![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JS389334248.jpg\")
Robert Maher from the Albion pub in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nRobert Maher insists he wants his pub to look the same as when your grandparents drank thereRobert Maher from the Albion pub in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
Walk through the doors of a good local pub and you’ll be greeted with the chatter of people sharing stories over drinks, the gentle clink of glasses and the sound of slot machines. You will feel the unmistakable warmth of a pub that has welcomed generations before you.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, community pubs are a dying breed and continue to fade from our streets at a staggering rate. Once at the heart of local life, many have struggled to keep their doors open<\/a>, meaning the character and social connection offered by old haunts has been lost forever.<\/p>\n Fortunately, some of the pubs on our doorstep have refused to be consigned to the history books and continue to welcome customers old and new One such pub is The Albion, on the corner of Hawthorne Road<\/a> in Bootle<\/a> which is run by landlord Robert Maher, 61, who grew up in the area.<\/p>\n Robert previously managed The Pacific pub on Linacre Road and The Cabbage Hall in Anfield<\/a>. Robert and his late wife Karen took over The Albion on July 12 2006 from previous managers Les and Eileen Henderson.<\/p>\n After being at the helm of the pub for nearly twenty years, Robert now knows it better than anyone.<\/p>\n He describes the pub as a “proper community pub” and one that is “full of regulars”. He told the ECHO: “The Albion is not a destination pub, everybody knows everybody. It\u2019s traditional, inside it\u2019s old-fashioned, original wood, it has not been modernised towards the modern trendy type pubs.”<\/p>\n Speaking about what makes the pub different from others in the area, particularly in the city centre<\/a>, Robert spoke about the role of The Albion in the local community.<\/p>\n “Keeping a strong community, that\u2019s basically what makes the pub. We have many parties a year for the kids and fortunately I have seen kids come to the parties from when they were like six or seven, and now they are actually regulars in the pub.”<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, the pub and its customers are linked by a love of football<\/a>.<\/p>\n Robert said: “We are very much a sports-based pub. Everybody loves it, I mean we have thirteen tellys showing the sport. People know they can come in by themselves and there\u2019s going to be somebody in the pub they know.<\/p>\n “If customers come in and there\u2019s nobody here or the pub is quite quiet, there\u2019s always the staff. They know everybody, as always. We have pool tables and all that as well, it keeps them all busy.”<\/p>\n The Albion team has faced plenty of adversity over the past couple of decades, always managing to come out on the other side.<\/p>\n Covid was a challenging time<\/a> for the pub, as Robert recalled: “During Covid, we lost our team and they had been with us for quite a number of years. They all moved on to different jobs, and our team now consists of all new members since the pandemic. We had to open up with a brand new team.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s just the way it went, it was sad. Sometimes things do go a bit stale and it just gave us a chance to think again.”<\/p>\n A Bootle landscape without The Albion standing on the corner of Hawthorne road was a distinct possibility in the early years of Robert’s ownership.<\/p>\n A building company had already purchased the land rights, along with a nearby window manufacturing factory that had closed down. After the pub managed to build the customers back up, the building company sold the land rights back to the the pub.<\/p>\n Robert’s life has been touched by sadness, something which still affects the pub community to this day. He shared: “Unfortunately my wife passed away in 2016 from breast cancer, she was an amazing person, much loved by all the customers and everyone who knew her.<\/p>\n “While I was away with The Albion Golf Society, I was fortunate in meeting Debbie who was at the time on a break with her colleagues from the Royal Hospital in Liverpool and we found we had a lot in common and married three years ago.”<\/p>\n The Albion, with the help of fundraiser Phil Heath, has raised more than \u00a350,000 over the years for Macmillan nurses.<\/p>\n Fundraising efforts continue regularly, Robert spoke proudly about their commitment to different causes, saying: “The Albion\u2019s customers look after each other and over the years it has run several fundraising nights for people within the area who for one reason or another have needed a helping hand, these nights have always been well supported.”<\/p>\n Barmaid Jan, who has worked behind the bar since the pub reopened after Covid, says her first experience of the pub was a warm and gracious welcome from the staff and customers. She told the ECHO: “We have such a laugh with staff and customers alike.<\/p>\n “We’ve got quite a few characters that drink in the pub, they’re all really friendly and quick with the friendly banter, we don’t have none of that conversations stopping and people staring when someone new comes into the pub, new customers are made welcome by all whether they want to come in for a quiet drink or want to make conversation with our regulars.”<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JS389334252.jpg\")
Robert Maher from The Albion pub in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Customers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JS389229711.jpg\")
Customers enjoying a drink in The Albion pub, Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JS389231373.jpg\")
The Albion pub on the corner of Hawthorne Road(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JS389334426.jpg\")
Robert Maher, owner of The Albion pub in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n