HISTORIC PUB THAT PEOPLE HAVE VISITED FOR DECADES

The landlord of one of Merseyside's oldest - and most mysterious - pubs is looking back on 25 years behind the bar, overcoming two recessions, a devastating fire, Covid-19 and the ghostly apparition of a young Victorian girl.

Steve Brady, 50, has been a familiar face at The Magazine Hotel in New Brighton since 1998, when he started out as head barman. Taking over as landlord in 2012, the pub went on to win the Campaign for Real Ale's Pub of the Year award six times, and was featured in the Good Beer Guide under his leadership.

Steve, a dad of two, said: “I have now spent exactly half of my life at this pub. It has seen me as a young lad turn into a family man and there have been so many memories over the years. We have low ceilings with original beams and back in the day the rooms were filled with smoke and interesting characters — so much has changed since then, although we still get some interesting characters."

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"In 1998, at the time everybody was a smoker. People used to smoke at the bar as well as everywhere else, and with it being a low-ceilinged, quaint and old building you really felt it. You'd have the extractors on but it never seemed to do enough, and as a result the ceilings were painted either dark green or red to hide the nicotine stains.

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"When I started the pub was still as 'bass house', as they used to call them. We had the lagers and cider, but in terms of real ale, all we sold was draught bass. Now we sell five real ales, as well as the draught bass. We've also introduced real cider in the pubs, the more traditional flat cider which is becoming very popular.

"There's lots of people who have drank here longer than I've been here. We have some regulars who have been in since the 1960s and 70s. They put it down to the bass."

The picturesque Magazine Hotel is one of the oldest pubs in Merseyside, with premises dating back to 1759. Its unusual name is derived from its use as a place for storing ammunition during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, when the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte clashed with other European powers.

The old building has seen its share of disasters throughout its 260-year history. In 2010, a huge fire broke out after a power surge caused the pub's fuse box to explode, resulting in £200,000 worth of damage. At the time, managers Linda and Les Baxendale - who had to live in a caravan for three months while the building was repaired - blamed the mysterious event on the recent theft of a small stuffed witch which used to hang from the ceiling of the main bar.

The figurine was rumoured to be cursed, with a history of misfortune befalling any who dared to touch it.

Tales of the supernatural have swirled about the pub for years, with its most famous ghost story being that of a Liscard woman allegedly tortured and drowned during the notorious witch hunts of the 17th century. But Steve says the real ghost is that of a young Victorian girl - recently witnessed by Steve himself in the upstairs living quarters.

He said: "There's a few legends about the pub but for years I hadn't seen anything. But the common thing that was said by staff over the years is they used to see a little girl looking lost at the end of the bar. Until Covid-19 times, I hadn't seen or felt any presence, but then I'm not a big believer. But for some reason recently this image seemed to want to find me, which was a bit scary the first time."

He added: "The funny thing is, when I first came in I thought I'd do six months while I figured out what to do with the rest of my life, and 25 years later I'm still here. I had a couple of opportunities to leave, but it never seemed right. It's very rewarding work, especially when you see people from Australia, America, South America, Germany coming in and seeing the quaintness of the place, the character which many pubs lack these days.

"Unfortunately too many pubs these days have had old walls ripped out in favour of putting extra bums on seats. and it takes the soul out of them. We've tweaked things a bit, but it's still got all its individual rooms and snugs and the main character of the building has not changed.

"I'm in the middle of sorting out my lease for the next 10 years, and that will take me to 61. If they offered me a new lease after that, I think my partner would probably shoot me."

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2023-09-10T18:19:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd