Why not drink in our local history while you enjoy a pint in the pub?
NOW that Dry January is well and truly out of the way for those who decided to take part, and the weather is beginning to improve – Storm Ciara notwithstanding – it is a good time to begin enjoying again the beer and company that are associated with our wonderful heritage of British pubs, writes Neville Grundy.
There are many pubs with superb unspoilt interiors in the North West, and you can find them in Camra’s historic pub interiors web page, where you type in a town or a postcode and they are listed with the closest to you first.
Here are just a few local ones.
I typed in Southport and the top of the list was the Guest House in Union Street, and the description includes: “Built 1909 ... of sandstone - a delightful example of early 20th-century ‘Brewers’ Tudor’.
“Above the entrance is an ornate plaster panel with raised lettering, The Guest House, and stylised rose trees.
“The inner door is in a screen with lots of colourful stained and leaded panels.
“It retains its original layout of three rooms with lots of wood panelling and leaded glass.”
A search for Ormskirk throws up the Buck I’ Th’ Vine, about which I wrote last November.
The description includes: “Late 17th or early 18th century building.
“A passage from the front door to rear has lots of fielded panelling that looks to be from the 1930s.
“The servery was possibly created in the 1930s from an old sweet shop front - the lower part has 1930s looking fielded panelling as does the side counter.”
The fact that this historic pub was closed for five years until 2019 is a reminder that we cannot take our pub heritage for granted.
In Haskayne the Kings Arms Hotel is mentioned and the web page states: “The two small right-hand rooms are the main interest here, refitted in the 1930s, with their dado panelling, fixed seating and parquet floors... In the rear room, the panelling above the (modern) fireplace seems of the 1930s and has three painted sections portraying kings and queens.
“The front and side rooms feature lots of good 1930s stained glass windows.”
This is just a small selection of the fine historic pubs that you find using the web page, which is at: pubheritage. camra.org.uk.
Previous pub articles in this column are at: tinyurl.com/ vis-pubs