A veteran landlord has remembered the day police 'stole a television' from his pub as part of a practical joke.
Kevin Smith, 76, has been pulling pints at The Cornmarket for over 30 years and has no plans to retire. The father of five, who grew up in Kirkdale, chatted to the ECHO about the pub's heyday era.
The Cornmarket, off Fenwick Street, was in the heart of the city's financial and shipping district. The pub, drenched in the city's maritime history, used to attract droves of office workers during the week.
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Kevin, a proud family man, remembered the pub's glory years when it was a frequented by lawyers, police officers and the occasional thirsty journalist.
He said: "Yes it was always popular with the police. There was a small group of them who would come in for a pint in the week. We used to have a bit of laugh together.
"I remember once the telly went missing and I thought it had been stolen. I then found out they had nicked it for a laugh. Fortunately it was returned a few days later.
"And the same officers also created a crime scene outside the pub one night. They put a cordon in place so nobody could come through. I said to the wife 'God it's quiet tonight' and then we went out and saw the cordon. We knew it was them having a laugh."
Kevin also remembers a large police presence in the pub on the day of a big sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court in 2008. He said: "Yes Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe came in at one point and bought the detectives a pint."
Kevin said that some people resented the pub's association with the police. He said: "Yes some people said you must be a grass and all that. But I have been proud to have the police in my pub over the years."
Kevin and his wife Barbara took over The Cornmarket in 1990, after spending a few years running The Slaughter House across the road. Kevin said that he has seen the pub trade, and the city, change before his eyes.
He said: "We used to be 'chocka' all week long and could close at the weekend. We had the lunchtime crowd, the after work crowd and then the late drinkers."
He said he had seen lawyers and bankers spend big money in the pub celebrating successful deals. He said: "Yes I have seen them buying bottles of Champagne like they were bottles of pop and all that.
"I remember one night we had a group of solicitors in the corner, at their usual table. At the end of the night, I noticed a bundle of sealed papers in a pink ribbon had been left behind. I picked them up and put them in the safe upstairs.
"At 9am in the morning a secretary called from the firm, enquiring about the bundle. I said ' did it have pink ribbon' and she said 'please say you have got them."
"Anyway by the time I got downstairs from the office she was at the front door. She must have sprinted around."
Kevin used to run an informal boxing club in the pub's cellar on a Saturday, when he trained a few of his sons and their friends. He said: "We used to have some great sessions down there, with the odd bit of claret left on the wall."
Kevin said that he used to spar until he was well into his sixties but had to 'pack it in' after his doctor reacted with horror that the Liverpool pensioner was still boxing.
The veteran landlord said he was never shy when it came to asking unruly patrons to leave. He said: "If people were out of order I would send the wife over first. And if they were rude to Barbara, it was then time for them to get out."
Kevin remembered an occasion when one customer was told to leave and then quickly re-appeared. Kevin said: "So we have two doors, one on the Moor Street side and the other on Old Ropery. So I told this fella to leave and he went out the door into Moor Street.
"A few minutes later he came back in on the Old Ropery side. I think he thought he was in a different pub. Anyway I told him 'I thought I just told you to clear off.'"
He added that the pub's location had helped keep undesirables away. He said: "So many people don't know where we are. It's a real hidden gem and I think that helped keep the wrong crowd away.
"We have always been a place for professionals to come and unwind after a busy day. "
Kevin said that The Cornmarket was a meeting place for a myriad of groups and societies. He said: "Yes we have all kinds of societies and groups that come in during the week. I think they meet up once a month or something. Retired police officers, sailors, submariners. The retired coppers can drink the most. They really can put it away."
Kevin, whose son Dwayne has helped out for the last decade, said that although the pub's glory years were now in the past, it was still a viable business. He added: "I am happy here and going nowhere."
Award winning journalist Paddy Shennan, who spent over 30 years at the ECHO, remembers the pub fondly. Paddy said: "I love The Cornmarket and loved visiting and writing about it when I was at the ECHO It's a classy and classic city centre pub - but I still find it amazing that I have to explain to some locals exactly where it is.
"Maybe that's one of its many charms - that, despite being such a grand and gargantuan pub, it's nicely tucked away. A real hidden gem. I recall featuring it in my Pubs of Distinction series in the ECHO in 2015, when I had a lovely chat with landlord Kevin about the Cornmarket's sumptuous interior.
"It's a magnificent, ornate boozer - and always makes the list when people ask me which city centre pubs they should visit. Long may it flourish."
