Liverpool 2024 - first visits

We arrived in Liverpool about 6pm on a Sunday evening and battled against strong winds for the short walk from James Street station to the nearby Travelodge on The Strand, situated between the iconic Liver Building and Liverpool One bus station.

Azvex Brewing Company Taproom

After hotel check in, the first priority was to visit Azvex taproom which closes at 8pm on Sundays until reopening on Thursday. It was a blustery walk of just over a half mile and the illuminated sign led us to the door at Unit 16, Gibraltar Row.

The taproom end of the high-ceilinged industrial unit has a contemporary look with yellow chairs for long tables and higher grey chairs ranged along the bar.

Twelve beers are listed on black slates showing the beer style and price per pint or 2/3 pint, depending on style and strength. The range included Dockers Umbrella Helles Lager, The Cake is a Lie 12.5% ABV Imperial Stout and Mana-Wild Berry Smoothie Sour.

Tasters were available and we ordered half pints of Electronic Butterfly and Magnificent Tree Frog. The cost for the two pale ales, served in branded tumbler glasses, was £5.40. 

N.B. Due to medication affecting Tim's taste on this trip, there are no tasting notes in this post.

The stainless steel conical fermenters line one wall and other brewing vessels are in a central area of the roped off brewery area of the unit.

There is a tall glass-fronted fridge near the beer taps end of the bar where customers can select canned beers to drink in or take away. We purchased two cans of Electronic Butterfly to take away.

On this occasion, there was no opportunity to visit the nearby tasting room of Carnival Brewing Co as Unit 3, Gibraltar Row, as it usually closes at 6pm on Sundays.

The Captain Alexander

First visited after a battle against strong winds on the walk back from Azvex Brewery taproom, The Captain Alexander, opposite James Street station, was the closest pub to our hotel and became a convenient place for evening meals and breakfasts. The pub is named after Captain Alexander Allan who founded the Allan shipping line in 1819.

The entrance lobby and open plan interior featured original artwork by Martin Kavanagh and a number of interesting displays in line with the J D Wetherspoon practice. One display mentions that the unique carpet pattern was inspired by a photo of the interior of an Allan Line ship - S.S. Scandinavian.

Service was good and several guest ales, including Titanic Plum Porter, were available at the bar (£2.72 pint).

The next morning there were blue skies and we met up for breakfast with several others from our group staying at the same hotel. After another windy walk to visit RIBA North to see a film as part of the temporary Tate Liverpool relocation, we would rejoin the group at Peter Kavanagh's after a bus journey starting from Liverpoool One bus station. Alighting at the eastern end of Myrtle Street, we stopped to look in The Caledonia before walking south down Catharine Street as far as Egerton Street. 

We passed Canning Street, a principal thoroughfare in the Georgian quarter and would later return this way en route to The Belvedere.

The Belvedere

100 metres further along Catharine Street is the junction for Falkner Street. Head west here and turning north after 50 metres you will find the entrance to The Belvedere at 8 Sugnall Street. 

Tim chose Release the Pressure (Nightjar Brew Co, Mytholmroyd) from the four cask ales on the bar. Four years previously, Tom Anderson was serving at Liverpool's Ship and Mitre when our group visited. It was a nice surprise when tankard recognised Tom behind the bar at the Belvedere and reminded him of our previous meeting, mentioned in a Liverpool 2019 post which features the photo that Tim took of Tom with a copy of Ullage magazine. Tom is a brewer and manager of the Belvedere so it is not surprising to find that our group was happy with the beers served.

A blackboard on the opposite wall to the bar lists a range of craft beers and lagers. There wasn't any comfortable seating in this room so our group took our beers (and Tim's pork pie @ £3.50) to the larger room at the other end of the pub. Soon afterwards Tom carried in a bag of logs and lit a fire to warm the room for us.

Here's a photo of our group in the 'Smoke Room'. Dennis (right insert) had just departed when the main photo was taken with Les taking his former place between tankard and Bod on the left and Mark on the right. Although the plants on the window sill looked real they proved to be rather good plastic versions.

