A day out in Liverpool visiting pubs, drinking beer (and maybe a ferry cross the Mersey?)

Meet from 12:30pm in the Crown Hotel, Lime Street (next to the station not under Stockport viaduct)

Getting there

Depart Stockport 11:25, Piccadilly at 11:37, arrive Liverpool 12:29
Depart Stockport 11:54, Piccadilly at 12:07, arrive Liverpool 13:00
Other options from Manchester are available.

We start the outing by congregating in the Crown Hotel (photo left) from 12:30pm. Being but a stones throw from Liverpool Lime Street, and offering food from 10:00am, you might want to arrive early and fortify yourself ready for the days onslaught. (If you're after breakfast it is served until 12pm). Take note of the décor as the pub is on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. We wont be leaving before 1:15 to allow those on the later train above to meet up.

Next up is the Roscoe Head (photo right), another pub with a historic interior, Not only that, but one of the Magnificent Five pubs that have been in every edition of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide! Run by members of the same family for over thirty years, it commemorates a leading campaigner against the slave trade, William Roscoe. One beer on offer is Tetley Bitter - I wonder whether that is based upon the Warrington offering or the Yorkshire nectar.

Next up, we have the new kid on the block, Shandon Bells (photo left). Opened in Jan 2026 as an Irish-themed traditional pub. It takes its name not from a local church, but from the bell's of St Anne's Church in Cork. Though new, the furnishings do give it the feeling of a traditional pub.

Our next destination is both the newest and, probably the oldest!. The Monro (photo right) is based in a Georgian building of 1746 vintage, but it only became a pub in 2024. Stretching over three floor, and still containing many of its original fittings, the Monro is better than a time capsule. And the name, that was carried by the first scheduled passenger ship to New York in 1817 (from Liverpool), though the ship's full name was James Monroe of the Black Ball Line.

Another contender for the oldest and newest pub in Liverpool is the St. Peters Tavern (photo left), but it's just pipped at both ends, being built in 1788 and opened in 2024. Again spread over three floors, but (you have probably guessed) named in honour of it former guise, St Peter’s Church. Among retained features of this unique venue is the original altar, a hidden ‘Lady Chapel’, stained glass windows, marble features and dramatic chandeliers. All this survived a period as the Alma de Cuba night club.

Now we move in to the modern era, with the The Vines (photo right) being built in 1907 as a Cains pub. The interior is flamboyant as befits the grandeur of the building, with extensive plasterwork meriting inclusion on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. After a period of decline, it was refurbished in 2023 and cask ale reintroduced by the owners of the previous two pubs, Monro and St. Peter's Tavern. Unlike those two, there are not three floors to frequent here.

Making our way across town, and avoiding being sucked in to the Queensway Tunnel, we arrive at the Ship & Mitre (photo left). The pub is a bit like a mirage, you can see it from afar, but getting there on foot is a little convoluted. This is defiantly the new kid on the architectural block, being a 1930’s Art Deco building. Accompanying the multitude of British real ales (up to eight), there is also an impressive range of world beers, so all tastes should be catered for.

Getting back

Depart Liverpool 18:19, Piccadilly at 19:11, arrive Stockport 19:23
Depart Liverpool 18:51, Piccadilly at 19:41, arrive Stockport 19:53
Depart Liverpool 19:19, Piccadilly at 20:11, arrive Stockport 20:22
Depart Liverpool 19:51, Piccadilly at 20:41, arrive Stockport 20:54 Other options to only Manchester are available.

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