{"id":367690,"date":"2025-08-23T16:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T16:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367690\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T16:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T16:55:13","slug":"liverpool-has-great-pubs-and-keeps-getting-more-but-something-else-might-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367690\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool has great pubs and keeps getting more, but something else might help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reporter Dan Haygarth writes about the changing face of Liverpool’s nightlifeDan Haygarth<\/strong><\/a> Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter<\/p>\n

17:15, 23 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth is a senior reporter who focuses on the regeneration of the Liverpool City Region. He looks at social and political issues facing the region, as well as writing about culture, business and the built environment. He also has a particular interest in covering stories from Merseyside\u2019s hospitality industry. Born in Liverpool, Dan joined the ECHO in January 2022 having previously been a reporter for CambridgeshireLive.<\/p>\n

\"ConcertConcert Square in Liverpool(Image: Andrew Teebay\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

When it comes to pubs, I think Liverpool can compete with any city in the country. Whether that’s the matchday pubs of Anfield and County Road, Lark Lane’s plethora of venues, or the student favourites of Smithdown Road<\/a>, our suburbs are very well equipped with fine watering holes.<\/p>\n

That strength in depth is only heightened when you get to the city centre. Dale Street and the surrounding areas of Liverpool’s business district are bathed in great pubs<\/a>, harking back to the glory days of the lunchtime pint.<\/p>\n

I strongly believe there’s no better place for a pub crawl than the Georgian Quarter<\/a>. Starting at Peter Kavanagh’s, you can make your way down to Seel Street, stopping at no end of wonderful pubs – including but not limited to The Grapes, The Philharmonic Dining Rooms<\/a>, The White Hart, The Cambridge and The Roscoe Head.<\/p>\n

I could write for days about my love for boozers like The Grapes<\/a> on Roscoe Street, The Vernon on Dale Street<\/a> and The Belvedere, beautifully tucked away on Sugnall Street<\/a>. Fortunately for people like me, there has been a real move towards flooding the city centre with what some may call old-man pubs.<\/p>\n

This movement has been largely led by the 1936 Pub Company<\/a>. It has captured lightning in a bottle when it comes to getting droves of people into traditional-styled pubs. I’m not against it.<\/p>\n

The company’s roster includes the magnificently restored Vines, The Monro, the recently reopened Pilgrim<\/a> and venues such as The Queen of Hope Street and the Red Lion, which have placed old-fashioned-looking pubs into newer buildings.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Vines at Lime Street, Liverpool(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

That stems down to Lark Lane, where the company has just opened what was The Lodge as The Masonic Arms<\/a>, paying tribute to its former name. That pub joins traditional-style boozer The Green Man and a number of bars in the 1936 family on the famous Aigburth street.<\/p>\n

They are not alone. Nightclub the Peacock on Seel Street shut its doors this month to be replaced by a traditional-looking pub called the Crooked Crown. Despite the new arrivals, the city is in no way immune from challenges that continue to bite the sector.<\/p>\n

The cost of living crisis<\/a> arrived hot on the heels of covid, driving up operating costs and leaving customers with less money to spend. Rises to National Insurance contributions after a cut to business rate relief in April only contributed to making life even harder for pubs and bars<\/a>. It is a perfect storm and one that is claiming plenty of victims up and down the UK.<\/p>\n

In Merseyside, we have seen plenty of sad closures in recent years – such as The Caledonia<\/a>, student favourite The Font and Dough Bar off Lime Street.<\/p>\n

Even though we have suffered these sad losses, Liverpool’s pub scene remains in good shape. In the city centre, new places are opening to take units from those that close, and many across Merseyside have had money pumped into them.<\/p>\n

Litherland\u2019s The Railway reopened<\/a> last year after a lot of money was spent on a refurbishment – as did The Jawbone Tavern in Bootle<\/a>. There is hopefully further good news on the horizon as well, as Lark Lane<\/a> legend Keith Haggis – of Keith\u2019s fame – hopes to be opening the doors of St Michaels pub The Belgrave in 2025<\/a>, bringing it back to life after its 2011 closure.<\/p>\n

But a question I’ve found myself asking on nights out recently is, what do you do when the pubs close for the night? Liverpool is famed for its nightlife, but I’m getting the impression it could do with some help.<\/p>\n

There are, of course, late-opening pubs such as the aforementioned Grapes, almost the entirety of Mathew Street and St Peter’s Tavern<\/a>, which stays open until 2.30am at weekends in what used to be Alma De Cuba on Seel Street. But I think the late night needs a hand.<\/p>\n

In December 2023, the ECHO spoke to people in Liverpool’s late-night economy, and the prevailing view was it had become a struggle. We were told that the town has “never been as bad as it is now<\/a>“, amid a fight to get people into clubs and events. I don’t get the sense that has improved.<\/p>\n

Prices don’t help – drinks and tickets are more expensive than they’ve ever been, but venues are stuck in a Catch-22 situation, caught between having to cover huge operating costs and wanting to get people through the doors.<\/p>\n

You cannot get away from the fact that cost is keeping people away. Added to that, as far as I can see, there’s a new generation of students, and young people seem to be more interested in Hyrox than Heineken.<\/p>\n

Statistics show that up to 28% of young people don’t drink, and that’s perfectly fine. I’m in no position to be offering health advice to anyone. So for a combination of reasons, people aren’t going out as much.<\/p>\n

But it doesn’t really help those wanting to keep venues alive, and, maybe I sound like an old man, but going out the night before a 9am lecture is pretty central to the student experience. What’s more – Liverpool’s pubs, bars and clubs are at the heart of what makes the city the place it is.<\/p>\n

But to make the most of that, maybe a bit of difference would be no bad thing? Maybe not every free venue needs to be turned into a Victorian-style pub? Maybe Liverpool needs to recover what made it a legendary clubbing city.<\/p>\n

Pubs and clubs need to sit in tandem with each other. Variety is the spice of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reporter Dan Haygarth writes about the changing face of Liverpool’s nightlifeDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,2349,15650,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-367690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","13":"tag-liverpool-pubs","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}