Two nearby pubs have gone in different directions, only to find themselves in the same position
The Merton Inn in Bootle
Two historic pubs just minutes apart in Bootle are standing empty, boarded up and falling into disrepair. What were once-busy community landmarks are now left as reminders of a very different Merseyside.
The Merton Inn, on the junction of Stanley Road and Merton Road, and The Mons, on Breeze Hill, have both played a significant role in the lives of generations of local people. But today, neither is serving customers. The Merton Inn has operated as a pub since the 1970s, having originally been created from two villas in the 1930s. During the Second World War, it was used as a hospital before being converted into a pub.
It later became a Wetherspoon venue before being sold in 2016, when the chain decided to part with 45 pubs across the country for what it described at the time as “commercial reasons”. Now the building is boarded up, with its future uncertain.
When The Merton pub initially changed hands, Michael James Brennan posted a photograph of the pub from the 1960s on a Facebook page called Bootle and Sefton History. The photograph is from a book published by Bootle County Borough Council.
He told the ECHO: “The Merton was originally a semi-detached Victorian villa. In the 1930’s the houses were knocked through, extended to the right and became the Merton Hotel. During the war it was converted into a clinic for American service personnel.”
A visit to the Merton Inn found tables and planters overturned in the beer garden, with plants overgrowing and litter scattered across the area. The pub is currently listed as permanently closed.
The ECHO attempted to reach the owners on several occasions, but to no avail. Sefton Council has also been attempting to make contact with those responsible for the building.
A council spokesperson told the ECHO: “We’ve tried to contact the Merton on a number of occasions with no response so far, and are working with neighbourhood policing.
“If we continue to have no response, we will look into issuing a community protection warning due to a lack of communication on the matter.”
Just 10 minutes away, The Mons tells a similar story. Sitting on the corner of Breeze Hill, the large building has been empty since it permanently closed around two years ago. Today, silver railings surround the site and its walls have become covered in graffiti. But for generations of local people, The Mons was far more than an empty building.
The pub first opened in 1966 and was named after Bootle’s Belgian twin town of Mons. It became a major local venue, complete with a carvery and function rooms, and was later operated under several different identities, including as a Wacky Warehouse and The Hilltop.
It eventually returned to its roots as a pub and became part of Mitchells & Butlers’ Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery chain.
At the time of its closure, a spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers told the ECHO: “We continuously review our estate to ensure that we’re always obtaining the best returns from each of our assets, and driving innovation across our brands, to enable us to continue to deliver shareholder value. Following an approach, we have taken the decision to sell Mons Bootle.”
Since then, rumours have been rife about its future, including whispers about a McDonald’s and Greggs takeover, both of which have been denied by the fast-food giants. The latest update from the UK restaurant operations group is that it is currently “in negotiations with developers over the site’s future”.
For those who remember The Mons in its heyday, its significance cannot be measured simply by what eventually replaces it. Annee Woods, 70, from Bootle and now living in Melling, met her husband Jerry at The Mons.
She first went there as a teenager and remembers being struck by the scale and glamour of the venue. She said: “We started going to The Mons when we were just kids. I was about 14 the first time I went. It was amazing inside; so glamorous, and you were inside this massive hall. It just blew us away. It became a regular spot for us.
“We always got a lemonade each and danced the night away. No matter the day, The Mons was always open for you – there was always a dinner dance happening. Even on Christmas, we’d go there.”
The pub became a meeting place for her friendship group and, eventually, the place where she met Jerry. The couple have since celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. For Jackie Cole, 63, The Mons brings back very different memories.
Her mum, Stella, worked there as a cleaner, meaning Jackie saw the pub before it filled with customers and after the crowds had gone home.
“While my mum was cleaning, we would go around all the seats and collect the pennies that had fallen out of pockets from where people would be sitting. We used to come out with loads, thinking we were rich,” she said.
Jackie remembers watching the building change from an empty workplace she knew as a child into the busy pub she later visited herself. She added: “To see it empty when you were a kid, to the next minute, grown up, standing surrounded by everyone, it was quite weird.
“Very different. You just think ‘Oh my god, it has all gone so quickly’. “It is in a prime spot. It feels wasted for it just to be left there like what it is now.”
Chris Leo, 60, who has lived in Australia for more than 25 years, also remembers The Mons as a significant part of his youth. Growing up in Walton, he lived less than five minutes away and remembers going to the pub as a teenager, as well as its music, jukebox and football presentations.
He said: “It was once such a special place to me. As a kid, in your teenage years, it was so exciting. It was huge, and had so many parts to explore. No other pub could compare at the time.”
Today, those memories are a stark contrast to what stands on Breeze Hill.
The same is true of the Merton Inn, where a building that has served the community in different forms for decades now sits behind boards.
Two pubs, less than 10 minutes apart, have taken different paths but ended up in the same place.
