The Pubs of Wallasey

New Brighton

The Albion’, Albion Street, at New Brighton, went back nearly two hundred years. It was built by one of the Earls of Derby in about 1835. Over its old gates were the arms of the House of Stanley. It was said that in 1880 the famous dwarf, Tom Thumb, when starring in the Reynolds Waxworks in Lime Street, Liverpool. Over the years the character of the building had been altered. New wings and bedrooms were added and the garden had been reduced.

Rear view of the Albion Hotel, New Brighton.

The odd thing about the Albion is that it was built the wrong way around. The back, with lengthy gardens, porches and gardens, is far more appealing than the flat, grey front.

From the rear the hotel really does look quite grand. A NEWS article which appeared in December 1921 describes it rather well:
“Standing on an elevated position, the hotel escapes the river fogs while it is handy for the golf links, shores, railways and prom services”.

The pub closed shortly after 2000 and the building converted to private flats.

Opposite the Albion is ‘The Clarence’. The property was built in 1843 on a site of an ancient cottage. It had a varied past, being a local slaughterhouse for the first 20 years. Hooks and rails were in the cellar. In 1864 Mary Fielding became the first licensee of the new converted pub. In 1962 the Clarence was refurbished at the cost of £8,027. Out went the green-painted walls and stone floors, replaced with effective wooden paneling and rafters which transformed the pub.

Just a little further down once stood the Leigh Arms. Situated at 1 Prescot Street the pub was listed in 1904 with George Jackson as the licensee. Just four years later the pub closed after the licence was not renewed by the Magistrates due to poor bar receipts.

The Victoria Hotel, 1884

The Victoria Hotel (later the Hotel Victoria) opened in the same year as Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne in 1837. For fifty years John Garrett ran the hotel. He also ran the first Post Office in New Brighton. The Assembly Rooms were added in 1889. The building was built in 1855 and bought at auction for £1,320.

In 1907 Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen gave a medical lecture at the Assembly Rooms. Three years later he was the first criminal to be arrested at sea by the use of the Marconi Wireless. Dr. Crippen was hanged on 3rd November 1910 for the murder of his wife.

View from Victoria Road of the Hotel Victoria, 1948.

Though the building had a £250,000 extensive refurbishment the hotel was to close in 2004 and demolished in 2006. New flats being built on the site.

The Commercial Hotel, 1978

The Commercial Hotel on the corner of Hope Street and Grosvenor Road opened in 1870. The first proprietor was Andrew Nash. There was at one time two Commercial Hotels in New Brighton from at least 1870 to 1956 when the one in Victoria Road was renamed as the Ship Inn. Opposite is the Perch Rock. The building was built in the 1820’s and was originally an Officer’s Mess attached to the recently built Perch Rock fort. The property was also a meeting place for the Lifeboat crew. By 1870 the property became a pub with Mr. Joseph Maddock as the first publican.

Perch Rock Hotel, 1930's

On the corner of Grosvenor Road and Victoria Road is the Railway Hotel. The first licensee was Richard Fagan in 1891. Later the pub was often referred to as ‘Dunger’s’ because Tom Dunger was landlord between 1923-31.

York Hotel, 1960's

At 79 Victoria Road was the York Hotel (later just called The York). The pub opened in 1879 with Thomas Bell and Son as the first licensees. By 1969 the pub closed.

