Southport Tavern pub celebrates 1st birthday after year of positive changes with more to come

SOUTHPORT Tavern in Southport Town Centre is celebrating its 1st birthday after a transformational year which has seen the popular venue undergoing some extensive changes. General Manager Steve Richards has carried out a series of improvements, creating a vibrant community pub with a non-stop series of events to entertain people of all ages. Southport Tavern is a freehouse, granting Steve the freedom to offer the very best products and deals to his customers rather than being tied into a big PubCo. He has brought back draught real ales to the pub, working with Southport Brewery to offer their most popular ales. The pub faces the side entrance to Southport Train Station. Steve has recently installed screens featuring all the train times, between:- Southport to Liverpool and Southport to Manchester, allowing rail passengers to wait in the warmth with a drink in their hand rather than standing on a cold station platform. The pub has been repainted with beautiful pictures of Southport from years gone by replacing some of the sporting themed pictures on the walls. New products have been brought in, such as Prosecco, with a greater choice of gins and wines.

Steve previously built up a top quality reputation as the landlord at The Spitfire pub in Ainsdale and has loved every minute of his new challenge in Southport Town Centre. He said:- "We are really pleased to be celebrating our 1st birthday! It has been a very busy year. We have made so many positive changes to this place. I would like to invite anyone who's not been for a while to come in and see the difference. Southport Tavern is a very safe community pub these days. It is very different to how it was when it was known as The Albert. We work very closely with Southport PubWatch, linking with other pubs in the town to ensure a safe and pleasant experience for our customers. PubWatch is helping us to build a reputation for being a safe and reputable venue where families know they can come in and enjoy spending time in a good quality environment. If someone is banned from one PubWatch venue, they are banned from them all, which is a great policy to have. It keeps all our pubs safe from trouble. We haven't stopped making changes. We are aiming to open our kitchen in a few weeks' time, and are looking forward to offering food. We will reveal more about that in due course. In the new year we're looking to refurbish the courtyard area, to give us an outdoor seating area. The pub looks very different to how it did a year ago. We have just finished painting the exterior, which has a nice cream colour now, replacing the old green. We have so many events for people to enjoy. Our bingo events and our quizzes are extremely popular, both get a real following. The feedback we have had from people has been brilliant. We have been getting some fantastic reviews through TripAdvisor which has been lovely to see. It shows we are doing something right. We are now serving real ales, rotating beers from Southport Brewery. It's an excellent local brewery, and we are always keen to support and work with other local businesses where we can. Real ale on draught wasn't something that was sold in here before we came in. We have 9 big screens on the walls throughout the venue. We use them to screen the latest train times, so people never need to miss a train again! We can also use them to promote all the events we have coming up. We screen live sport, including:- live Premier League football, EFL football and more. We can screen different matches on different screens if customers ask us to. We have karaoke every Friday and Sunday evening. We host bingo on Wednesdays and Sundays from:- 5pm onwards. We get lots of people coming in; tables get very booked up particularly on Sundays. Southport Tavern is becoming very popular for functions and events. We have welcomed a lot of birthday pirates, Christenings, and others. Our quiz nights take place every Wednesday from:- 8pm. We are linking up with other pubs across the North West so the cash prizes that people can win are much higher. We have live music on a regular basis on Saturday nights, we love being part of Southport's live music scene."

There are more changes to come, more for visitors to look forward to. Steve said:- "It's been tiring! But this year has also been good fun. The longer you spend in a place like this, the more special it feels. We have enjoyed taking Southport Tavern to the next level. It is night and day to what it was like 12 months ago. Now it has a lovely atmosphere; it's friendly; it's safe; it's vibrant; there's always lots going on and lots for people to enjoy. It's a proper local community pub. We'd love to see people come in and enjoy a visit and see what they think. You won't be disappointed.

This ISN'T a:- 'Love Train' Northern reveals reason dating apps are blocked by on board WiFi

NORTHERN has revealed that its on board WiFi blocks access to dating apps and websites, meaning customers across the North of England are unable to find their perfect partner during their journey!

Northern runs nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 Stations across the North of England. With such a big footprint within the public transport services so why are dating sites blocked by the 2nd largest train operator in the UK? Well , but the train operator says there is a good reason.

Northern's on board WiFi is delivered under the Friendly WiFi scheme, which blocks access to certain categories of content, including:- those associated with dating.

Websites and apps related to:- video streaming, gambling, alcohol, adult content, pornography and nudity are also blocked on board, as are software updates and file sharing services.

Friendly WiFi ensures Northern's on board internet service meets minimum filtering standards given the fact children could be present.

Matt Rice, chief operating officer at Northern, said:- "We welcome millions of people on board our trains every year, and access to safe and reliable internet is part and parcel of our customers' expectations. Whilst some dating websites; and users; will operate with appropriate levels of self-moderation, some might not and it's important that content not suitable for everyone to see or hear; particularly children;– isn't viewed on our trains. With some of the other banned categories; it's simply about ensuring that there is sufficient bandwidth for all our customers to use while they're on the go. This on board dating app embargo aside, we wish our single customers all the best in their search for their perfect partner."

In 2023, Northern reminded customers that:- 'NSFW content' (Not Suitable For Work) was not appropriate to view on board its trains too.

Content considered:- 'NSFW' can range in scale from inappropriate jokes and bad language to offensive topics and explicit material.

Northern has been a member of the Friendly WiFi scheme, which is delivered in partnership with the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), since 2017.

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