CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

MERSEYSIDE - Birkenhead, Stork Hotel

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

41 Price St, Birkenhead, CH41 6JN

(corner Adelphi St)

Tel: 0151 647 7506

Public Transport: Merseyrail: Conway Park / Hamilton Square

Listed Status: Grade II

View this pub on a local map

A very fine pub indeed and one which it is very interesting to compare with other excellent National Inventory examples on Merseyside, namely the Lion and Prince Alfred in Liverpool. All these pubs are on street corners with the public bar occupying the angle and surrounded by an L-shaped corridor. In all cases there is a rich display of Edwardian tilework as well as fine woodwork. Another similarity is that this c.1900 work was applied to older Victorian buildings as part of the great remodelling of pubs at the turn of the nineteenth century. At the Stork, where the refurbishment dates from c.1903, this work takes to form of a colourful blue and deep red ceramic front on the ground floor (note a little mosaic apron in front of the main entrance on Price Street). These hues are reflected in the internal blue tiling and rich brown of the woodwork (the tiles are by George Swift Ltd of the Swan Tile Works, Liverpool). The brewer was Threlfalls - blue in the tiles = their house colour.

In 2000, the mosaic floor in the corridor was revealed for the first time in decades and this has much enhanced the appearance of the pub. A feature of special note here is the Art Nouveau etched glass in which the patterning is far more sinuous than usual (you can see something of this in our picture) At the angle of the corridor is a drinking lobby. Between here and the side street a 'News Room' leads off the corridor (just as it does at the Lion); it retains its bell pushes and fixed seating woodwork. Large lounge (formerly sub-divided) with fixed seating on this first floor is a large former function room with elaborate cornice on first floor. Grade II listed. The public bar looks like a full-blown refit.