A lost venue that was "the place" everyone wanted to be was always "chock-a-block" with customers every week.
Located on Roby Road in Huyton, Natterjack's was a popular destination for many from the eighties through to the noughties. The sister venue of The Derby Lodge Hotel next door, it was opened by Peter and Lorraine Tyer, who also owned Logwood Mill in Whiston and the Bell Tower in Knowsley under their Holly House Hotel Group.
Often described as a "mini nightclub," it wasn't unusual to see customers queuing down the drive to get in before the cut off time and lots of taxis lined up outside at closing so clubbers could carry on the night in Liverpool city centre. From £1 drinks to themed nights, in its time, there was "nothing similar" in the area.
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In 1995, the site underwent a massive refurbishment, before closing in the 00s. But many from Huyton and beyond still have fond memories of the site today.
Pat, 64, from Kirkby, was manager of The Derby Lodge and sister venue Natterjack's, which opened in the late 1980s. Pat said she worked on site for 11 years and that people "came from everywhere" for a night at Natterjack's.
Pat told the ECHO: "It was such a popular place, you couldn't get in after 10.15pm, because it had a late bar we didn't want everyone going to all the pubs and then just coming there for the last drinks, so that was the cut off. Literally, at 10pm, it was as if a train had stopped at the gate, you would see streams of people coming up the driveway to get in.
"On a Thursday we would have a promotion night and we used to do a pound a bottle and it would absolutely be chock-a-block, it was like New Years Eve. We used to be chocker on the Thursday with the disco on and it was just heaving.
"Friday, Saturday, Sunday was always busy and Monday Tuesday Wednesday were the quieter days. But we had a quiz on on a Wednesday."
In its time, Pat said customers could buy anything from bottle beer and draft beer to alcopops that were new and popular. She said: "It was fabulous.
"The bar was massive, a horseshoe type bar. Usually at the weekend there’d be about nine staff working on that bar.
"There were no computerised tills then, everyone had to add up everything in their head. We had old fashioned tills, like what you see on Open All Hours, that type of till.
"We had a strict dress code as well, you couldn't get in in jeans, trainers or tracksuits and so everyone used to dress up to come there. "It was just amazing, people went there to enjoy themselves and meet people.
"A lot of people who met there got married. It really was a meeting place and the atmosphere was lovely." Pat said Natterjack's was "like a big community" and that customers would also ask to come on staff nights out because everybody was "so close."
At one point, the site hosted the launch of Coronation Street's Newton and Ridley beer. Actor Ken Morley, who played Reg Holdsworth, also attended.
Pat said: "We also used to have a couple of doormen on, Mick and Vic and they were known by everyone and they were cracker fellas. They were dead strict, wouldn't let anyone in if they didn't adhere to the dress code, but everyone knew that.
"They'd try and bribe them and everything and they'd say 'no no , go away and come back at the right time or dress code tomorrow.' It was just the place everyone wanted to be."
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Pat said the venue is still missed today by herself and others who worked and went there. She said: "I'm still in touch with most of the people I worked with in there. And customers, I bump into people all the time and they say 'we know you from Natterjack's.'
"A lot of people say to me I don't half miss the place. I do, I wish it was still there."
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One of the resident DJs, Colin, began working at Natterjack's in 1991 until just before the millennium. Colin, 51, told the ECHO: "You couldn’t move, you'd be queuing up to get in - it was absolutely rammed. A lot of people used to go to the other pubs up the road earlier on for a warm up drink, at the Stanley and the Crofters, but they used to meet up there and you'd get droves of people come walking up to the door.
"Within an hour or so of you being there it was packed. Customers would use the venue as a stepping stone to the next place and come closing time, you'd have a million taxis outside and they’d all go off into Liverpool afterwards and carry the night on."
Colin said at the time, there was "nothing similar" to Natterjack's in the area. Colin said: "The bar was in the middle, you’d go in through the front door to the left and they had the raised seating area or you could go right around the other side of the bar, the other side of the building, and there was more room around there.
"The DJ box was as you walked in on the righthand side and there was a little bit of a dancefloor there and right at the far end there was a raised bit where the karaoke would go There were little stalls and people would be sat at their tables, the carpet was a bit worn because it was busy, but the atmosphere in there was just fantastic.
"There were always drinks on offer in there. The music was quite up to date I used to deal with an awful lot of record companies promoting music.
"I used to get tonnes of it back then so everything we played was getting played before anybody else had it as well, so an awful lot of people would come in for that reason too. When you've got the whole room just chanting or singing along to songs - the atmosphere was just electric."
Over the years, Colin said he made many great memories and that there were a number of characters known to Natterjack's. He also remembers apologising to the late Herbert Howe who lived on Roby Road for the noise and the pair getting on very well, with Herbert later popping into Natterjack's every now and then for a drink with everyone.
Colin said: "I have a friend who I've not seen for years, Roy, he used to call himself 'dangerous Roy.' They'd have the karaoke on, it might have been on a Tuesday, and his favourite song was by Mud called Tiger Feet and he used to come in with these big tiger feet slippers dancing and singing to the song, throwing himself off the stage - we had some great times in there.
Do you have any photos of Natterjack's? Email jessica.molyneux@reachplc.com
"The doormen had been there forever and everybody knew them. Charlie was one them and if ever a fight broke out, instead of going in and grabbing anybody and throwing them out, Charlie would get in the middle and start talking to them, to the point he'd bore the leg off of them.
"People would be like 'alright Charlie we’ll stop now, leave us alone,' and he'd tell them stories about the war and everything so people would just stop. Then you had Mick and Vic, the two main doorman, they were just brilliant brilliant guys, you could have loads of fun with them.
"And another guy there, Dave, he was quite young and everyone looked at him as like the apprentice of the older ones. It was great, everybody was dead happy, everybody was friendly."
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The venue closed in the noughties, but memories of Natterjack's still live on through the people who worked there and former customers. Colin said: "People would come, have a look at it and see what it was all about.
"They knew it was going to be busy and all their mates would be there as well. You could put any kind of night on, people didn't care - it was just a great place to go and people knew they were going to have fun."
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