The Vines owners are creating two new pubs around Hope Street

Less than a year after The Vines on Lime Street was restored to its former, the owner behind it is about to open two new pubs in Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter.

The White Hart, in a converted townhouse on Hope Street, and The Engineer which is tucked away behind it on Arrad Street, will serve their first pints this Thursday (Jan 18).

The two snug pubs have been created by The 1936 Pub Company which has a growing number across Liverpool including The Vines, The Red Lion on Slater Street and its most recent addition, The Queen of Hope Street opposite The Philharmonic Hall.

Now the group will have three unique venues within a two-minute walk in one of the city’s most beautiful and historic areas.

The biggest will be The White Hart, with its distinctive white stag artwork over the doorway, which has transformed an imposing townhouse building on Hope Street itself, just along from the Casa.

Previously The Keystone and before that a Mexican restaurant, owner Rob Gutmann has given it a Dickensian-style makeover, complete with an open fire in the main front room, stripped back wooden floors and the company’s trademark taxidermy.

The pub has made the most of the building’s original structure to turn lots of quirky nooks and crannies into individual snugs for people to explore and find their own favourite space.

One of the main stand-out features is a huge ornately carved bar frontage which was made by a team of skilled craftspeople using the back of a 19th century church pew,

There’s also a surprise waiting for customers heading to the rear, where there’s a greenhouse glass conservatory which opens out into a beer garden.

That outdoor space links The White Hart to the second new pub, The Engineer, which has been designed within a former coach house at the back.

With its own entrance on Arrad Street, running parallel behind Hope Street, The Engineer is the little hidden gem of the pair.

Four snugs have been built inside the building, one downstairs and three on a second level, using every bit of a small space to create a proper back street boozer in the old tradition.

The Engineer will focus on cask ales and stouts, handpicked whiskeys and sports, with screens in each room showing live footy games.

The two sister venues will both open together at midday this Thursday and a spokesperson for The 36 Pub Company said they were excited to add to Liverpool’s rejuvenated pub scene.

“If you walk into any of our pubs, you see 20-year-olds, 40-year-olds, and 60-year-olds, and it’s just so nice because it feels like pubs have become cool again.

“People want somewhere to go and have drinks with friends that’s not necessarily a club or bar, and somewhere that doesn’t have the pressure of dressing up.

“It’s such an honour to be a part of this resurgence in pub culture in Liverpool, and every opening feels like a new breath of life into the pub scene here.”