Ye Hole in Ye Wall, Liverpool

very busy with it being gay pride weekend well worth a second look

The Hole in the Wall claims to be Liverpool’s oldest pub and the date of 1726 which is displayed on the outside of the building lends this claim some credibility. Entering the pub through a tiled corridor along the left hand side, you first pass a small recess which houses a dartboard before reaching the servery. The room is carpeted with wood panelled walls which have a lot of old local photographs hung on them. Stained glass partitions screen a fine seating area with long curved banquettes and low stool seating. Perhaps the centrepiece of the pub is a lovely fireplace with brass surrounds and liver bird adornments, which was lit, providing the place with a cosy feel. A TV screen was on showing muted coverage of a tennis match, which seemed a little out of place. The pub was one of the last in the city to admit women, as late as 1977, and as such they have had to improvise the location of the ladies toilets so you have to pass through the bar hatch to reach them via the staircase. Beer used to be dispensed by gravity from the first floor cellar which was located upstairs due to the pub’s positioning on an old burial site, but nowadays the more conventional hand pump system is used. I noted five beers on during our visit – Off Beat Odd Ball, Tetley’s Trust Porter, Cain’s IPA, Titanic Steerage and Brain’s Bread of Heaven – a decent, varied line-up and my pint of Steerage was certainly on good form. I agree with Ray that the place feels more like a rural pub than something you expect to find in the city and it struck me as somewhere I’d be happy to while away a few hours over my paper or chatting at the bar.

A very fine and traditional interior with two rooms with fitted bench seating,wood panelled corridors and a section devoted to a darts board with it's own bar access.There was an ornate brass surround above a coal affect gas fire but almost all other features were original and authentic.There were 6 handpumps with some microbrewery offerings ,my Odd Ball Red from the Offbeat Brewery was interesting.Worth listening to the light volume taped music,any pub playing Chicory Tip gets my vote !