Liverpool and NW England Holiday

In July I had a week or so up in the North West of England. I had a B&B booked in Crosby, north of Liverpool City Centre. The closest station was Waterloo, so I became a commuter from Waterloo for the week.

Upon arrival at Lime Street station at about 1400 I went straight to the ticket office to buy a ticket for the rest of the day (a Merseyrail day saver cost £4.50), plus a Freedom of the North West Rover ticket (cost £74) for the next 7 days. The aim of the holiday was to travel over railway lines I’d not done before and visit some new pubs and get some new beers as well.

After booking in at the B&B, I headed back to the city centre, getting off at Moorfields to start my tour of some of the city’s pubs. There are some great pubs here which may be the subject of a separate entry. Some of favourite city centre pubs were the Dispensary, White Star, Roscoe Head, Philharmonic (including Grade II listed Gents toilets) and the Fly in the Loaf. Other pubs visited were: Lion Tavern, Rigby’s, Ye Hole In Ye Wall, Ship & Mitre, Dr Duncans, Welkin and Ship & Mitre. That was enough for one day and I got the train back to Waterloo.

Its been in every Good Beer Guide

Philharmonic Toilets

NW Rover Day 1: Train to Lime Street, then to Wigan North Western for a train to Lancaster. I visited a couple of pubs close to the station before getting a train to Morecambe, a short stop here and a quick half of Kirby Lonsdale’s Monumental in the Eric Bartholomew, then got the train to Heysham Port. This service only runs once a day so that was a good bit of line to get in the book. Back in Lancaster it was time for a wander around the town. A couple of friends knew the place well and I had a crawl mapped out. Top pubs for me were the Borough and the White Cross. Other pubs visited were: Sun Inn, Merchants, Water Witch, Penny Bank, Sir Richard Owen and Robert Gillow. Train back to Lime St and in Liverpool City Centre I went to the Belvedere. Lovely little pub and it had 2 beers each from Sandstone and Liverpool Organic brewerys and a final half in the Dispensary.

Heysham Port station

Water Witch in Lancaster

Belvedere in Liverpool

NW Rover Day 2: Train to Moorfields, then to Bidston and a change to Shotton. A quick half in the Central hotel,and a change from high level to low level station in Shotton for a train to Chester. First stop was Telford’s Warehouse. Second stop in Chester was the Bull Hotel for their own beers brewed on the premises. As I walked in, the only Black Bull brewed beer had just finished. Two other new beers were available from Steel City and Magic Rock. While drinking these I found out that a fresh Black Bull Beer was being put on so disaster averted. A visit to the Spitting Feathers brewery tap was made followed by Old Harkers. I ended up at the Mill Hotel. I had been here many years ago on a railtour behind a couple of class 33 diesels so this was a familiar place. The beer choice was not as good as then but I still had a pint and a late lunch here. Next train was to Warrington Bank Quay. First stop was the Lower Angel for their beers brewed on site. I had seen that 2 had been available on ‘scoopgen’ but they had sold out by the time I got there. Apparently water problems had made brewing difficult and their Tipsy Angel beers were not on very often. I had a couple of halves there anyway as they were new and then went to the Tavern which is the brewery tap for the 4T’s brewery. Result this time with a half of their Citra Overload beer. A couple of other new beers were drunk and then went to the Townhouse where I had another 4T’s beer. Then to the Looking Glass and back to Warrington Central for a train back to Liverpool for more beer at the Dispensary. Train back to Waterloo and I decided to visit the pub just opposite the station. Called Stamps Too it had a good choice of beers and I mentally kicked myself for not going there before.

Bidston station

Notice outside Telfords Warehouse

Warrington

NW Rover Day 3: Train to Lime Street, then to Wigan North Western for a train to Carlisle. Today would see a lot of train travel. 283.75 miles according to my calculations to be precise. First stop was the Kings head where I had received some local gen about the beers available (thanks Nicky) and then 2 Wetherspoons pubs ending at the Griffin by Citadel station. I was waiting for the 1535 to Preston via Settle, Hellifield, Clitheroe and Preston. There are 2 trains each way summer Sundays only between Hellifield and Clitheroe so this was another rare bit of track for my book. It was a lovely afternoon travelling especially over the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct. Then from it was back to Liverpool and then Waterloo.

Carlisle station

View from Ribblehead viaduct

View near Carlisle station

NW Rover Day 4: Train to Liverpool Central, change for a train to Chester. Then to Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich. Not the most exciting of journeys this one as it was all stops to Stockport I think. A short journey to Salford Crescent where I changed for a train to Kirkby. Same train back to Wigan Wallgate and at about 1430 had my first beers that day at Berkeley, Anvil and Boulevard pubs.

