Liverpool: Nostalgic 80s photos show old popular Bootle pub as proposal to demolish building withdrawn

Fantastic retro photographs show an old Bootle pub, The Railway, in the mid to late 80s.

The former Railway Pub, located at 111 Merton Road - which later became The Wharf Inn - has been closed for a number of years.

One photo, taken in the late 80s or the early 90s, shows The Railway back in its heyday, with the name of the historical Liverpool brewery Higson’s visible on the building, which can still be seen today. Two entrances to the pub can be seen - the bar was on the left, and the lounge on the right.

Two photographs show a man standing outside the lounge entrance, taken a few years apart. In the earlier photo, taken in the mid to late 80s, a plaque above the door names Robert Swift as the landlord. Having changed hands in the intervening years, the later photo, likely taken in the late 80s or the early 90s, shows the landlord’s name as Stanley Harris.

A fourth photo, taken in the mid to late 80s, shows a smartly dressed man sitting at the bar reading his newspaper.

A proposal to demolish the former pub, and construct a four-storey apartment block with 28 flats and a car park in its place had been submitted. However, the planning application has now been withdrawn.