The Researcher's Blog
It is five years and a day since I last surveyed Newton-le-Willows, making all the pubs there "required", so off I headed on a beautifully sunny Saturday afternoon. I walked along the main street photographing all the targets as I passed. Do you think the photos today will be better than the usual standard of this blog, because they were all taken sober? I doubt it! At the far end is the Oak Tree…
Perhaps a sunny Saturday in August is not the best time for a survey in central Liverpool but here we are! According to my database I haven't been in the Lime Kiln for five years and three days. Surely it's not that long, but anyway it is always worth a visit so let's start there: A great way to start a survey, a fine pint of Kirkstall Dissolution, a slightly fruity IPA. Needless to say the place…
Amazon decided they would deliver a parcel on Saturday so I quickly rescheduled my survey to Friday, and headed under grey skies towards Birkdale, getting off the train at Hillside. I've mentioned before that sometimes I have to walk past good pubs because I'm heading for somewhere else. So I ignored the Pines and the Grasshopper and headed on to the Crown : A standard Ember Inns, this, perhaps…
Odds and ends in town today, let's start with a new tick, Flight Club : Behind the modern frontage is an antique-style bar on two floors. Dark woodwork, leather upholstery and even a fake brick arch create a pleasant ambience. The quirky lighting strips add to this. At half one on a Friday there were two darts games underway, plus a group of drinkers relaxing at a large table. My pint of Neck Oil…
Yes, it's me, I'm back! A month in Japan and two or three weeks when I was busy doing other things have prevented surveys, but I should be OK for a few weeks now. (No promises!) If you want to see what I did on holiday I am creating a record here , it is mainly trains but there are a few beer and bar reports. Today I headed to Crosby to revisit a couple of targets, starting with the Corner Post :…
No proper survey this week, for a change I decided to do some favourites in sunny Southport. But perhaps I'll find some new ones as well? I started in the Windmill : I began my afternoon with a fine pint of Okell's Bitter, I don't often drink this classic bitter, usually going for a guest in Rigby's which I think is the only remaining Okell's pub in Liverpool. This fine pub hasn't changed since I…
No survey today but as I'm in town maybe a tick or two. I started in the Scholar : I assume this one is aimed at students. In any case, it is a pleasant spacious place with a small bar area at the front and a larger space behind with long tables for dining and a stage at the far end. At two on a Friday there were just two of us drinking lager in the bar area, and no one at all in the big room.…
On a sunny Thursday I took three trains to Upton from where it was an easy walk of a mile and a half to my first target, the Wirral Hundred : I think this pub was built in the 1970s, an unusual decade for pub construction, but I could be completely wrong. Anyway, inside it is very pleasantly decorated, one open room partly split into two halves. If it is older than the 70s it will have been…
Not intended to be a full blown pub survey today, but a couple of long overdue visits in a rural part of Merseyside were beckoning. A train to Garswood, where I noticed the Railway wasn't open yet, and then a very pleasant ride through the sunny fields in a minibus took me to the village of King's Moss. The 157 does a remarkable three point turn in the street right by my first objective, the…
Avoiding the city centre on Grand National day I headed away, to St Helens for a long walk. I marched eastwards in the blustery wind to a long standing target never visited before. Would it be open this time? The Church Inn : Yes, it is. Inside the old building I found a pleasant pub knocked through but retaining separation between the areas. It was nicely decorated, and clean and tidy inside. I…
I wasn't intending to do a survey this week but I was reading Retired Martin's excellent blog this morning and he had a link to the National Bass Directory web site which includes a list of pubs serving Bass. I was startled to find there a pub in Hoylake which I'd never even heard of. Time for a trip to Wirral. And so, in to Twelve Sixty : This pleasant shop conversion is a very well done spacious…
I was watching the Great British Pub Crawl on YouTube yesterday and he was visiting Liverpool. It was somewhat galling to see him do three or four pubs I've never been in. So, despite my medical difficulties (Have I mentioned my dodgy back?) I headed into town to correct the omissions. I started at the Queens Arms : This one only opened eight days ago so I can be excused for not having ticked it…
On another beautifully sunny, if somewhat chilly, day I headed out to Ainsdale where there are some cafe/bar type places I need to visit. I started with two almost next door to each other, first the Tipsy Toucan : A small shop conversion, pleasant inside but perhaps a little too green. I'm not sure how much of that was for the upcoming St Patrick's Day. Unfortunately the cooler was broken, so no…
The Merseyside Pub Guide 2026 is now on sale. The sixteenth edition of my book lists 2,104 pubs of which I have visited 1,601, and it is updated to 9th March. You can order a copy direct from the printers by clicking here , or it is available from Amazon and other popular distributors.
