An iconic pub where "you never know who’s coming through the door" has been at the heart of one of the city's most popular streets for generations
Many will remember The Albert for a long time being one of the only drinking places on Lark Lane, before it became a haven of shops, pubs, restaurants and more that we know today. Commissioned by Thomas Gibson, Edward Jones and Robert Cains on June 12, 1879, the listed Victorian pub boasts a Gothic exterior and an even more fascinating history.
Newspaper reports from the late 1800s suggest The Albert, like the former Masonic pub nearby, was once used as a mortuary. Once owned by the pub, the bowling green behind The Albert also dates back to 1884, with the club running up until the 1970s.
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Customers will also remember the days of the snooker tables on the first floor, pre-world championship matches being held there and the famous snooker players who were regulars. Mick Muldoon, 42, has been manager of The Albert since January 2019 and said the popular pub is "very much cemented within the community."
He told the ECHO: "The regulars are very good at educating you and that information has been drip fed over the last four years. I know upstairs was used for Pot Black and the likes of Hurricane Higgins and John Parrot being a scouser and Dennis Taylor, those sorts of fellas, all played here back in the 80s.
"I've heard stories that during World War Two the building or indeed the outhouse was used as a mortuary - whether or not there's any truth in that I'm not 100% sure. The room we call the back snug used to be the ladies room at one point and it was also the smoking room at another stage and we had a cocktail bar in the back room at another stage too."
Welcoming generations through its doors, The Albert has many loyal and regular customers, as well as people who've moved away and returned to visit. Mick said The Albert's customer base is everyone from families and groups of friends to students, real ale drinkers and now craft beer lovers.
He said: "The customer coming through the door, you can’t pin the profile. It’s so vast and that’s the beauty of being in Lark Lane, on the fringe of one of the most amazing cities in the UK. I've never ran a pub with the eclectic mix that this pub attracts.
"What I do get enjoyment from, and a real sense of ownership from, is whenever old customers return and I then learn the history of the pub through them and those conversations. Like the smoking room when the smoking ban came in, what it meant for the pub.
"I think the real nostalgic thing for me is when a customer comes in and says 'I haven't been here for 30 years', I was a student in Liverpool. I'll often say what's changed, go have a pint and come back and tell me and they go 'not a lot but it's still lovely."
Mick said to him, The Albert is "the best pub on the Lane" for a number of reasons and that with the support of the team and the community, the business has continued to go "from strength to strength." He said: "We’re not the cheapest, I don't claim to be the cheapest, but I often say to pay for what you get and I believe the quality of what we deliver is second to none.
"I've been in the pub game for a long long time and I know that if you give customers good service and good product, the price comes second. I think our big pull is the hospitality we offer.
"We have many strings to our bow, we have outdoor space both front and back, a live music venue, a sports venue. We' e a community space and we have something for everybody."
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The Albert offers everything from craft beers and cask ales to spirits and "a great pint of Guinness." With a great team, loyal customers and the history behind The Albert, Mick said he believes the "iconic pub" will continued as "an epicentre" of the community for decades to come.
Mick said: "Being a licensee, being a manager of a pub, is difficult and you need to win your crowd and that doesn't happen over night. Coming in four years ago, the manager I was then to the manager I am now is different and that's a testimony to the customers because they've allowed me to become part of their pub.
"I've also listened to them and worked with them to give them what they want, whether it be music, whether it be sport facilities, whether it be the right product. All in all, it’s a great pub to be at the helm of.
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"I've been in the industry a long time and I've ran pubs all over the country and I've worked all over the world in hospitality - and I've never known a culture within the hospitality and pub world like Lark Lane, like this pub. I have customers who are here seven days a week and that's no exaggeration. That's not trying to say they drink to access seven days a week, they see this as a hub, as part of their life.
"I don't think it's going anywhere. It's very much cemented within the community, not just Lark Lane and L17, but certainly part of Liverpool, Merseyside, as an iconic pub."
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