LIVERPOOL.

Basically a student pub that is very popular being situated on campus. The pub is on 2 levels which makes it unsuitable for the disabled. Done out in the firkin style, wooden floors, tables, chairs and 2-seater posh garden benches with comfy padding. Screens are dotted about to break up the single large room (tat on walls/shelves). The bar is a long wooden one with overhead glass shelf near the door. On it are usually 4 Burtonwood beers - Forshaws Bitter, Top Hat, Bitter and Buccaneer were on at the time as was a guest ale Tetlows Salmon Leap 4.7%. Music is on jukebox and speakers and they turn it up here. Wine is on draught for the serious grape fan. For the summer there is a ceiling fan and cold air blower. The beer garden is on the pavement across the road - no grass here. Lunch of sorts is served here too (not Sat), try the Sunday breakfast 12-2. No accommodation. The Cambridge closes at weekends outside term time.
[NOT SAT]   Lime St

Down the stairs in the basement of this theatre there are two inter-connected rooms - one for drinking and one for eating (though you find a seat where you can). The tiled floor reminiscent of a factory floor and low ceiling make it cosy inside. Though the visible building supports (pillars) can be disconcerting. The bar is wooden and not that large, but there are usually 3 guest beers on (Cains Bitter, Wadworth's 6X and one other on this occasion). The food service area is usually busy at meal times - lunch and evenings - as this is a popular place to eat (no food Sunday). Food is well priced and looks very interesting. There are plenty of veggie choices that are imaginative and well presented. Puddings come in the school variety and are tasty and well remembered. At 9pm the lights go down so you can talk more intimately. It gets very busy before a show and just after and the acoustics means you have to shout a lot. Visited in winter this was a rather cold and draughty basement very near the cathedral. Worth a visit for food as well as beer. No accommodation here. There is a no smoking area.

This is part of the larger Head of Steam group with pubs in the North and the Euston outpost. Like the others it is part of the railway buildings and serves up to 15 real ales, a number of which are regulars. This pub is huge, with four separate bars all with a different theme and seating arrangements. The main bar - which is always open - has the greater number of hand pumps. It is a tall wooden affair, set on a wooden floor with dark wood tables and chairs. It gets busy here, though there is extra seating on a small raised platform at the far end, though you are under the sports screen here. The next bar has comfy sofas and seats, this serving bar is not always open in the day and not all beers are available here, same with the other themed bars. Food is served for large parts of the day and is a good selection including vegetarian. Access for the disabled is possible and there is a no smoking area. No accommodation here.

The Philharmonic is one of those pubs that has architects waxing lyrical about it as a time capsule from bygone days. It is one of the most ornate pubs in England. The bar has adjoining smoke rooms known as Brahms and Liszt. All are ornate with copper panels or plaster friezes and are worth looking at in their own right as a tourist attraction. The former Gentlemen's club still has its marble toilets and mosaic floors - despite years of walking on them. Another Cains house it has a good selection of their beers plus guests. Being in the student quarter it gets a lot of them in spending hard earned loans, plus the theatre goers from across the road. As a family pub it has a children's area/family room and serves food only at lunchtimes. It's up the hill from Lime St, but you have to pass the Dispensary and so it's worth it.

This is a back street rockers pub which also seems to attract other fairly diverse clients with a 'cocktail' bar upstairs. Usually very busy, it stocks Marstons Pedigree, Oak Wobbly Bob and Owd Roger together with up to four guests and a handpulled cider. The Rock jukebox hasn't had it's records changed since the mid-70's and features loads of classics though some, more modern hits have been brought in to replace something that has worn out! The music is always very, very loud and can be heard from halfway down the street. Friday is curry night (though they normally only do lunches) and for those with a hangover on Sunday morning they serve breakfasts too.

The Ship is on the corner of Dale Street and North Street, not far from the Queensway Tunnel entrance. You can walk to it from Lime St station easily, but not necessarily back from it after a good night. This is probably the premier real ale pub in Liverpool at the moment. It serves ten real ales and a selection of both real cider and European beers on draught. The prices have to be seen to be believed. Anyone from the South will buy a house in Liverpool immediately to enjoy the crazy prices and the relaxed atmosphere. From the outside, it has the look of a corner bank - unfortunately there are steps to get in/out and no disable facilities. The pub is comfortably decorated with an island bar and gas lighting. There are two drinking areas, both with a nautical flavour. The rear has half booths and raised area with sports TV, while the front also has raised areas and subdued lighting to encourage conversation. The beer is always well kept and has up to ten guest ales on plus cider and foreign draught beer. They also hold regular beer festivals. Food is served lunchtimes only and is basic but wholesome and filling. There is no accommodation here. Well worth a stop if you are in the area as it is close to Dr Duncan's and the Vernon Arms. Close to LJM university so full of students by day.

The Vernon Arms is so close to the Ship & Mitre that they could be working in unison. They both serve excellent real ales in abundance and the Vernon serves food in the evening, so you don't need to travel far for food and drink. Situation in the business district near Lime St and Moorfields metro, this pub is another corner pub with history. Its high ceilings are ornately plastered and its back room a gem - with a huge mirror, velvet settles round the wall and bell pushes over a chessboard floor. The bar rises to the back room and is quite high though there is no step into the pub. Watch out for the sloping floor as you peruse the good range of beers on offer. All beers were well kept and served and again the prices were good. Owned by the Liverpool Brewing Co, one the ales on is usually theirs. Seating is at tables and chairs and there is a snug at the front. Food is served here both lunch and evening. It is traditional fayre with a single vegetarian choice and is about £5. The Vernon is so popular with locals that it won local CAMRA pub of the year for 3 years running. Its central location is good for shopping too and for students as LJM university is just up the road. An excellent pub, the only downside is it's closed on Sundays!

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