Boats, Beers and Boozers 2018. No.5

We had arrived in Liverpool after the very pleasant run down to the end of the Leeds and Liverpool canal and the decent to the dock level and then along past the 'Three Graces' and through the iconic Albert Dock to our pontoon in Salthouse Dock. One of the great things about being in Liverpool is the fact that you are very central and there is a lot to do on the door step.

We signed up for a guided walk around the 'Roperwlk' area just behind 'Liverpool 1' that is the up and coming area. It was great to get some of the background to the buildings that we had seen previously.

This Italianate Building is actually the Police Bridewell from the mid 1800's. Charles Dickens visited when writing the 'Uncommercial Traveller'. When it closed it became a recording studio where 'Frankie Goes to Hollywood' recorded, and is now a bar.

The area was mainly warehousing etc that serviced the first enclosed dock that is now below Liverpool 1. Many of the original warehouse buildings with the hoists and entrances to pull in the goods have been retained, but many have completely been altered for new uses behind the facade.

This is the music hall that was built in 1786 on the corner of Bold Street and Concert Street that was named after it.

We later walked up to Tithe Barn Street and entered the Railway. As can be seen from the pub sign it was originaly a Cains House but is now a Punch Tavern. It is opposite the Exchange Station that was one of the principle stations of the city, opening in 1850. It was damaged in WWII and was the destination of the last scheduled passenger train pulled by a steam locomotive from Preston on 3rd August 1968! It was closed in 1977 and demolished but the facade survived.

Inside it has plenty of nooks and crannies and is quite old still. It has very recently had a lot of work carried out, being closed for many months, so no idea what it looks like now. They seemed to be quite popular for their pub food, which looked just that. The TV's were on sport and news and were loud for my liking. They didn't have too much of a range of real ales but I tried a pint of Dizzy Blonde brewed by Robinson's Brewery, Unicorn Brewery in Stockport. It was 3.8% and costs me 280 pennies.

Robinson' was started in 1838 and is still run by the Robinson family although they have built a new brewhouse. However they do brewery tours of the old and new set up.

This light beer is a nice summer drink with a very hoppy smell. I found it refreshing and pretty good, but not really special.