The classic interior of this listed pub, featured in the CAMRA National Inventory of historic pub interiors, is complemented with other tasteful additions like framed black and white photos of Liverpool life from recent decades. There is much evidence of etched glass both for the main windows and internally.

We also had the benefit of overhearing the conversation Les had with a local customer who coincidentally was also familiar with Reading, a town that most of our group are more familiar with than Liverpool. We were treated to an explanation of how politics has evolved in Liverpool including its Irish links, a black community established long before the 'Windrush generation', antipathy towards the police ('Bizzies') and until the mid 1970s and a more conservative outlook than other Northern cities.

Those of our group who departed after only one beer also missed out on some live music after several musicians cleared a space for themselves on the other side of the room for a practice session. Using bound folders of music and lyrics their repertoire included: The Night Before (Beatles) Just Dropped In (Kenny Rogers et al) and Make Me Smile (Steve Harley / Cockney Rebel). 

The Belvedere hosts an Unplugged Open Mic night on Thursdays and a blackboard lists regular events on for other nights of the week.

Daylight was fading by the time the rest of us departed The Belvedere (photo above) and set off to meet up with Dennis and Jon at the Roscoe Head (previously visited by Tim in 2019). The fire had not been lit and after a beer there and some discussion about where to go next we settled on The Engineer / The White Hart as our next destination although this would involve retracing our steps to some extent.

The Engineer / The White Hart

The two pubs linked by a shared central conservatory area opened on 16 January 2024. They were not marked on Google maps yet but thanks to intelligence received by Dennis and Jon about the expanding 1936 Pub Company in Liverpool we knew to head for 23 Hope Street.

The Guide, Liverpool link has a report about the opening by the 1936 Pub Company which also operates The Vines and the Queen of Hope Street.

It is also possible to access both pubs from the entrance to The Engineer on Arrad Street which runs parallel.

Our group walked through the White Hart and the conservatory and found a ground floor table in the Engineer. There is a mish mash of furnishings and decorations (with twin themes of hand tools and alpine skiing) and a separate bar, with four cask ales, in this space.

If the beer range at The Engineer is not to your taste it is also possible to choose from a wider range of cask ales in the White Hart and take one back to your seat.

Tim was happy to see a framed Babar print at balcony level where there are several 'snug' rooms.

Beers may be served in dimple glasses at The Engineer which has branded beer mats to remind you which part of the pub you are in!

It was surprisingly busy on a Monday night for a pub which had only just opened although it had recently been featured in the Liverpool Echo.

From here we would make our separate ways to the next rendezvous, Doctor Duncan's, on foot or by bus.

Doctor Duncan's

Doctor Duncan's is now a Mikhail Group pub that operates several bars in Liverpool including The Brewery Tap in Cains Brewery Village. It's located at 1 St John's Lane, facing St John's Gardens between St George's Hall and the Ship & Mitre.

It was quiet on this Monday evening, a day when the pub's kitchen is closed. There is a Victorian pharmacy cabinet display inside and our group were seated in a dimly lit rear section of the pub.

There is another antique pharmacy cabinet mounted on a rear wall.

Alfred Waterhouse was the architect for the building which was completed in 1898. A room on the other side of the central bar has the original ornate tiles from the building's original use by the Pearl Assurance Company. After taking some photos, Tim and Meg soon departed in search of a pub with food but would return to Doctor Duncan's on Tuesday afternoon for a drink with Mark before his train back to London and their visit to the nearby Walker Art Gallery.

Earlier on Tuesday, after breakfast at The Richard John Blackler, the group had crossed Lime Street in the rain and headed to Ma Egerton's Stage Door, located at 9 Pudsey Street, directly behind the Liverpool Empire theatre.

Mark, Les, Jon and tankard pictured in the pub with a strong theatrical theme. Lancaster Black and Whakahari (Purple Moose) were the only two cask ales available. The piped music was played at quite a loud volume and the selection included Don Henley - The Boys of Summer.

