Cracke, Liverpool

Ye Cracke has a delightful collection of rooms, having expanded piecemeal into two houses over the past century. It was the Ruthin Castle and only nicknamed Ye Cracke. Note the unusual tiling outside on the frontage and old 'Marstons Ales' and 'Bass' illuminated hanging signs. The original part consisted of three rooms on the right - the small front bar, the War Office, and what is now the main bar was originally the lounge. There were changes in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The small front public bar has a servery that takes up a large portion of the space and has a plain boarded counter front and copper top possibly on the original counter.

Across a corridor that runs the length of the pub is a snug which goes under the splendid name of ‘The War Office’ (as the glass over its entrance proclaims). This snug is divided off from the rest by a timber and glass screen and is unchanged with its old fixed seating. The name arose, it is said, because room was the scene of discussions among the locals about the progress (or otherwise) of the Boer War (1899-1902). The window at the rear of the War Office marks the back of the pub before the addition of the rear extension. Two hatches to the servery in the corridor – one large and glazed, the other tiny and open. There was a corner bar in the lounge (now the main bar) which was removed in the late 1960s/early 1970s and the present large old-looking bar counter was installed then. The far left room has no old fittings. It is said John Lennon drank here when a student at the nearby Liverpool Art College.