Crosby Pub Crawl

Ship passing Crosby beach

Today I had a pub crawl around Crosby, visiting three Good Beer Guide micropubs.

The Coop

The Coop micropub was Camra Liverpool’s pub of the year last year, a well-deserved reward.

They sell five real ales and two ciders. One of the ales caught my attention, Harvey’s Sussex Bitter, a beer from Harvey’s brewery in Lewes. It’s a beer I drank a lot in the early nineties when I was working in Brighton. I haven’t drunk it since. I’d forgotten just how good it was, I necked three pints of it. The good beer guide describes it as a full-bodied brown bitter, an old style bitter. This was the best beer on my weeks trip to Liverpool. It was a bit pricy at £4.70.

It’s a great place to while away a few hours. There’s a conservatory at the side of the pub and outside there’s cafe style seating. Apparently, the conservatory is candlelit at times. I sat at a table in the main bar, by the side window, reading Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels, talking to the landlord and people watching.

The number 63 bus from Bootle passes close to the pub.

Stamps Bar

Stamps Bar is another micropub in Crosby; it’s in the former Crosby Crown post office.

It’s an excellent pub; the main bar is busy and full of interesting iron work. It has a big window where you can sit and watch the world go by. There is a quieter lounge upstairs, reached by a wonderful iron staircase in the centre of the main bar area. There’s also a roof terrace at the rear.

As usual I can’t remember the beer I had, but it was excellent and only cost me £3.95 a pint.

Be warned, Friday night is Karaoke night, but not until ten. They have live bands on a Saturday night and once or twice a month they have an open Jamming session.

The number 63 bus also passes close to this pub.

Old Tap

This micropub is also in the good beer guide. I nearly walked out without buying a pint, wish I had. I had a pint that was OK. But it cost £4.80, a bit pricy for the establishment I thought. The pub just wasn’t for me. Spend more time in the Coop or Stamps, I wish I had.

Da Mount Gurka

Da Mount Gurka is a Nepalese curry house opposite the Old Tap. I came across it in a newspaper article listing the best 26 (ish) curry houses in the country. I asked a few people about it, they all said it was excellent.

A good day out would be sessions in the Coop and Stamps Bar, followed by a curry in Da Mount Gurka. I will return.

There are several busses you can catch from Stamps Bar to the curry house, including the number 63.