The street is a “gateway” to the city but many people feel its overlooked
Duncan and Joyce Emsley in The Brownlows Inn(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It’s a warm weekday afternoon in Liverpool and the front windows of The Brownlows Inn are open to let out some of the heat. It’s an old school pub on Mount Pleasant, a city centre street that links Lime Street at one end with Hope Street at the other.
Inside The Brownlows is husband and wife Duncan and Joyce Emsley, aged 82 and 79 respectively, sipping on pints of lager as part of their weekly routine. Joyce tells the ECHO: “We come here from Southport twice a week, every Monday and Thursday. We start at the pubs on Ranelagh Street and then come up here. We’ve been doing this for 20 years. This is a nice pub. Everybody in here including all the staff are always friendly and helpful.”
Joyce thinks the area is more vibrant to drink in than their hometown of Southport. Mount Pleasant is a street which a lot of people pass through, including many students and tourists as they venture up to the Georgian Quarter and nearby universities, but not everyone makes a point of visiting the venues on the street itself.
In the words of Duncan: “Some tourists might walk past here and not want to come in, but it’s a good pub.”
The street boats pubs, several restaurants and takeaways, along with flats and offices inside stunning Georgian buildings, a cathedral and a public garden. In 2024, a new food market opened on the street, which includes Zaman Coffee and Safi’s Desserts.
‘People don’t venture up this way’
When asked how she would describe Mount Pleasant, Larnie Cadwallader, who works for Morgan Jones Barbers, said: “I would say it’s a bit lost. People don’t venture up this way. There’s probably a little bit more that could be brought to the area.
“I park by the Anglican Cathedral, so as I’m coming through every day I’m starting to see new restaurants opening and stuff like that. But if it wasn’t for the tourist route and people coming up this way to see certain things, I don’t feel like people would venture up here.
“We’ve got the hop on, hop off buses going past but passing trade isn’t really something we do. We use our website where people can book in – if people see us, they can search for it on the internet and book it that way.”
View looking down Mount Pleasant in Liverpool towards the old Radio City tower(Image: Jamie Greer/Liverpool Echo)
Morgan Jones is a men’s barbers with a difference, with Morgan herself doing pre-booked haircuts upstairs and Larnie specialising in men’s skincare downstairs.
Larnie, 35, from the city centre, said: “There is quite a stigma out there that men shouldn’t get likes of facials or skin treatments, but I think to myself, why not? Me and Morgan have created a space where skincare and skin treatments are just a normal part of looking after yourself. It’s about breaking down a stigma, supporting mental wellness and encouraging men to feel good in their own skin.”
Rebecca Pearson and Susanne Quest similarly feel that Mount Pleasant is a street many people pass through without noticing what it has to offer in its own right. They both work for Rebecca’s speech and language therapy clinic, located in a grand Georgian building on Mount Pleasant.
‘It feels like a hub of everything here’
The service works primarily for people up to 19 years-old on the autistic spectrum who have language delays and speech sound difficulties.
Rebecca, 35, from Woolton, said: “It feels like a hub of everything here. We don’t know if many people are aware of us, even though it’s quite a common route for students.
“We don’t feel like it gets a lot of footfall from the general public. We want to promote our service because it’s something that we do to help others.”
Rebecca Pearson and other staff at Rebecca Pearson Speech and Language Therapy (Image: Rebecca Pearson)
Susanne, 49, from Wallasey, added: “I think a lot of tourists or even local people who come to see the cathedrals might go up another way.”
Nevertheless, they believe their current base is beneficial for them. Rebecca said: “We had a very small clinic on Aigburth Road. Then we grew the business and it needed a larger premises.
“We’ve ended up here, which is a lot bigger than we ever anticipated but we do absolutely love it. Everybody does comment on how lovely the atmosphere here is.”
How Mount Pleasant could develop remains up for debate. A regular in another pub argued there wasn’t any room for new developments.
The 051 Club stands at the junction of Brownlow Hill (left) and Mount Pleasant(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Many buildings on Mount Pleasant are occupied, but the Wellington Rooms, which operated as Liverpool’s Irish Centre, has stood empty since it closed in 1997. Last year, Liverpool City Council told the ECHO that the local authority was in the process of appointing a consultant to carry out a condition survey on the building.
‘There’s a lot more we should be doing with Mount Pleasant’
When the ECHO reported on the state of Mount Pleasant in 2022, ward councillor Nick Small, who is also the Cabinet Member for Growth and Economy, described the street as “the missing piece in the jigsaw” of the city centre’s development.
Cllr Small was hopeful that the re-opening of nightclub 051 could be a positive step and this has since happened under the guidance of Lee Butler.
The politician is now focused on making the road a thriving route that connects to the Knowledge Quarter, home to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital and several university buildings, as part of an area labelled Upper Central. This runs from Central Station and Lime Street to Bold Street and Liverpool Science Park.
Plans for this area are longstanding and include the potential of a new public square outside the Adelphi Hotel. Cllr Small told the ECHO this week: “I think there’s an arc of opportunity around Liverpool city centre from Bramley-Moore Dock to Paddington village.
“Mount Pleasant is the link to the city centre and Knowledge Quarter. There’s some really exciting developments but you’ve got to get that link right. Mount Pleasant is a key gateway. There’s a potential for a public square outside the Adelphi.
“With Mount Pleasant and Brownlow Hill, there’s a lot more we should be doing. That’s about improving connectivity and some intersections. There’s also the perception that Paddington Village is miles away up a really steep hill.
Mount Pleasant Food Market(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“So how can we change people’s perceptions and improve connectivity? That will mean more investment to Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant and the whole area will benefit from that. The big theme of this is the council expanding the city centre outwards.”
Mount Pleasant car park and other council-run sites have seen prices rise by 39.69% in recent months but Cllr Small said “Liverpool’s night-time economy is strong enough to withstand and weather the changes.” He added: At the end of the day, it’s about having more accessible transport solutions but also better parking enforcement.
Plans for Liverpool’s version of Times Square
“The money will benefit businesses at the end of the day. The early initial feedback we’re getting is quite positive. We’ve said we’ll do a review of how it’s operating too.
“Mount Pleasant car park is very much of its time. Is it in the right place? Could there be a more economically productive use of that land? These are the types of questions we must ask.”
The ECHO first reported on plans for a new public square, dubbed Liverpool’s version of Times Square, in 2017 and wider plans for the area dubbed the “Upper Central” district since 2019.
But Cllr Small insists that these proposals are still making progress, with the completed re-design of the roads around Lime Street marking one phase of the plan.
He said: “It’s a vision. You’ve got the Lime Street scheme and the next extension of that is how we improve connectivity. It’s about setting out a vision, looking at the public realm and strategy and seeing the projects we can do when somebody comes on board.”