retiredmartin

January 2026. Liverpool.

A night in Liverpool before Old Mudgie’s funeral on Friday in Widnes. He’d have been pleased with the last couple of Proper Pubs, and no doubt with the Excelsior across from my £24.99 Travelodge if I’d gone in, but I was done for the night by six.

In the morning I exchanged my worn out Rieker for the one smartish pair of black shoes I now possess, and immediately regretted it as the overnight rain seaped through the soles.

So, a rather shortened traipse around the commercial heart of Liverpool,

which is as photogenic as anywhere in the UK,

even though some folk will tell you all this new architecture is the reason they lost the World Heritage Listing.

Honestly, no one cares about your World Heritage, about as important as a pre-loved Nobel Peace Prize.

At a quarter to noon I followed some folk off the ferry to the Captain Alexander,

one of the perennial three (3) central Spoons in the Guide, though I guess the JDW stranglehold may be tested if that 1936 Pub Co keep opening new places as good as St Peters and the revitalised Vines.

My Instagram feed is full of Americans showing us what 20 bucks buys at breakfast. This is the £3.99 Spoons effort. Note the new colour plates; I could have made more compositional effort here.

And then a stroll through the Cavern Quarter. I’m sure there’s a nod to Nirvana here;

Quite how I resisted a pint of Bass in the White Star (worried about the bladder during a long funeral service) I’ll never know.

I completely forgot to buy the insoles for my increasingly sodden shoes. Let’s hope Widnes delivers.