fake retro lightbulbs, but these have got an extra feature whereby every now and then one will flicker and go out, recovering a moment later. I wondered if they were individually random but I think they are in a fixed sequence. Rather irritating anyway, there's always one flickering in my peripheral vision.
Carrying on towards the city, there are a couple of brewery taps hidden in the last bit of industry before you get to the commercial centre. First, Azvex Taproom:
A medium sized warehouse this, half brewery and half bar.
I briefly studied the list of twelve beers, and soon ordered some Vantablack Creatures which claimed to be an imperial stout with peanut butter brownie. At 11% it's lucky I only had a third of a pint; Oh wow, it was gorgeous, extremely sweet and sticky and I could taste the PB. Beer of the month, possibly of the year.
I counted fourteen customers inside, plus more than that in the sunshine outside.
For those who don't like "strong and/or strange" beers I should report that one of the twelve beers on tap was Cruise Liner at 3.8% which I would guess is very quaff-able. There were a few other slightly stronger pales as well. On the other hand, if you want dark beers I think mine was the only one.
The food in here, currywurst and hot dogs, looked very tempting.
Just across the road is Carnival Tasting Room:
This is another warehouse which is half brewery half bar, perhaps a bit more colourful than the last one, and it seems a bit busier.
My first choice, a blood orange IPA at 9.3% was not on (Can't they amend the blackboard? Surely that's why it's a blackboard!) so I had a rather fine, if weaker (5.2%), pale with Citra hops. To be fair, while I enjoyed my second choice beer, someone crossed the blood orange one off the board. Perhaps they read my mind?
I was half way down my drink before I noticed the cask blackboard. If they had had pump clips I would have had some but I had assumed the two pumps weren't in use. Oh well, I probably would have enjoyed the pale or even the pina collada haze, but it's too late now. I didn't see any use of the handpumps while I was drinking my very tasty "Dreaming of Twinships ".
In here, the food was tacos, but I didn't see any served, unlike in Azvex where quite a few sausages came out.
Time to head for home... As I walked past a modern warehouse building I could hear quite a lot of crashing banging noises. I looked at the sign, it's "Hatchet Harry's Indoor Axe Throwing". What the ****????
Beer of the day: Azvex's Vantablack Creatures
Miles walked: 4.1
Maybe coming soon: No idea!
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