How to get well cut in a Merseyside pub

This post needs background music. To get to Gallaghers Pub & Barbers in Birkenhead, I had to catch – cue track – the Ferry Cross the Mersey, complete with a snatch of Gerry & the Pacemakers over the Tannoy.

That’s one more of life’s ambitions ticked off. You can usually get from Liverpool to Birkenhead by train from Lime Street, but Hamilton Square station on the other side is closed for an upgrade. So instead of a five minute trip I spent half an hour on the ferry, marvelling at the glorious architecture on the water front, complete with the Liver Bird atop the Royal Liver Building.

The pub at 20 Chester Street is just a hundred yards or so from the Mersey Ferry terminal and the red-and-white striped barber’s pole outside tells you this is not your ordinary local boozer.

It was previously called the Dispensary and dates from 1828. It became one of the pubs owned by Cains Brewery in Liverpool but when Cains went into administration in 2008 the pub closed and was badly damaged by winter storms. A heavy blanket of snow broke through the roof, causing major damage to the interior of the pub.

“There was snow all over the floor when we came to inspect it,” Frank Gallagher says. With his wife Suzanne – Sue for short – he had run two hairdresser’s shops in the area but they were keen to run a pub as well. Many people would have been put off by the state of the pub, but the Gallaghers are tough and determined. As well as being a barber, Frank Gallagher served in the Irish Guards and wasn’t daunted by the state of the pub and the enormous effort needed to restore it.

“We refurbished it bit by bit, as the cash came in,” Sue Gallagher says. “We took it back to its shell.”

It’s some shell now! You walk down a long, narrow passage to reach the serving area, with wood-panelled walls and shelves decked out with an astonishing amount of memorabilia, celebrating both the army and the area’s seagoing traditions. There are military caps, hats, berets and regimental crests, along with model ships, flags and paintings.

The bar is long and imposing and offers a fine choice of both cask and keg beers. And then beyond the bar is the speciality of the house: the barber’s area. It has a red barber’s chair, a large mirror, a sink and all the paraphernalia of a hairdresser’s. Here Frank, Sue and an assistant clip, snip and shampoo at prices half of those down south.

The Gallaghers liked beer but, they admit, knew little about it when they moved into the pub. They learned by using their spare time to visit pubs and beer festivals in the North-west and Wales, filling notebooks with the names of beers they sampled and liked.

Their policy is a simple one: to help artisan breweries in the north. You will find beers from the Wirral’s Brimstage Brewery: its Trappers Hat Bitter and Rhode Island Red were on tap when I called. Other cask ales included offerings from Hawkshead in Cumbria, Ossett from Yorkshire and Purple Moose from Wales. Kozel Czech lager and Erdinger wheat beer from Germany add further choice.

The cask beer policy has paid a rich dividend. CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has named Gallaghers the Wirral pub of the year four times and it’s also won the title of the campaign’s Merseyside pub of the year twice. Local MP Frank Field dropped in on one occasion to present the CAMRA certificate.

Frank Gallagher’s military connections have helped build trade as well. The pub has been adopted by the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment and members of the army, Royal Navy and merchant navy are regular customers. The pub is packed with soldiers and sailors following the annual Remembrance Day service in Hamilton Square.

Sport is not ignored. While Liverpool over the water may have top football teams, Gallaghers plays host to supporters of local Tranmere Rovers.

Food plays a key role. The pub specialises in a range of burgers, including a veggie option, and there is also a variety of filled baguettes. The Gallaghers are keen on cheese and stage regular cheese evenings – with queues to get in -- and even a cheese quiz where participants have to know their Shichelton from their Stilton.

The pub has a beer garden and an upstairs room has been turned into a venue for live music and comedy. It has attracted top comedian Mark Steel who, the Gallaghers say, was bowled over by the pub.

But Merseyside doesn’t need a professional comedian to come up with jokes about Gallaghers. Scouse wits say it’s a pub where you can get half cut without touching a drop of alcohol. I suppose, if it took your fancy, you could have a pint of lager with a Brylcreem top.

*Print version: Publican’s Morning Advertiser, 26 March 2015