The redeeming features of the pub for Tim was the art nouveau style fireplace (although not lit) and the interesting theatrical displays.

This post complements a Liverpool 2024 - revisits post mainly featuring Peter Kavanagh's, The Roscoe Head, The Vernon Arms and the Lion Tavern.

Liverpool 2019 - Sunday 13 January

Day 3 in Liverpool and a third (later) breakfast at the Lime Kiln with welcome free refills of coffee as provided by Wetherspoon pubs. Once again our CAMRA group took over the front area of the ground floor.

The distant building, in the photo above, is McCooley's, facing Concert Square.

The Ship & Mitre

After breakfast, a 15 minute walk led us to the Ship & Mitre in Dale Street, which opens at 10am on Sundays. The corner pub, opposite the Mersey Tunnel entrance, stands out with its art deco style and cream and blue colour scheme.

After posting a photo of the pub, once owned by Bent's Brewery, from my Twitter account some replies from beer writers followed (above) with an explanation that 'Bents' used to be part of the signage - between Ales and Stouts.

A group was leaving just as we arrived so we were able to secure the slightly raised area at the front corner of the Ship & Mitre. We liked the pub, service and beers so much that we would remain here for three hours!

As a change from my favoured pale ale style, a pint of Jar porter by Flagship Beer was an introduction to the Ship & Mitre's own beers which are cuckoo brewed on a 4 barrel kit. The 4.7% ABV Jar is brewed with spicy rye and roasted malts.

There was time for a chat with Tom Anderson on a subsequent visit to the bar and Tom posed with one of my last copies of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine.

Tom mentioned that apart from his work at the pub he is also the brewer / owner of Tyton brewery based in Ainsdale, Southport. Tom knows Angus Morrison, now Head Brewer at Birkenhead's Glen Affric Brewery, from his brewing training. Tom is naming Tyton's beers after owls e.g. Tawny and Morepork.

My next beer was a half pint of Flagship Lupa, dry with citrus peel flavours, brewed with Syrian Wolf hops and costing £1.50.

It was also nice to meet Kurt Watson, the Ship & Mitre's manager. Kurt is originally from Basildon in Essex but liked Liverpool and its people so much while he was a student in the city that he stayed on.

Petra, on keg, from Flagship Beer was my third and favourite beer at the Ship & Mitre. The 4% ABV Citrus Hefe-Weiss cost £1.50 for 1/3 pint. The pub's beer menu lists 37 German bottled beers and other European keg and bottled beers are also available reflecting its claim to be the 'home of the largest drinks range in Liverpool'.

Home cooked food is available all day from the Galley including their famous Scouse.

Thanks must go to tankard for generously ordering a jug of Silhouett by Flagship Beer so that we could all taste it before moving on. Kurt delivered and poured the 4.5% ABV dry Irish stout for us. He was about to finish his shift at the pub and confided in us that his staff had been asking him if he was bipolar because he was being so nice to everyone! Evidence suggests that the Ship & Mitre's claim to be 'where you'll receive great service from friendly and knowledgeable staff' is fully borne out!

 Before leaving we explored other parts of the spacious pub and noted the blackboard with a diagram showing 'How is beer made?'.

The view from the other side of the partition wall with the blackboard reveals that the rear area is also raised and surrounded by brass rails.

The Excelsior

Leaving the pub at 2.45pm, it was less than a minute's walk west from the Ship & Mitre, past an office block, to the Excelsior also in Dale Street.

This was another deep and spacious pub but more plushly decorated with curtains and ornamental lamps. We found an area where we could sit together by the etched windows. The text on the wall is similar to the opening lines from Roger McGuinn's Liverpool Gals including

'And it's row, row

   bullies row

         Those Liverpool Judies

        have got us in tow'

My beer here was a favourite - Salopian Lemon Dream (£1.75 1/2 pint), a 4.5% ABV pale golden ale brewed using organic lemons. The Everton v Bournemouth football match was screened on a TV and the game would end with a 2-0 win for Everton, whose Goodison Road ground is 2 1/2 miles north.

