It's a Monday afternoon at Coopers Town House in Liverpool city centre but already the place is packed.
Customers are imbibing the unique atmosphere along with their drinks, while over by the karaoke machine a young woman is belting out The Climb by Miley Cyrus. And all this squeezed into a space which is not much bigger than most peoples' living rooms.
The traditional exterior of Coopers presents a stark contrast to the modern glass-fronted facade of Clayton Square shopping arcade next door. Many thousands of people a day will pass the small pub in Cases Street and probably wonder what's going on inside, because of the often raucous sounds within.
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Although the pub attracts people of all ages, Coopers is a particularly popular spot for those of more mature years, who show that age is no barrier to having fun and making plenty of noise.
Coopers has been a fixture of the city's drinking scene for many years, and owner Maria Hodges has been in charge for the last 35 of them. She and her now late husband John took over the pub in the mid-1980s, when Coopers was just one of several Liverpool watering holes they ran, until it became their sole concern.
Maria, 62, said: "We're like one big family here. It's people who create atmosphere. Someone might come in for one drink and they end up staying for hours. You could be really down, but then something will happen and you'll start laughing, you just can't help it.
"Strangers will come in because they've heard about us, and then they come back next year."
Maria has put the family principle into practice - both her grown-up daughters, Tina and Kerri, work at the pub and take part in the karaoke, as do other members of staff and of course a steady stream of customers. The pub's Facebook page is filled with live videos of punters taking to the microphone to belt out their favourite tunes.
Maria said: "People just want to get up and sing. Steve Keegan, the pub and stage manager, starts it off. He's got a sense of humour and used to dress up as Tina Turner. Some of the singers even have their own following.
"There's never a dull day and no two days are ever the same."
One victim of the Covid lockdown was the pub's legendary Sunday pensioners' parties, which sometimes became so boisterous they would spill out into the street outside. A video taken in 2017 - which showed a group of ladies singing and dancing to the classic Y Viva España with an array of props, including tambourines, funky glasses and a purple guitar - even went viral.
Do you have a favourite pub that you would like to see featured in the ECHO? If so, please drop a message to alan.weston@reachplc.com
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