Vernon Arms, Liverpool

I found this a comfortable pub when I visited last Wednesday, with a good selection of ales from seven hand pulls. I paid £2.90 for a decent pint of Blakemere Jewel. I would have liked to stay longer had I not been on a mission to visit a fair few more pubs that night.

A strange place. Two room pub with (on my Saturday evening visit) a loud, dark and noisy room at the front (sloped floor) which was pretty empty with a smattering of weird old men hanging round the bar. Then a brighter lounge room beyond which was busier and mainly inhabited by the younger generation. In here were push bells and springy banquettes from the British Rail era, plus an out-of-place street scene mural with a Dead Kennedy's joke for those who like their music. A decent ale range but difficult to get to the bar, too many barflys. My Liverpool Organic El Dorado was in good shape, the Boggarts Rum Porter much less so (probably end of barrel, should have taken it back but didn’t fancy the hassle of getting to the bar again). Also Gwent y Ddraig cider available. Curate’s egg of a place, certainly not on a par with the premier outlets in Liverpool, too weird an atmosphere for me but perhaps during the week it’s better?

Decent two-bar pub with a traditional feel. Limited seating and fairly basic decor. Seven handpumps in total, with several interesting beers including the Boggart Rum Porter (£1.40, half). Only had time for a flying visit, but will return...

yes very busy worth a visit will call next time when here in Liverpool it was gay pride weekend so you could not see much of the pubs with being so full

A basic two roomed street corner pub with a sloping floor.Good selection of ales.Down sides are a multitude of large TV screens showing football and a fairly run down feel to the decor.

This pleasant two room Dale Street pub reopened in 2009 after being closed for around five years and has been sympathetically refurbished, retaining a number of interesting features. The front room operates almost as two individual rooms, thanks to a partitioning wall that runs from the front door, creating a seating area screened from the bar. It’s a fairly basic space, with wooden floors and more room for standing than is given over to tables and chairs, with a couple of TV screens and a large map of the Mersey to distract the eye. A short corridor leads into a lovely art-deco rear room with a nice tiled floor and some attractive banquettes. The art deco look is enhanced by several large pictures, a period mirror and even the font used to write ‘Gents’ and ‘Ladies’ on the toilet doors is very much of its time. The rear room was made famous by former Liverpool deputy council leader Derek Hatton, who would hold unofficial meetings here before crossing to the nearby Municipal Buildings. In fact, he claims that “More decisions were taken there than were ever taken in the chamber.” One of the pub’s biggest draws nowadays is the rotating ale selection which on our visit included Peerless Full Whack and Deep Dark Secret, Sandstone Post Mistress, Boggart Rum Porter and house beer Liverpool Organic Johnny Handsome. My pint of Sandstone was in great shape and I was a little loath to depart without trying any of the others. This is another great little pub in the Dale Street area with an interesting past and a promising future and as such should be incorporated into any serious crawl around the city.