Southport and Waterloo

We caught the Merseyrail train from Liverpool to Southport to see the sea, take in the museum, and visit a micro pub, before tackling a trio of Beer Guide entries at Waterloo.
All with glorious blue sky and winter sunshine, which makes a change!

On arrival we walked past the quiet amusement arcades and onto the pier, which turns out to be quite long.  1,108m in fact - stretching across the Marine Lake, past the promenade and closed Marston's pub, and out over the sands.

Back into the town and sheltered from the chilly winds, we marveled at the picturesque Lord Street.  Then called in to the Atkinson Museum and Art Gallery where I was keen to see the 'I Grew Up 80's' exhibition.  For indeed I did!

This only occupied a couple of rooms, but I was in happy nostalgic mode.  Atari consoles, Sony Walkmen, issues of Smash Hits, Donkey Kong, BMX and Betamax.  All bringing back memories and plenty of exclamations of "I had one of them!".

The music of the '80's hasn't really disappeared into obscurity has it?

Napalm Death's 'From Enslavement to Obliteration' is missing

Just around the corner from the museum is the covered Cambridge Walks shopping arcade, which handily has a micropub midway along it.

Tap and Bottles (19A Cambridge Walk, Southport, PR8 1EN)
We were first in at noon, joined a short while later by several more folk.
The L-shaped bar was straight inside the door, with additional seating in the adjoining room.  All quite pleasingly ramshackle, with beer labels stuck to the wall and crafty cans hanging from the ceiling.
I picked a very nice North Brewery 'Shadow Play' stout on cask (other cask options being a mild from Black Edge and two beers from Vocation).

I'd love to report on the great music that was played whilst we were there, but our soundtrack was the Cambridge Arcade fire alarm.  The chap at the bar was very apologetic, as he became increasingly irritated, updating us that no-one responsible in the arcade had the key to turn it off. 
"It'll stop soon", he assured us.  It didn't.

We escaped to the relative peace and quiet outside the arcade, then made the short stroll to our next pub...

The Guest House (16 Union Street, Southport, PR9 0QE - web)
What a lovely place.
Three comfortable rooms with fixed bench seating round the sides, old bell pushes in the wood panel behind them, and some fine stained glass above the bar counter. 

There was a wide choice of beers, so naturally I got it wrong, picking the local Southport 'Dark Night' mild which seemed to be just past its best.  Should've had the 'Pendle Witches Brew' which the locals were raving about and predicting how quickly the barrel was going to polished off.

We took advantage of a good value menu of proper pub grub at the Guest House.
Always trust a pub where they bring you place mats to the table when you order food.
And always trust a pub where one of the customers has brought a dog in a pushchair.
I was thoroughly comfortable in the Guest House and would head back here without hesitation when next in Southport.

We timed our departure for the next train back towards Liverpool, hopping off this 20 minutes later to visit Waterloo.

Our first pub here, with user-friendly opening hours, was the Waterpudlian along the main street.

Waterpudlian (99 South Road, Waterloo, L22 0LR - fb)
This was a pretty basic rectangular room, a little battered around the edges, with a raised stage area and some decent background music.
The run of framed awards from when this used to be called Stamps Too (Stamps One being nearby in Crosby) suggest that they know a thing or two about their beers.  These were advertised on a blackboard and included a couple from Salopian, a Marble 'Bitter' and another chance for me to try the Southport Brewery, this time with an enjoyable 'Old Shrimper' stout.

We sat on a table directly in front of the stage, which would be a great vantage point if only they'd book bands to play on mid-week afternoons.

Leaving the Waterpudlian, it was just a few minutes up the road to another micro, the Trap & Hatch, which my research said would be open at 3pm.  Except it wasn't.  Something had delayed them - as happens in micropub land - and they wouldn't be opening until later.

Which led to...
Mrs PropUptheBar's Craft Diversion

This was a coffee/craft beer joint called Timberwolf Grind & Tap which we'd passed a little earlier on South Road.  It was a bustling hive of activity.  Folks sipping martini's whilst making phone calls, people chatting over cappuccino's, dogs staring longingly at the dog biscuit jar, and too many staff getting in one another's way.
We were the only savages on the craft beer mid-afternoon, choosing some pale murk from a selection including Love Lane, Glen Affric and Vocation.  

But the music that I suffered all because the Trap & Hatch wasn't open at 3pm!
Coldplay made way for Alanis Morisette, followed by Jamiroqui.  Then Toploader...Arggggh!

By the time we were leaving at 4pm the nearby Heritage pub was open.

Volunteer Canteen (45 East Street, Waterloo, L22 8QR )
Down a nice peaceful side street, this building started life as an 1820's house prior to being converted to a pub, originally called the Canteen Vaults, in 1871.
We headed into the public bar, where we could peruse the pump clips and pick a fine bitter from the local Rock the Boat Brewery.
Drinks were taken around into the lovely lounge, with a warming fire, fixed seating around the walls and proper pub stools.  From here you're looking at the decorative back of the bar...

Heritage slightly spoilt by hand sanitiser station

The Heritage Pub description makes a big deal of table service still being offered in the lounge, but the novelty of this has worn off somewhat in the past couple of years.
I really liked the Volunteer Canteen - comfortable, great beer, full of character, with a nice number of other customers chatting over a pint.

Very responsible social distancing being practised there

Finally, we headed back to the previously closed micropub, now with shutters opened, lights on and customers sitting at the bar.

Trap & Hatch (135 South Road, Waterloo, L22 0LT - web)

"No intrusive TV's or music" it says on WhatPub who obviously didn't survey this place at the same time as us, when it had a full-on metalcore soundtrack playing.

I settled down with a very good Chapter 'Pemberley Stout', whilst Mrs PropUptheBar ended up with an accidental pint of mulled cider when someone distracted the chap behind the bar midway through serving and he forgot he should have been pouring a half.

Finally, you can't come round this way without wandering onto Crosby Beach and marveling at the Gormley statues.  So I'll leave you with the pick of my photographs...