Lacey's, 1995

Originally built as a small private house in about 1820, the New Brighton Hotel has had a long and varied history. The building was used as a lodging-house and later taken over by Mrs. Lawrence, who managed it very capably for several years with the assistance of her daughters. In 1839 Isabella Graves, a 63-year-old widow, took up the tenancy of the pub. Isabella passed away, aged 75, in February, 1852. Next to take up the tenancy was Thomas Longdon who came to New Brighton from Liverpool in 1843, Thomas died in 1859 and his widow, Mary, succeeded as proprietor. She successfully ran the hotel with her daughters, Frances and Elizabeth, until their departure in the mid 1860’s. By 1922 Mr Bert Taylor, a native of Birmingham, with considerable experience in the hotel business, came from the Isle of Man to become licensee. A new lounge was constructed and there were twenty-one bedrooms available. In 1954 the hotel changed its name to Neptune Hotel. By 1995 the name changed again to Lacey’s.  There was one last change of name of Peggy Gadfly’s in 2000, which was supposed to refer to the one-legged diver who use to draw attention by diving into the river off the pier, Peggy Gadsby. Currently the pub is closed after a drugs raid in August 2012.

At number 21 Victoria Road is the Ship Hotel. When opened in 1870 the pub was originally called The Commercial Hotel and Mr. Henry W. Hiley was the first proprietor. In 1956 the Brewery decided to rename the pub as the Ship Hotel.

Royal Ferry Hotel, 1890's
Royal Ferry Hotel, 1950's

On the corner of Victoria Road and the Promenade was the Royal Ferry Hotel. Built in about 1850 the first licensee was Isabella Graves, who was earlier the licensee of the New Brighton Hotel. In 1857 the new licensee was Stephen Eyre who was also the architect of Liscard's St. Alban's Church. Stephen remained there for ten years and was succeeded by Ann Tennant who changed the name for a short time in 1867 to Royal Hotel. George Mason became the next proprietor and changed the name title of the hotel again to the Royal Ferry Hotel. George was one-time member of the old Wallasey Local Board.

In 1971 the hotel became the Chelsea Reach and in 1996 was renamed one last time as Club Royale. By 2010 the hotel was converted into 30 apartments.

The Queen's Royal Hotel, 1978
The lounge of the Queen's Royal Hotel, 1928

On the Marine Promenade, corner of Waterloo Road, stands the Queen’s Royal Hotel. The hotel opened in 1865. In 1926 John James Hackett became the licensee and two years later refurbished the pub. Harold E. Davies & Sons, Liverpool were the architects and surveyors. Two smoking rooms were added and were decorated one in crimson and gold and the other in blue and silver. A new entrance was added from Waterloo Road. On the first floor the restaurant and kitchen were modernised. Each of the bedrooms were decorated throughout.

The Grand Hotel, 1978

The Marine Hotel, later renamed The Grand Hotel, opened on the Marine Promenade in 1845.  In 1930 the hotel changed its name to the Grand Hotel. By the early 1990's the hotel was renamed as 'The Anchorage'. In 1996 the club closed following a fire and after laying derelict for a number of years was demolished.

The newest pub to open on the New Brighton seafront is the Master Mariner. The Wetherspoon pub opened in 2013.

Travellers Rest, 1978

Also on the Marine Promenade, corner of Rowson Street, is the Travellers Rest. Henry Kingham was the first licensee when the pub opened in 1878. In 2012 renamed as Lacy’s Bar.

Little Brighton Inn, 1890's

In (Upper) Rowson Street is the Little Brighton Inn, often called 'The Ginnie' by the locals. The building was built about 1845. The first landlord was Harry Evans in 1850 and it was at this time was known as the Jenny Lind who was a famous Swedish opera singer and had reportedly stayed at the inn.

By 1867 the pub was known as "Chequers" until new owners, Birkenhead Brewery, renamed it the "Little Brighton" after the stretch of ground surrounding the pub which was known as the Little Brighton Common.

Little Brighton Inn, 1978

The pub is currently closed and the building in a poor state of affairs. I have described the history of the pub in more details in the article 'Upper Brighton' [LINK]

Opposite the Little Brighton Inn is the Sandridge Hotel. The pub opened in the early 1870's. In 1900 Mrs Catherine Moses was the landlady.

