July 2025. Smithdown. Liverpool.
I’ll confess the geography of south Liverpool confuses me, and the folk at local CAMRA who stick the pubs under ever changing geographical labels.
What I do know is that leaving the cask desert of Toxteth, and heading along studenty Smithdown Road towards Penny Lane, is a “cosmopolitan” delight.
Some delights for fans of Cains windows, though Kelly’s Dispensary has rather less cask delights to comfort students about to leave digs.
Our new entry on a street that gave us Handyman’s Supermarket recently is a quirky place.
The Black Cat Bar and Coffee Shop promises craft,
but the reality is a bit more mainstream.
Which suits me.
It’s cosy, and cheery, and cakey (?),
and the chat is of radical socialism, which is something you don’t get in Waterbeach.
Interesting seats, too.
It hardly matters, but I didn’t actually see the cask till I left, two Stonehouse pumps turned round.
But the keg house beer from over the Mersey in Birkenhead was superbly refreshing.
Honestly, you could have been in that Sunflower pub across the water in Belfast.
Right, preemptive?
retiredmartin 
I love this area of Liverpool, great bars, I like the Beeswing also even though it usually just has one keg on from the Salt brewery but I just like the atmosphere in there. Kirsty
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I think we take Salt/Ossett a bit for granted, don’t we ?
Their keg in their SALT/Bao Bun bar in Kelham Island is really good.
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