Paul Curtis creates artwork for opening of new beer garden at The Jawbone Tavern

Bootle’s oldest pub is set to open up a new beer garden as the weather takes a turn for the better. Added to by local celebrated artist Paul Curtis.

Since reopening again in September 2024 Bootle’s oldest pub has been a big hit with locals after being taken over by new owners who updated the local, while still keeping with its rich history.

The Jawbone Tavern on Litherland Road originally opened in 1802 and was named after the whaling fleets based at Bootle Docks. The public house has survived 2 world wars and was once owned by a Championship winning Liverpool FC footballer, Jock McNab and has served thousands of people in Bootle Village for well over 200 years now.

A spokesperson for Jawbone Tavern, Nicola Halton, said:

“The Jawbone Tavern has so much history and we wanted to share a little bit of that with our loyal customers. We’ve worked with the amazing local artist Paul Curtis on other sites over the years and love his work. Paul came up with the idea of the whaling image, as the pub’s name came from the links to the whaling vessels that sailed from Bootle Docks. Whilst whaling is now illegal in the UK, and rightly so, we felt that this would be a way of sharing the pub’s history whilst also brightening up our beer garden area which we look forward to now opening in Spring.” 

Paul Curtis is a Liverpool-based artist specialising in street art and large murals.  Since 2017, Paul has created more than 250 public pieces, across the UK, with most of his work found around Merseyside and Wirral.  His work is well-known and sells all over the world.

The General Manager of the Jawbone Tavern,  Dave Mcnally, added:

“We would like to thank Paul for his great work and think this has added to this local institution which is the Jawbone Tavern. We really are a social hub for the community.”

Find out more about the Jawbone Tavern here.

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