Sandridge Hotel, 1978
Plough Inn, c1920

Situated on Mount Pleasant Road once stood the Plough Inn. The pub stood opposite the Quarry Recreation Grounds. The first licensee was John Griffiths in 1860. Later John Varty became a long-serving licensee of the Plough Inn from 1904 until his death in 1923. By 1931 the pub was demolished and retirement flats now stand on the site.

The Telegraph Inn, 1960's

Another pub on Mount Pleasant Road is the Telegraph Inn. The building was built in 1841, the same year as new telegraph stations were built on the Holyhead to Liverpool telegraph line. With its natural elevated position the premises was ideal to send telegraph messages by means of flags to Bidston Hill, over Liverpool Bay and ships on the River Mersey.

The history of the Telegraph reveals nothing startling. Before being granted a beer licence in 1907 it was a store, used by local people and ships.

Between 1907 and 1917 the beer passing over the counter increased and the groceries diminished. During the First World War the owner died, leaving the place to his wife, Mary Todd.

Mrs. Todd eventually stopped all grocery trade and lived solely on the proceeds of her tiny bar. It was not until shortly before the Second World War that the lounge was added. Until then it was the Todd’s sitting room. When Mrs. Todd died the pub went to a niece Annie Todd.

It was not until 1964 that spirits were first sold in the Telegraph. Until then it was a “beer only” house.

On Magazine Lane was The Tavern. Originally the small building was St. James School. In 1960 it opened as a nightclub. By 2015 the premises had to close due to increasing complaints from local residents.

The Pilot Boat House, 1880's

The Pilot Boat House in Magazine Lane was built originally as a brick-cottage in 1747. At one time there was a boat-house attached to the inn where the river pilots of the day kept their boats. Back then it was known as Pilot Boathouse At one time post-mortem's of those drowned in the river were held in the inn. In 1822 William Roberts was the licensee and remained at the pub for another 38 years. In 1876 the pub was rebuilt and enlarged. In 1956 the Boat House was reconstructed and extended at the cost of £16,587.

The Pilot Boat House, 1950's

In Magazine Brow is the Magazine Hotel. The Mags was built in 1759 and was originally called The Black Horse. At one time there was once a cock-fighting pit behind the Hotel.

In 2010 a fire caused £200,000 worth of damage. The pub re-openend a few months later after repairs.

Magazine Hotel, 1950's

Liscard

pub
The Nag's Head, 1960's

The Nag's Head, Rake Lane, opened in 1877. In 1970 the new Nag's Head was built adjacent to the old one. Ken Cundle was the first landlord. The new Nag's Head closed in 2013 and was demolished a year later. The original Nag's Head was renamed as McCullochs and was then purchased by John Stanley in 1983 and renamed Stanley's Cask.

Queen's Arms, Liscard

In Liscard Village, the Queen’s Arms Hotel has the unusual distinction of having once been used as a magistrates’ court. Cases were heard there in the last years of the 19th Century, before the town’s first court house was built in Liscard Road (premises later became the ‘Continental’ before being demolished).

>>>Top

The Queen's Arms opened in 1839 with Henry Harris as the first landlord. By 1966 the pub was renamed as The Queen's and was rebuilt.

The Blue Bell Inn was a curious old place of uncertain date. It stood by the side of the old Central Fire Station, in Liscard Village. It had a roof covered with turf. Over it grew a luxuriant crop of grass. The building came down in the early twentieth century.

Royal Oak, Liscard Village

The Royal Oak first started selling beer in 1854. Interesting to note that in the 1950's the pub was the last to allow women to drink on their premises.

To many people the pub was better known as the “Irish House” than the “Royal Oak”. In bygone days it was a favourite haunt of Irish labourers. When the pub first began serving many of them lived in the surrounding cottages and went to work on Wallasey’s many farms.

Another consolidating factor in the pub’s nickname was its most famous manager. Jimmy Creevey. He was a rugged Irishman who took over the licence in 1916 and held it until the outbreak of the Second World War. A top-class rugby player, the "cleaver”, as he was often called, was a tough man who dealt with the roughest of his customers. No matter who they were he would “trow-em-out” if their behaviour was not up to standard.”

