Two more photo's of this long established pub. For a while, it was just called the 'Ferry', as in the 2003 shot. It's called the 'Egremont Ferry' again now, but I doubt if the 2011 Mersey Marathon runners have time to notice that.
Does anyone know if the Eggy was ever referred to as "The Tap Hotel"?
Only a couple of years out of date but can't read everything at once. Do you think that "Tap" could be referred to as a part of a pub rather than the pub name? We had the "Tap" in the Neptune New Brighton when I first started drinking in the sixties. It was the bar at the back which the locals drank in rather than the day trippers.
Great picture, kimpri1. Do you know the date - it looks like they're celebrating a Coronation which would make it 1902 or 1911. Anyone know when the pub was built?
Judging from the following in the Lancaster Gazette of 4th June 1831, it appears that the Egremont Hotel opened earlier that year. There's an earlier reference in January 1831 to 4 hogsheads and 24 cases of brandy being imported for the Hotel, possibly in order to stock up for the opening. The owner of the Hotel is recorded as Stanley Garner of Wallasey Hall, who had married Ann Cross of the Stanley Arms Hotel, Seacombe, in July 1829.
It would seem that there was more than one pub/hotel in Tobin Street, and I think that causes a lot of confusion.
To quote from 'Sandstone and Mortar' - "In 1859 a preaching station was set up in the Egremont Institute (formerly Egremont Hotel) in Tobin Street in Egremont by a group of Scottish businessmen. It was then known as the United Presbyterian Church."
However, the various street guides also provide us with information. In some cases, Egremont is refered to as being in either Liverpool or Birkenhead, although the details below are from the same page for any given year.
1878 Egremont Hotel and Tap, Tobin Street, Egremont. W Pickford. 1883 Egremont Hotel, Tobin St., Egremont. John Tobin. 1902 Egremont Pier Hotel, 48 Tobin St, Egremont. Daniel Charles Rose.
Once again from the directories - 1878 Ferry, Tobin St., Egremont. G Thraves. 1883 Ferry, Tobin St., Egremont. Thomas H Baker. 1902 Ferry Hotel, 12 Tobin St., Egremont. Nicholas Burnell-Jones.
Notice the dates, as both Hotels exsisted at the same time for a number of years. If the extract from Sandstones is correct, then the Egremont Hotel must have gone back to its former self by 1878. The Institute is clearly visible behind it in the c 1902 picture from earlier in this thread. And, of course, the Street Directory also gives evidence to there being a 'Tap'.
The link to the Old Wirral article on "The Egremont Institute and Assembly Rooms" describes it as having a dining room 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, which I find a little difficult to imagine, as I remember the 'Ferry when there were small rooms downstairs and acommodation upstairs. I'm also assuming that 48 Tobin St is closest to the river, as the bank on the corner is at No. 3.
The Kellys Directory for 1906 refers to the 'Ferry Pier Hotel' and the 'Ferry Hotel' just as it did in 1902, but it includes a reference to the 'Egremont Institute' (Alfred Bedwell, Sec) under the heading of Literary & Scientific Institutes. Unfortunately, no number is given for it.
As it now stands, as can be seen from the pictures, the fixtures and fittings have been sold off and the keys handed back to the PubCo. I've been told that another couple should be taking the 'Ferry over, probably in about a month's time. Here's hoping...
Institute at the rear of the Egremont Ferry, The link to the Old Wirral article on "The Egremont Institute and Assembly Rooms" describes it as having a dining room 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, which I find a little difficult to imagine, as I remember the 'Ferry when there were small rooms downstairs and acommodation upstairs. Dining room in the Institute not the Eggy Ferry.
"There are a number of good residences, and the principal inhabitants are business men of Liverpool. Egremont Institute, Tobin street, opened in 1883, consists of an assembly room, holding 400 persons, library with upwards of 1,300 volumes, reading and billiard rooms, and connected with it is a chess and draughts club, science classes, chemistry, shorthand and language classes and an amateur dramatic society." Taken from this site. Cheers http://forebears.co.uk/england/cheshire/wallasey/egremont
Hi ZC. Thanks for reposting the picture. I realised my mistake after it was too late to re-edit, thanks to a couple of phone calls, sorry about that. I remember seeing a reference to the Institute being connected to the Hotel, and the way I read it (or seemed to remember reading it) the implication was that the pub had a large dining room overlooking the river. In fact, the size was given in the newspaper clip, and not on the Old Wirral site, and with interuptions, I mixed things up before I realised it.