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.