From family celebrations to friends dancing the night away, The Mons was once the place to be
Food is on offer at The Mons pub, Breeze Hill in Bootle, pictured in September 1990(Image: )
Sitting on the corner of Breeze Hill is a pub caught between nostalgia and possibility. Thousands pass it each week, waiting at the Southport Road traffic lights, unaware of the stories held within its walls.
The Mons, Bootle, needs no introduction to those who have the privilege of calling Merseyside home. For many, it stands as more than just brick and glass, and, as of the summer of 2024, the silver railings that close off the world around it.
It is a place where generations have crossed paths: dock workers unwinding after long shifts, families celebrating milestones, friends dancing the night away, and, like Annee Woods, lovers locking eyes for the first time.
The 70-year-old, from Bootle but living in Melling, met her husband, Jerry, at The Mons “many moons ago”, but this isn’t the only reason why she cherishes the space.
The current state of The Mons in Bootle today(Image: )
The former social worker told the ECHO: “We started going to The Mons when we were just kids. I was about 14 the first time I went. We would spend our nights at the youth club until my cousin Carol and I were told about The Mons by my older brother, Ged.
“We finished a sponsored walk during the day for my school, the old Maghull Grammar School, and then we decided that was the day we would grab something to eat, go home, get ready and head out. It was a Sunday, and we were all in our glad rags. It was amazing inside; so glamorous, and you were inside this massive hall. It just blew us away. It became a regular spot for us.
“We always got a lemonade each and danced the night away. No matter the day, The Mons was always open for you – there was always a dinner dance happening. Even on Christmas, we’d go there.
“Back then, parents didn’t take their children to the pub with them to watch the match or anything as they do now. The only time I’d seen a pub before The Mons was when we were sent to the side door of one to the counter to get some bottles of juice or cigarettes for my grandad. The Mons was so modern compared to the other pubs, it felt fresh.
Pianist Mike Leroy at the grand piano in the ballroom at the Mons Hotel in Bootle, Merseyside. February 1985.(Image: Mirrorpix)
“It was only us two, Carol and I, at the start, but slowly but surely we managed to convince everyone in our group to go. Soon our whole gang was there. But even on a Friday night when we went to the ice rink, The Mons became our meeting place before we headed off anywhere else.
“I met my husband, Jerry, at The Mons, and we’ve just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary together. He always says it was the hot pants and knee-high boots I wore one time to the pub that swayed him over.”
The Mons first opened in 1966 and was named after Bootle’s Belgian twin town of Mons, serving as a local hub with a carvery and function rooms. Since then, it has closed and reopened in various incarnations, including as a Wacky Warehouse and The Hilltop, before returning to its roots.
The pub was part of Mitchells & Butlers’ Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery chain, but its parent company decided to sell the site. It permanently closed two years ago. At the time of its closure, a spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers told the ECHO: “We continuously review our estate to ensure that we’re always obtaining the best returns from each of our assets, and driving innovation across our brands, to enable us to continue to deliver shareholder value. Following an approach, we have taken the decision to sell Mons Bootle.”
Dancing at The Mons pub, Breeze Hill in Bootle. September 1990.(Image: Terry Mealey Photography)
Since then, rumours have been rife about its future, including whispers about a McDonald’s and Greggs takeover, both of which have been denied by the fast-food giants. The latest update from the UK restaurant operations group is that it is currently “in negotiations with developers over the site’s future”.
With its future and what is to come next still uncertain, Annee said she was opposed to it returning to a pub, claiming “you will never be able to recreate the magic” of the original venue.
However, not everyone feels the same. Jackie Cole, from Walton but who grew up in Norris Green, used to be at The Mons “every morning”. Her mum, Stella, was a cleaner, and so she and her sister, Maureen, have different memories compared to your typical Mons customers; when they went, it was a quiet space filled only with the wreckage from the night before.
The Mons, Breeze Hill, Bootle, at its prime in 1982 (Image: Sefton Council)
The 63-year-old, who lived on Maria Road, told the ECHO: “While my mum was cleaning, we would go around all the seats and collect the pennies that had fallen out of pockets from where people would be sitting. We used to come out with loads, thinking we were rich.
“My mum worked there for quite a while, a few hours every day. I went there when I was older, when it was a pub. To see it empty when you were a kid, to the next minute, grown up, standing surrounded by everyone, it was quite weird. Very different. You just think ‘Oh my god, it has all gone so quickly’.
“It is in a prime spot. It feels wasted for it just to be left there like what it is now. It would be amazing to see it come back as a pub. I’ve left the area now, I live in Whitby, so it would be special to come back and see it as a pub. My mum and sister have died now, I’m the only one left, so it would give me a reason to pop back to Liverpool.”
The Mons was named after Bootle’s Belgian twin town of Mons. Pictured is the Mayor of Bootle, Alderman Oliver Ellis, and the deputy Burgomaster of Mons, Monsieur P. Couneson, seen touring the New Strand shopping centre in October 1968.(Image: Mirrorpix)
Chris Leo shares a similar sentiment. The 60-year-old has been living in Australia for more than 25 years. When he last stepped foot on British soil, he took his mum to The Mons.
The former St Bonaventure’s Secondary Modern School pupil told the ECHO: “The last time I was in The Mons, it was a sad occasion. It had been completely turned into something different from what I remembered. I came home from Australia, and my mum, who is pretty much house-bound, had the option of The Stuart Pub or The Mons. I took her round to The Mons, and I was shocked at what it had turned into.”
Chris, who lived on Margaret Road in Walton, said he remembers The Mons for his football presentations and music. It was the first pub he ever went to as a 15-year-old.
He added: “I just tried to make myself look as old as possible because The Mons wasn’t like other pubs, that’s why you wanted to go to it. It was a special occasion type of pub, but soon I was going most weekends. There was none of this ID required or bouncers on the door or anything; you went in and took your chance on walking up to the bar and getting served.
The Mons has graffiti all over its walls now(Image: )
“The first night I went, my mates kept saying ‘You’re going to have to go to the bar at some point’, but I was just so nervous to even move. I kept thinking someone was going to shout ‘Oi, you, out now’. It was quite funny when I went to the bar. I remember the bartender asked if my mate wanted scotch, and I said ‘No, he wants whiskey’, not realising they were the same thing.
“I remember The Mons was loved for its jukebox. It had some pretty good songs on there. I remember the Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love being a popular choice for months.
“I’m from Walton, I lived less than a five-minute walk from The Mons. But it was only a couple of minutes to County Road, and back then, that’s where everywhere went. Unless you were from Bootle, you didn’t go to The Mons. It felt like my friend group was one of the only few who went to The Mons and be from Walton.
“It was once such a special place to me. As a kid, in your teenage years, it was so exciting. It was huge, and had so many parts to explore. No other pub could compare at the time. It was a well-to-do person pub. You would always put on a nice jacket if you were going to it.”
What was once a focal point for communities on the edge of two Liverpool areas is now a boarded-up, unused space covered in graffiti.