Ye Cracke, Liverpool

A very traditional looking back street boozer which was surprisingly busy for its location. It looked a bit daunting from the outside, the kind of place that may be a locals' pub and everyone falls into silence and stares at you when you walk in, but I'm pleased to report that was far from the case. On entering there is a small room to the left, backing on to the rear of the bar, which was empty, then you walk through and round to the front of the bar where there are a couple of different semi opened out rooms. There is also an outdoor area though not investigated and was in the process of being locked up - perhaps they are only allowed to use it until a certain time because it's a fairly residential area. Four hand pulls at the bar including two from Big Bog at the time of my visit. It's a proper old school boozer but without feeling exclusively locally. Well worth a visit.

definitely worth a visit to an unchanged back street boozer. Interesting Cottage Brewing Co Air Supremacy on - all the way from Somerset. Listen to the constant sounds of the Beatles on the Jukebox. Photos at my blog - http://bit.ly/2csv7Qs

John Lennon's old watering hole and I'm not sure what it was like in his time but this pub hasn't changed for years. A nice feature is the 'Guest Ales' blackboard at the side of the bar which very rarely is in unison with what is actually on.

This is another Liverpool pub on CAMRA's Regional Inventory of pubs with historic interiors. Although this pub has been much changed, and expanded, over the years it does retain some original features. You enter into a very small room that was the original public bar. Around to the back of the servery is a much larger room, which is where I found the landlady and the pub's only other customer. Leading off the corridor that to some extent dissects this room is a very small snug, known as the War Room, and which certainly dates from the Victorian era. As you would expect, there's some Beatles stuff around the place, but I guess you could say that about most Liverpool pubs. There were four ales on. For some reason I didn't note them all, but I did note that I had a decent drop of Salopian Blond. I did have a conversation with the landlady on the merits, or otherwise, of the use of sparklers and she said that whenever she's in a London pub she asks for a sparkler to be used. Best of luck with that; or do London pubs keep a sparkler handy just in case someone from somewhere up north drops in? I'd be surprised if many London bar staff would know what you were talking about. Anyway, this seems to be even more of a locals' boozer than the other Liverpool pubs I had visited. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.