The Castle Hotel, c1960

Another pub in Liscard was Yate’s Castle Hotel, Wallasey Road. The pub opened in 1887 with Henry Barton Hurst as first landlord.

It was also known as the ‘Garden Inn’. The pub closed in 1964 and soon afterwards demolished when the one-way system was introduced and St. Alban’s Road was connected to Wallasey Road.

The current Wellington Pub was built in 1937. The old one was further forward and was built in 1850. The first landlord was William Bird who was also a cab proprietor. By 1937 the old pub was demolished for road widening. In 2008 the pub was renamed as 'Dukes'.

The Clairville is a Wetherspoon's pub and opened in February, 2004. The pub took the name from a house that once stood on the site called Clairville Cottage.

An early print of The Boot Inn

With the Boot Inn it is difficult to sift the fact from the fiction. Legends surround the place. The old Inn, taken down over seventy years ago to make room for the present premises, was known to have existed in Elizabethan times, but the house had been so altered and reconstructed over the years that few, if any, of the old features remained.

Up to about 1900 it was still a quaint, irregular building. The legend attached to its name ran roughly as follows ...

One wild night in the reign of Good Queen Bess a fierce horseman galloped to its door. Upon being admitted, he produced a great horse pistol and a big jack boot.  The licensee and his wife overpowered him.

Then in bounded three gentlemen, one of whom had just been robbed of his jackboot by the horseman. The boot contained gold.

The licensee and his wife were given ten guineas apiece. The robber was given to the gibbet.  “And the boot to be a sign untoe the inn while it doth stand.”

The legend is preserved in a glass case at the new ‘Boot’. So is the remarkable boot.

View of the new Boot Inn on the right standing behind the old one, 1925

In 1924 work began on demolishing the old pub and the following year the new Boot Inn opened. In 1948 the car park was constructed. By 2004 the Boot changed its name to the Turnberry but changed it back in 2008 to the Boot.

View from Mill Lane of The Tower Hotel, 1961

The Tower Hotel, Liscard Road and Mill Lane, opened in 1864. The first licensee was John Henderson. In 1962 the old pub was demolished and a new modern looking one built on the site. George Woodworth was the licensee during this time.

The King's Arms Hotel, 1880's

The King's Arms Hotel dates back to 1850. Edward Johnson was the first landlord. The pub was modernised in 1932 which included altering all the windows and the roof. By 2012 the pub had closed and remains empty.

Situated at No.1 Withen's Lane is the Primrose Hotel. The pub dates back to at least 1841 when John Evanson was the landlord for thirty years. It was then called the Primrose Tavern. Originally the building was a cottage pub but the Primrose was rebuilt and extended in 1923.

The Primrose Hotel, 1970's

The name Primrose comes from a famous and successful paddle-ferry which ran from Liverpool to Seacombe and back for much of the late 19th Century.

In 1961 Ken Savage was the landlord of the 'Primmie'. He played goalie for Liverpool before the Second World War, giving it up to volunteer, like the rest of the team, for action on the fields of battle in 1939. Ken died in 1964 and his wife, Ann, took over the management of the pub for ten years.

Saddle Inn, 1960's

Also on Withen's Lane is the Saddle Inn. Originally it was two cottages that were built about 1830. Yate's Brewery, Birkenhead, may of converted it to a pub when they purchased it for £750 in 1881. In 1893 Arthur Hughes became the licensee. He was the first of three generations of the Hughes' family to run the pub. The next two were Sarah Hughes (1915-1918) and Willis Hughes (1923-1954) who was a successful footballer. He played for Liverpool, Blackpool and Stockport. After Willis death the license was briefly held by his wife, Edith Hughes, and then by Derek Hughes until his death in 1978.