Not a proper research trip today, in fact I wasn't planning on going out at all. But, checking my stats yesterday I noticed I've done 1,599 Merseyside pubs in total. As the new edition of the book will be ready soon I decided I needed at least one more tick before I publish. So, on a warm sunny Thursday afternoon I headed to Bramley Moore Dock for a visit to Everton's new stadium. I had to have my…
I left home in drizzle but by the time my second train emerged from the tunnel in Birkenhead I was startled to see bright sunshine and blue sky. I began a survey of New Brighton in the Seahorse : This Hungry Horse place was very busy at one o'clock, in fact the guardian of the entrance was dubious about letting me in, but there was one free table in the bar area so she relented. The two barmaids…
I am finding it really difficult to organise a cluster of four or five 'required' pubs at the moment, so once again I found myself wandering randomly in Liverpool, although I did have a couple of potential targets in mind. At the top of Bold Street is a place that has been in the guide forever but has never been ticked. So, in to Cafe Tabac : Not really a bar, definitely more of a restaurant, but…
A few days of rain had changed to chilly sunshine so I headed off by train and bus to Eccleston. A moment of concern as I turned the corner to see an area of wasteland surrounded by temporary fencing - I have previously gone to pubs which have been demolished without my knowledge - But I soon realised that the pub I was looking for was still intact next door to the building site, phew! On checking…
I took a random wander around the, er, what is it called? The entertainment district? Ropewalks? Anyway, on a cold windy and wet Thursday afternoon most places were closed. Eventually I found Merchant : On entering I spotted a counter where someone was ordering a pizza. For a moment I thought this might not count as a pub but looking the other way I could see a proper bar counter. I soon selected…
Back in 2016 I assisted as a local guide on a Historic England research visit to Merseyside looking particularly at post war pubs. On their list was the Peacock in Kirkby. I recall that the researchers were a little nervous about going in, but I persuaded them we would be OK - I had an ulterior motive, as I had never been there before. We had no problems despite the two visitors nosing around and…
Today's mission was expected to be mainly pictures of former pubs, and I might end up not getting many drinks if I'm too late (To L8, see what I did there?) for ones that have closed down, but we'll see... I began by heading briefly north from Edge Hill station to check out the Durning Arms (Last visited 2023) where I was disappointed to find it is now a supermarket: Next, southwards past the…
On a cold and gloriously sunny Saturday I headed out early. Everton kick off at 12:15, so I think it is time to collect a few ticks by the ground. I started in central Liverpool, though, at what used to be Jurgen's and is now Moody Blues : This half basement place has "crossed Stanley Park" since I visited Jurgen's in 2020 and is now decorated with Everton and music themes. At fifteen minutes to…
I started the year on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon, can I begin with a line from a well known Christmas song? The wind goes right through you, it's no place for the old. I was heading for Waterloo; as I ran through my pre-flight checklist this morning I discovered the existence of some bars of which I wasn't aware. Could we be in for some new ones? I started at Always & Sometimes : This…
I recently created some software which analyses my pub database and reports on statistics, so let's have a look... In 2025 I logged 258 pub visits. This does not include pubs I regularly drink in, because I don't record them in the database. Of those 258 visits, 206 were "required" (I.E. I hadn't been there in the preceding five years), just over the target of 200. A remarkable 68 of those were to…
Not a proper survey today, but I can't resist a few local ticks with my shopping. I started in the Old Bank : This is a classic boozer in both interior style and atmosphere, but it's not actually very old - opened in about 2012 I think. Sadly, I learned from the Echo that it is to close down soon, this holiday season being their last hurrah. The people of Stockbridge Village and Page Moss will…