With around 850 pubs operating in the UK and Ireland, it's fair to say you're never really far from a Wetherspoons.
Whether you're a fan of the budget pub chain or not, there's no doubt they offer some of the cheapest drinks and food choices around. In Liverpool city centre, there are six Wetherspoon pubs (or Spoons), all with their own unique history.
Wetherspoons is known for its cheap pints, lively atmosphere and lairy carpets – but the pub chain has some very unique venues too. It was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin who reportedly took the name from a geography teacher who told him he would never be successful.
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The chain is known for converting unconventional premises, such as formers cinemas and banks, into its pubs. Each pub is also given its own unique name that references the history surrounding its location.
A spokesperson for the pub chain has said: "Wetherspoon has a historian who researches the area the pub is located in, the history of the pub and famous people and events in the area. He then selects five names – together with the reason for the name – this is forwarded to Tim Martin, founder of Wetherspoon and Tim, together with a group of people, select the name. This means that most Wetherspoon pubs have individual names."
Below we have taken a look at what premises used to be in Liverpool city centre before they were a Wetherspoons and from where each place took its name.
The Captain Alexander
Opened in 2019, this Wetherspoon pub is situated in Victoria House on James Street, facing the train station. The pub is named after the Scottish-born sea captain Alexander Allan, whose family owned a large fleet of North Atlantic sailing ships and had offices that were once next door in Alexandra Buildings.
By the 1830s, the Allan Line shipping company had offices in Liverpool, Glasgow and Montreal with the Liverpool office closing in 1917. Victoria House was built in the early 1960s and was once part of Liverpool's infamous "Walkways in the sky" system.
The ground floor used to be home to the armed forces recruitment office which closed in 2012. The premises in Victoria House lay empty before opening as the Wetherspoon pub in 2019.
The Welkin
The Welkin in Whitechapel opened in 2002 and takes its name from the Old English word for sky. It commemorates Jeremiah Horrocks, who was born in Toxteth in 1618 and is one of the founding fathers of British astronomy who died at the age of just 22.
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The pub is situated on the former site of the former Philip Son & Nephew book store. George Philip, born in 1800, was a cartographer, map publisher and founder of the publishing house George Philip & Son Ltd in Liverpool.
The book shop had been in Whitechapel since 1940 but closed some time in the 1980s.
The Fall Well
Named after a once important source of water that stood on the site of the neighbouring Royal Court Theatre, The Fall Well opened in 2002. The water source also fed the fountain and garden in Queen Square owned by William Roe, a merchant who gave his name to Roe Street.
The building opened in the 1960s and was occupied by the Cunarder pub and City Pets. The Cunarder closed in the late 1990s while the iconic pet shop finally closed its doors in 2001 after having a shop in the city centre for 129 years.
The North Western
This beautifully furnished pub on Lime Street is based in the Grade II listed building that was originally the North Western Hotel and is now a Radisson. The original hotel closed in the 1930s and stood empty until 1996 when Liverpool John Moores University bought the building and transformed it into student accommodation.
The Head of Steam pub opened in 2000, however, by the mid-Noughties much of extensive bar space was closed. In 2015, the former Head of Steam pub was bought by Wetherspoons and reopened as The North Western – named after the original hotel – following a £2 million facelift.
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The Richard John Blackler
This Wetherspoon pub on Charlotte Row, Great Charlotte Street, opened in 1995. The pub is on the site of Blacklers department store which first opened in 1908.
The original store was destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz with only its steel skeleton surviving. After 10-years of rebuilding, the brand new Blacklers store opened in 1955 before closing its doors for good in 1988.
The Lime Kiln
The Lime Kiln pub on the corner of Fleet Street and Concert Square takes its name from Lime Street's original name, Lime Kiln Lane. It's built on the site of a Victorian warehouse, which in the 1890s, housed brass founders and the Monserrat Lime Juice Company Stores.
Does this story awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
From the early 1900s into the 1950s, it was occupied by a manufacturing chemists with a sizeable chemical factory next door. The area of Concert Square lay derelict until Urban Splash regenerated the area in 1993.
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