There was once another pub in Withen's Lane. It was called Stag's Head but only remained in trade a few years from 1897 to 1906.

Wallasey Village

The Ship Inn in Breck Road opened in 1822 with George Cooper as the first licensee. Though the pub closed in 2008 it soon reopened under new management. Further along was the Sebastopol Inn which was a tall, high-chimney building on St. Hilary’s Brow – then known as Carrion Hill. It stood at the Breck Road end, and was given its name after the taking of Sebastopol at the end of the Crimean War in 1855. Richard Short was the first licensee when the pub opened in 1859. When St. Hillary's Brow was widened in c1930 the pub was demolished.

Old view of the Ship Inn in the 1890's
Sebastopol Inn, c1900

Also in Wallasey Village is the Lighthouse Inn. The original was built about 1830. Originally the inn was two fishermens' cottages. Its first customers were mainly the small, but prosperous, group of fishermen. From the high ground the pub stands on, one could gaze at the Leasowe lighthouse, completed in 1763, which then dominated the skyline. It was because of this fine view that the pub took its name.

The Lighthouse Inn, c1910

The pub stood until the 1960’s when a modern one replaced it in 1966 at a cost of £51,392. The public bar was called “Red Noses Bar”, after the rock formation on the shore which contained caves, believed to have fun from the shore to the infamous “Mother Redcaps”, the haunt of smugglers and wreckers. The front lounge was called “Mother Redcap’s’. The room combined traditional features of beams, a stone fireplace and moulded paneling with a lowered ceiling, contemporary light fittings and vertical paneling.

Shortly after the new pub opened the landlord, Victor Crallan, was involved in heated local controversy when he stopped serving long-haired men who he feared were involved with drugs. Many young people were highly-offended at the time as were a number of their parents, who even took the trouble to write letters of protest to the local papers. The ban was lifted by the mid 1970's.

The Lighthouse Inn, 1966

The Royal Oak Inn was situated at 188 Wallasey Village. The pub opened in 1860 with John Jones and William Baker as the landlords. By 1907 the pub was delicensed and sold at auction for £475 to George Joynson.

Travellers Rest, 1920's

Another pub was the sandstone Travellers Rest which was sold at auction in 1883 for £600. In 1935 the pub closed and the licence transferred to the new Travellers Rest which had opened in Reeds Lane, Leasowe. In 1946 the building was demolished for road straightening.

The Travellers Rest was held by the Shaw family for the last sixteen years of its existence, the licensee for 11 years being Mr. G.H. Shaw, who was succeeded in 1930 by his son, Mr. H.H. Shaw, who continued as landlord when the new pub opened in Leasowe.

The old Cheshire Cheese

The original Cheshire Cheese was white-washed with a thatched-roof and tiny windows. An old drawing shows it to have had thick timbers and oak settles. The pub stood amid fields, cottages and little farms, the parish church of St. Hilary on the hill behind it. The narrow village street had hedges and lilac trees.

The history of the pub is linked with the wrecking past of old Wallasey and a secret passage used to exist between the cellars and the church of St. Hilary's. The passage, legend has it, was used for transporting rum and brandy taken from wrecked ships, to safety, in case the inn or the chapel were raided by the law.

The Cheshire Cheese, 1906

Ancient documents also point to the “Cheese” having had a licence for longer than any other pub in the town. It first had a brought permit to see ale and accommodation more than 500 years ago.

In the annals of Gore’s directory, an ancient brochure of Merseyside people and places, the inn gets a special mention. Prince George of Denmark and the Duke of Ormond visited there in 1690, it says, and “Good accommodation can be given both for horse and man”.

The Cheshire Cheese, 1978

King Charles II and William III are both supposed to have stayed in the old “Cheese” before leaving with their armies to go on the rampage in Ireland. In the Meadows that used to separate the inn from St. Hilary’s the Kings’ armies are said to have camped.