I went to Wigan North Western station and as the train stopped, I could hear someone tapping on the window from inside the train. Curiosity got the better of me so boarded the train to who was tapping. It turned out that were some friends of mine on their way back from the Lake District who had seen me, so we had a quick chat until we reached Warrington Bank Quay. There I went to the Looking Glass Tavern, Porters and Lower Angel but still no Tipsy Angel beers. Train from Warrington Central to Lime Street and I visited the Dispensary, Roscoe Head, Belvedere and Fly in the Loaf. Back to Waterloo and went to the Volunteer Canteen and Stamps Too.

Seen in Wigan

Seen in Liverpool. Told not to take photo but it was in a public street so tough!

Waterloo sunset

Volunteer canteen

Old Liverpool brewery window in the 'Volly'

NW Rover Day 5: Train to Lime Street, then to Preston for a train to Blackpool South. The train was delayed getting into Preston and I thought I would miss my connection but luckily all trains were being delayed so I made the connection. At Blackpool South I got the same train back to Preston and once again it was pub time. The Bitter Suite was first followed by the Black Bull, Greyfriar, Market Tavern and Olde Vic. I then went to Wigan North Western, a short walk to Wigan Wallgate and a train to Burscough Bridge. I was stopping there to visit the Hop & Vine at Burscough, the Burscough brewery tap. It was almost opposite the station, very handy. Whilst there I arranged to meet a friend of mine from Southport and agreed to meet him on the next train, so I had plenty of time to sup my beers there. Train time came and I met my friend on the train. When we got to Southport, he had to go home briefly and we agreed to meet up in the Rufus Sewell. We then went to the Guest House, Windmill, Sir Henry Seagrave and Baron’s Bar. I got the train back to Waterloo for a final beer in Stamps Too.

Bitter Suite in Preston

Black Bull in Preston

Market tavern in Preston

Preston city centre

Hop & Vine

Inside Hop & Vine

Guest House in Southport

Barons bar in Southport

Southport Station

NW Rover Day 6: Today would be the day with the most number of trains travelled on in a day. Train to Lime Street, then a train to Manchester Victoria. I spent just 10 minutes there before getting a train to Todmorden, a quick half in the Queen Hotel opposite the station and then to Halifax. (The line from Manchester to Halifax had stunning views and is an area I would like to explore more in future). Only one pub visited here but Dirty Dick’s had a good range of beers was on. Then a train to Huddersfield and couple of beers in The Head of Steam on the station. A train to Dewsbury was next. I crossed over the footbridge to the delightfully named West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms. Then I got another train to Sowerby Bridge and another pub on the station. The Jubilee Refreshment Rooms opened a couple of years ago in the only original part of the station buildings left standing. Time here for a leisurely pint before going back to Dewsbury and the WRLRR again, a train back to Huddersfield for the Head of Steam again. Then I got a train straight through to Lime Street. I did not stop at Stalybridge for a beer at the station but it is well worth a visit as I have been in the past. In Liverpool I went to Peter Kavanagh’s, Blackbourne Arms, Fly in the Loaf, Roscoe Head and Dispensary. I got the train back to Waterloo for a final beer in Stamps Too.

WRLRR

Jubilee Refreshment Room

Jubilee Refreshment Room

Peter Kavanagh's in Liverpool

NW Rover Day 7: I had now completed all planned train journeys and feeling a bit tired, so I got a train to Lime Street, and decided to stay around the City Centre. I went to the Albert Dock area to have a look around and take some photos including a number of the Three Graces. I went to the White Star, Ship & Mitre, Vernon Arms, James Munro, Thomas Rigbys, Hole in ye Wall. I then got a train to to Formby to go to the Freshfield Hotel. Then back to Waterloo for a curry and visited the Old Bank and had my final visit to Stamps Too.

Next day I came back home.

In conclusion I had a wonderful time visiting some great pubs, dinking great beer. Met some very friendly people up there and also managed to do travel over all the railway lines that I had not done previously and were covered by the Rover ticket. Liverpool has a good selection of real ale pubs with plenty of local breweries of which my favourite was Liverpool Organic. I definitely want go back in the future.

You will probably not be surprised to know that I kept a log of all the trains I travelled on and all the pubs I visited and beers consumed to help me write this all up. I calculated that I travelled a total of 1541.5 miles on the whole holiday of which 1072 miles were done on the NW Rover ticket. You can work out for yourself the number of different pubs I visited and I will let you guess how many pints of beer I consumed.