Review

It's fair to say that about 10 years ago this part of Liverpool was in its death-throes, a decaying string of disused warehouses and strictly parochial boozers. Pubs such as the Jacaranda, and their inevitable stream of visiting Japanese and American tourists, kept the life flowing through the cobbled streets. Slowly the empty warehouses became bars, clubs and trendy stores and the area began to thrive again. Nowadays a short stroll away from the main areas can still reveal the dead and derelict areas, but Wood Street, Slater Street and Fleet Street are the places to see and be seen.

The Jacaranda is a small, busy, cramped pub (and nightclub) with tiny booths, medieval chandeliers and a Wurlitzer jukebox playing endless tunes by The Beatles (and the Stone Roses!). The Jacaranda Coffee Bar opened in an old Watchmakers shop and was a popular hangout for Art Students, the main attraction being the Royal Caribbean Steel Band who played in the cellar - a rarity and a novelty in the late-1950s. The Jacaranda was founded by Allan Williams, the first manager of The Beatles and forever known as the man who gave them away.

With an exterior more like a shop or an off-licence, the Jacaranda has large, clear plate-glass windows through which to watch the tourists assemble outside. Clearly having been two discrete premises previously, each side of the Jacaranda's double front has several steps up to a doorway. Once inside, the right-hand side of the Jacaranda is filled with the bar, the stairs to the upstairs bar and toilets, and the stairs into the cellar. The proliferation of stairs in such a small area means there are balustrades everywhere.

The walls are filled with pictures of The Beatles, Cilla Black and Brian Epstein, and alongside are advertisements for seemingly every Beatles-related movie, play and revue. Amid the pictures and neon-adverts for the beer on-sale, there is the famous 1956 school picture of pupils at the Liverpool Institute, in which can bee seen both McCartneys - Paul and Mike - George Harrison, Peter Sissons and various members of Gerry and The Pacemakers, Remo Four and the Quarry Men. At the end of the bar is a wall of Autographs, which mostly appear to be Pete Best and his young, mulleted band, and various actors from Beatles-related plays.

Review by mr_psm