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| The Victoria, Southport Promenade |
The Victoria is a large, prominent pub on the Promenade in Southport close to the Marine Way Bridge. It tends to have a mixed clientele: local residents, theatre-goers, conference delegates and visitors to the town. I have sometimes enjoyed a pint after a show in the nearby Southport Theatre or while sitting on its fine beer garden to the front on a sunny day. Inside it is a large pub with separate drinking areas, one of which to the rear has a pool table. There is also a dart board, and I noticed that the Ladies Darts Team has been particularly successful recently.
This is a Thwaites house, and the two real ales that were on when I visited were Original Bitter and Gold, a pale citrus beer. As I've had the bitter many times previously, I tried the Gold and found it pleasant and in good condition. A third handpump had an Old Rosie Cider pumpclip but this had run out at the time. I also noticed that they have an extensive gin bar as well as a good range of all the usual bar drinks.
The food menu has a wide choice of pub favourites, and I saw signs advertising Sunday lunches, chippy teas at £7.95 and a children's menu. Overall there are very positive reviews of the food on Tripadvisor.
Music is popular here with karaoke every Friday and Saturday, while every Sunday there is live music in the afternoon followed by a disco karaoke in the evening. Live sports are shown on HD television, particularly Premier League matches and golf. The pub is family-friendly, which includes your dog as long as it is kept on a lead. Perhaps a good place to relax after taking your canine friend for a walk along the Prom. This is clearly a pub with a broad range of activities to cater for different tastes.
Contact details: 01704 544121 and Facebook. Website: victoriasouthport.co.uk.
► Linda, team leader in the Willow Grove, Lord Street, Southport, was obviously very pleased to tell me that the pub has been awarded Cask Marque accreditation. This is an independently-assessed measure of beer quality, so well done to all concerned.
This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