Leaving the pub at 3.45pm we passed the impressive Liverpool City Council offices on our 3 minute walk further west down Dale Street to the Vernon Arms.

The Vernon Arms

On the corner with Vernon Street, the Vernon Arms only has a narrow frontage on Dale Street.

Our group occupied the round tables in main central area inside, opposite the long bar. The football match was also being screened here. Unusually there is a sloping floor.

A range of seven cask ales at the bar of the free house included Windmill Brewery Taonga, an 'Ultra Pale Ale'.

There is a framed plan of Liverpool and Birkenhead docks on an end wall, under a clock. Framed Édouard Manet prints on other walls include Olympia, Luncheon on the Grass and Un Bar aux Folies Bergère (with its bottles of Bass identified by the red triangle trademark).

Leaving the pub at 4.45pm, we passed the Royal Insurance Building, now the Aloft hotel. The illuminated frieze, designed by C. J. Allen, depicts themes relating to insurance.

We also passed Thomas Rigby's on Dale Street before turning north into Hackins Hey and passing the Lady of Mann just before entering Ye Hole In Ye Wall.

Ye Hole In Ye Wall

Proceeding to the bar of Ye Hole In Ye Wall, known as Liverpool's oldest pub, there is evidence of stained and leaded glass panels.

With a choice of six cask ales, I opted for Red Star Brewery Formby IPA. 

The 4% ABV session IPA with a hint of elderflower is hopped with Cascade and New Zealand hops. 

Once again, our group was able to find a convenient place to sit together in an area with upholstered seats and wood panelling above. 

As GBG pub bloggers like Martin Taylor and Simon Everitt sometimes include photos of unusual signs for toilet facilities, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the elegant sign used for the Gents at Ye Hole In Ye Wall. At 5.45pm there was a consensus that we should find somewhere for a meal. We were turned away at the first place we tried 'not enough room' and I joined a splinter group that would head for Peter Kavanagh's while most would continue the search for a restaurant in the Moorfields area.

With Liverpudlian Tony in my small group, we headed via pedestrian Mathew Street in the Cavern Quarter to the Elliot Street bus stop, opposite the The Richard John Blackler (Wetherspoon). 

Peter Kavanagh's

An 86 bus took us uphill to Catharine Street for £2.30 and then it was only three minutes walk to Peter Kavanagh's on a corner of Egerton Street. The bar is festooned with unusual objects and there are hand pumps for three cask ales - Black Sheep Resolution,  The Mobberley Brewhouse Boom Juice and Hook Norton Cold Turkey on our visit. Payment is by cash only.

We took our drinks into one of the bar areas near where a variety of radios were suspended from the ceiling. Another splinter group, that included Rachel, was already here so we joined them until they departed. A ukulele group was playing and one of the songs performed was Homeward Bound. Tony mentioned that Paul Simon wrote this song while waiting for a train back to London station at Widnes station after a performance in Liverpool. 

Decor in another area of the pub includes a bicycle and a poster for the Liverpool Overhead Railway.
My plan was to call in at the Grapes where jazz music is played on a Sunday night but Tony's route did not allow for this so we arrived instead at the Head of Steam in Hanover Street at 8.45pm.

The Head of Steam

My first beer at the Head of Steam was Fab Four a 4.4% ABV 'Liverpool IPA' brewed by Rock the Boat Brewery. The four 'sensational UK hops' used are Admiral, Flyer, Cascade and Target.

More from our group joined us later bringing our numbers up from three to ten.

My last cask beer of the day was Sanctuary by Camerons Brewery of Hartlepool. (Camerons owns the 15 strong Head of Steam chain of pubs).

Sanctuary is a permanent ale from Cameron's Anchor brand and is a 3.8% ABV pale ale dry hopped with Citra hops. After four days of exploring the pubs of the Liverpool area it was finally time to say goodbye to my CAMRA friends and head back to the nearby hotel. Cheers!