The Bridewell pub in L1 has been named CAMRA Pub of the Year for 2023.
The pub, located at 1 Campbell Square in L1, has changed hands a few times, but was bought by Fiona and Dominic Hornsby back in 2019. The pair, who own the bar, have said they are 'so proud' to have been chosen as the Pub of the Year.
Due to their location by the docks, the pub has a variety of visitors, with locals coming in regularly and tourists wanting to check out the building all frequenting the pub. It has been a staple in the city centre for many years.
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A new pub is chosen by CAMRA each year to be named Pub of the Year, after members spend the year tasting and scoring the beer at different establishments across Liverpool. The top scorers are whittled down and then voted on by members to choose the overall winner.
Fiona said: "It's brilliant to be named Pub of the Year. There's lots of really good pubs in Liverpool, so to be told you're one of the best is just great.
"Myself and Dominic, as well as all our staff, are really proud. Especially because it's not something you enter into, it's just based on the votes of local people who have liked our drinks, and said that the beer is a good quality, it's just amazing.
"We want to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for us. The hospitality industry has had a really rough time the past few years and things like this make a huge difference."
Although Fiona and Dominic bought the pub in 2019, the building itself is much older, and has a bit of a chequered past. It was originally built in the 1840s, and first operated as a lock-up.
Fiona said: "There are some really brilliant stories in its history. There used to be a Guinness bottler up the road, and there's some great stories about people coming down here with barrels of Guinness trying to bribe the Sergeant on duty to let people out who had been brought in for the night.
"Being right by the docks, it was usually sailors who were being held here to sober up. Then, during World War II it was used to hold conscientious objectors, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood wrote Welcome to the Pleasuredome here, so it's got some really amazing stories.
"We get people in here and tell them the stories, and we're making new ones every day, it's great."
Fiona and Dominic had always worked in pubs, but decided to buy the Bridewell to be their own bosses.
Fiona said: "We've both worked in hospitality for a long time, and we'd always been managers for other people, or working for other people. We decided it was time for us to do it for ourselves.
"The timing wasn't great, because we bought the pub in June 2019 and hadn't even had it year before lockdown, but we've managed to get back on our feet."
The pair are planning on hosting a party to celebrate receiving their award.
Fiona said: "CAMRA have their own awards ceremony, because they do a few other things as well as Pub of the Year, but once that's done they'll organise with us when they're going to come and present us with the award.
"We don't know exactly when that'll be yet, but we'll definitely be organising a party to celebrate on the day."
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