These pictures show inside Wirral’s landmark Hotel California – before the famous old pub is demolished.
The much-loved music venue near the Birkenhead tunnel - a favourite haunt of Cammell Laird workers when it was the Royal Castle - closed last summer, to the dismay of music fans who flocked there for its live bands and DJs.
But the spirit of the Hotel California - affectionately nicknamed the Cali and once known as Revolver - lives on.
The team has moved to a new venue called Molly’s Chambers Bar & Kitchen on Bridge Street.
Back at the Hotel California on New Chester Road, works are taking place to strip out the building ahead of a proposed demolition - and the ECHO was given a final glimpse inside.
Manager Katie Sutton said: “It’s got to be the most well-known pub on the Wirral over the past 150 years or so and in a national and worldwide sense due to the many nationalities working in the shipyard opposite.
“There’s so much history here, when you think about where it is by Cammell Laird.
“All the people coming out of the shipyard knew this place.
“You hear all the stories, and apparently the barmaids knew what everyone wanted and had it lined up ready for the workers who came in their droves from over the road.”
No firm plans are in place for the site yet, but one idea is that it could be a dual use, with a hotel above and an express supermarket or coffee chain below.
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A faded sign on the outside of the building still promises “fine ales and lagers” from the Cali’s past life as a pub, along with a board for the Whitbread Brewery.
Inside, the old Revolver stage signs - and a chalkboard showing the price of German beer - are still in place but other fixtures and fittings are slowly being removed.
The wooden bar areas are being dismantled ready for reclamation and upstairs, floorboards have been stripped from the old offices and the rooms bands once stayed in.
Dusty tiles and a winding staircase leading up to the first floor offer a glimpse of the building’s past life as one of the grand old pubs of Birkenhead.
The Royal Castle pub, as it was then, became the Hotel California in the summer of 2004.
The Cali team previously ran the Boot Hill Saloon on Argyle Street but wanted to move to bigger premises.
It gave the new venue - and now Molly’s Chambers - a ready-made crowd of loyal regulars.
Although popular with rock and alternative music fans, the Cali didn’t shy away from any genre, attracting the biggest tribute acts on the circuit.
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Katie originally called in at the Cali looking for part-time work over Christmas and 12 years later was there at the end.
She said: “From the beginning it was just something else and it was brilliant for years.
“But in the end the building was falling apart and it became a never-ending maintenance job. In the end it was too much for the staff.”
After a long search for new premises, the team settled on the former Old Colonial pub near to Wirral Transport Museum and Hamilton Square Station.
It was named Molly’s Chambers in a nod to a line in Whiskey in the Jar - a classic for Thin Lizzy and the title of a Kings of Leon song.
Katie said: “It was the perfect place to move to and it’s going really well and getting very busy at the weekends.
“It was sad to leave the Hotel California but it was the right time.”
Other iconic venues Merseyside has lost
Nation
Nation, the home of Cream and student night Medication, closed in 2015 to make way for a £40m development of Wolstenholme Square.
The Kazimier
Like Nation, the Kazimier closed on New Year’s Eve 2015 (although the Kazimier Garden continues to thrive). The team behind the venue later launched arts, music and events playground the Invisible Wind Factory.
051
The Mount Pleasant basement closed as the 051 in 2005.
Paradox
The Paradox in Aintree - known for its famous clock tower - started life in the 1920s as the Vernons Pools building and when the firm moved to new premises in 1991, it became home to the iconic nightclub. The club was shut in 2001 after complaints about violence and later demolished.
Ritzy and 5th Avenue
The Ritzy, on the Croft Retail Park, Bromborough, was the place to be for Wirral clubbers in the late 90s and early 2000s. It - together with neighbouring club 5th Avenue - closed in January 2003 after complaints from residents about violence and anti-social behaviour.
