‘Lost part of my soul’ - Locals say goodbye as popular Wetherspoons closes down

A popular Wirral pub closed its doors this weekend, after being put up for sale earlier this year. The John Masefield, on New Chester Road in New Ferry, was one of 40 Wetherspoons pubs that were put up for sale, as the firm grapples with ‘substantially higher costs’ including repairs and staff wages.

Named after the Poet Laureate John Masefield, who attributed his love of books to his time in the area as a young man after being sent to join the HMS Conway, which was moored off New Ferry Pier, the pub was loved by locals and will be sorely missed.

Staff from the pub have been offered other positions within Wetherspoons, and no redundancies have been made.

Closing for good on Sunday (June 18), The John Masefield joins several other local Wetherspoons pubs which have shut down, including The Wild Rose in Bootle and The Willow Grove in Southport.

Locals took to social media to share tributes to the popular New Ferry watering hole:

• One person said: “Tonight I said goodbye to the Wetherspoons in New Ferry and lost a part of my soul. My pub for the last 10+ years.”
• Another commented: “I will miss the Masefield drank and ate there every Thursday without fail since it opened and many other random occasions.”
• And another added: “Will miss the Masefield as took my daughter there for her first legal drink. Thank you to all the staff who worked there.”

What’s next for the pub: No officials details of the the future of the John Masefield premises have yet been released, however, many locals believe it is set to become a sports bar.