The old Cheshire Cheese was demolished in 1884. The present building dates from the 1890’s.

The Ring O' Bells

The Ring O’ Bells was at the corner of School Lane and opened in 1860. Its bar was one tiny room. The beer had a great reputation. Popular with agricultural workers, it went on serving gills and pints of Spragg’s Ale until the early 1900’s. It became a dwelling house, and then a general store. The building was demolished in the 1960's.

The Black Horse, 1890's

The old Black Horse was one of the oldest hostelries in Wallasey, dating back to 1722 and is believed to have taken its name from a horse entered in a race at Leasowe by a Lord Molyneux in the 1700’s. The pub was probably named after 'Black Slave', a horse which won a 200 guineas bet in a race held on the sands between Harrison Drive and Leasowe shore in 1778. Black Slave was one of the most famous horses of the day.

The Black Horse, c1910

The old club house which was attached to the hotel was the scene of many of the Village club and festival celebrations, and when the old St. Hilary's Church burnt down on 1st February, 1857, the service were held there. The old interior was cosy, and the house a long one, with a cobbled frontage. At the corner was an old horse-mounting block. At the side was the village mortuary. The original building stood until 1931 and was demolished to make way for sixty feet of roadway.

Sketch of the Black Horse, 1931

By August 1931 the new Black Horse had been built. The pub was designed by T. Taliesin Rees and Richard Holt, F.F.R.I.B.A., of Rodney Street, Liverpool.

Gordon Hoyland was once a landlord of the Black Horse for more than 12 years. He brought sing-song style atmosphere as well as a weekly Quiz Night. He died in 1976, aged 56. Gordon was born in Wallasey and had been a member of the Cheshire Regiment during World War II.

The Farmer's Arms, c1900

The Farmer's Arms opened in 1860 and had one single, narrow bar. William Joynson was the first licensee. In 1924 Wallasey Corporation took the decision to widen Wallasey Village opposite the pub so the owners, Spragg's Brewery, decided that the Farmer's Arms should be rebuilt behind the old one. A local builder, W.A Barnes, was used for the rebuild, costing £4,933.

E. Spragg Vale Brewery

Spragg’s Ales were the popular local beers sold in the ‘locals’ of many years ago. Spragg’s Vale Brewery stood in Leasowe Road. It was started in 1856 and went on to the 1920's when Wallasey Corporation compulsory purchased Spragg's property for the purpose of road-widening in 1923.

There were two other Wallasey breweries. The Grosvenor, in Borough Road, Seacombe (on the site of the old Embassy), operated from the 1840’s until the 1890’s. There was Messrs. Dickenson’s, in Hope Place (now demolished), off Wallasey Road.

Their horse-drawn drays were a familiar sight. Their product varied in price between a penny and twopence a pint. It was very strong stuff.  Hot rum toddies were popular. They cost twopence.

The Nelson, Grove Road, 1920's
Drawing plan of The Nelson, 1935

The Nelson in Grove Road was originally a private house until Thomas Peers converted it to a pub. It was originally called Nelson Vault's after his wife's maiden name of Nelson. In 1935 the new one was built in stone, with Cotswold stone roofs and solid oak timbering and costing £25,000.

The Twenty Row Inn, 1927

The Twenty Row Inn was in Leasowe Road. There has been a pub on this site from the early 1800's. It was so named as it was the last and twentieth house in a row of cottages. Due to spring tides sweeping over the marshes and causing flooding, which was a major problem at the time, the original pub was built on bales of straw which prevented it from slipping into the earth. The pub was small and had a tiny bar.

The Twenty Row Inn, 1978

In 1860 William Ledsham was the licensee. He was also a blacksmith whose smithy was at the corner of Folly Gutter. In 1914 West Cheshire Brewery bought the Twenty Row Inn. In 1957 the old pub was demolished and a new one opened. By 2006 the Twenty Row Inn had been demolished. A supermarket now stands on the site.