?? Man who changed Liverpool's nightlife steps back after 54 years on the same street

By Dan Haygarth

Hello,

It is your usual editor back in the Liverpool Daily Post hotseat today. Thanks to Katie and Ryan for covering this week while I was away.

Today’s edition begins with sad news from Liverpool’s hospitality industry as the legendary Paddy Byrne has sold The Pen Factory on Hope Street. Paddy has spent more than half a century working on the street, having set up The Everyman Bistro with business partner Dave Scott in 1970. Conaill Corner and I look at Paddy’s unrivalled impact on Liverpool’s culture and hospitality scenes.

Staying with culture, today’s edition also brings you a long-read of mine about Oasis’ early days recording in Liverpool - and how two Bootle brothers helped them to stardom.

Elsewhere, Elliot Jessett brings you the latest on how Sefton Council plans to support people in Southport after July’s horrific stabbing.

Thanks for reading.

'Inspirational' figure sells legendary Liverpool bar after 54 years on same street

The Pen Factory on Hope Street was opened in 2014 by Everyman Bistro founder Paddy Byrne, three years after the famous and long-lasting venue closed due to the Everyman Theatre being refurbished.

Paddy and his business partner Dave Scott set up The Everyman Bistro in 1970 when they were young graduates. Founded in the basement beneath The Everyman Theatre, the bistro developed a reputation as the epicentre of the city's arts scene. Quite like the Everyman Bistro, The Pen Factory quickly became a meeting place for creatives in the city, who would often come from the nearby theatres and art colleges to have a drink or a bite to eat.

A sign can now be seen on the door of The Pen Factory, which reads: "Dear customers, we are currently closed for a refurb. Please follow our social media for re-opening date". While it appears the bar will reopen, the ECHO understands that Paddy has sold the establishment.

This week, the Arts Bar on Hope Street posted a heartfelt message to Paddy on their Facebook. It said: "Where to start with this man. Mr Hope Street. Thank you for the years of kindness, honesty, help and advice. After a total of 54 years on this street, it’s time to enjoy being a punter."

Paddy has been an inspiration for us since opening our doors as 26 year olds in 2019. His story in our city is a famous one. Paddy took the leap on when he too was 26 and worked tirelessly to give a platform for local artists to meet, share ideas and try out new projects whilst also delivering a quality hospitality experience. He turned the Everyman Bistro in to a hotbed of creative activity, hosting countless big names and personalities. Many a famous creative tale in this city will mention Paddy.

"In the hospitality world, his eye for detail is incredible, whether that be with service, decor, table layouts, menu design, the lot. Constantly looking for ways to improve, develop and fine tune his offering. He welcomed us with open arms in to The Pen Factory, as he has with everyone when we crossed the road for a Friday night pint.

"He watched from across the road as we took over our site on Hope Street. He was drawn over by the noise and colour. He made sure to look after us, support where he could and make sure our teams came together to help one another (much more them helping us). We have shared a few nights, drinking a negroni, talking of times gone by and what is to come and we know through those nights he saw in us a glimmer of what he was doing many moons ago.

"Paddy, your legacy on this iconic street will be unmatched. Thanks for all the time and support you have given us. See you soon for a negroni."

Earlier this year, I spoke to Paddy about the bistro and what made it so special. He said: He said: "I wandered around France from when I was about 17, experiencing oysters and cider in Brittany, riding around on a bike. Wandering around Europe, things stood out as being quite different from Britain. Nobody really ate out in Britain then.

"It was a very middle class pastime - people sat quite formally in pairs around linen tablecloths. It was all quite staid - there was no passion in it at all. In Europe, eating was so much more of a social activity. I can think of going through France and you would go to a local restaurant at 12pm - there would be a long table, every metre or so there would be a bottle of wine, a jug of water.

"It was a cheap, healthy lunchtime meal. The man who swept the road outside the bank would be sitting next to the manager of the bank and there would be chatter and general engagement. Food and drink were happy companions in Europe. This was something I wanted to bring to Liverpool."

In September 1970, the Everyman Bistro was born, starting with one room and expanding to three. Its philosophy was to offer that informal approach to food and drink, serving continental-style dishes in a communal environment, largely made up of long benches.

Its location, close to Liverpool's universities and art colleges, meant it became bohemian bringing students and creatives together. The fact it was open until midnight also made it the final stop for certain people searching for another drink or two after they left pubs at 11.?

You can read the full chat with Paddy here.

We helped Oasis record their demo in Liverpool - you could tell Liam would become a star

Oasis may be one of Manchester’s finest exports, but their first steps to stardom were taken in Liverpool. After meeting then-roadie Noel Gallagher while on tour with the Inspiral Carpets, Bootle band The Real People took the budding songwriter under their wing, later inviting him and Oasis to record their first ever demo at their studio near Liverpool's Northern Docks.

That demo - known as Live Demonstration - secured the band a record deal after it was handed to Creation Records’ Alan McGee, who spotted them at a gig in Glasgow in May 1993. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Real People acted as mentors to Oasis as they began to make their name. Their time working closely together took in nights out in Bootle and on Lark Lane, as Oasis recorded their debut single 'Supersonic' at Aigburth’s Motor Museum studio - in a session The Real People helped to organise.

Formed in Bootle by brothers Chris and Tony Griffiths in 1986, The Real People found success with their eponymous 1991 debut album and saw some of their singles chart in the UK. When they met Noel, Oasis were unsigned, and the Griffiths brothers wanted to start producing and writing for other artists.

Reflecting on that time, Chris, 55, this week told the ECHO: "We first met Noel on The Inspiral Carpets tour - we had just recorded our second album after success with our first. We were out touring with the Inspirals and Noel was their roadie.

"We got on like a house on fire with Noel. We all hung around in each other's dressing rooms and then at the end of the tour, Noel used to come down to ours.

"Later we went to see Oasis at their first gig in The Boardwalk, Manchester, and we saw them in rehearsal. But we tried to get them studio time from our then-publisher Sony Music.

"In around 1992 or 1993, we went to a good few management companies because we wanted to get them into a proper studio - we couldn't get them into one but we had a little eight track in our rehearsal room and studio on Porter Street near Bramley-Moore, so we took them down there."

Oasis had begun life in 1991 as The Rain. Noel, at that point not a member, went to see them play the gig at The Boardwalk mentioned by Chris. Liam Gallagher asked his brother to become the band's manager.

The older Gallagher made Liam a counter offer. He wanted to join the band with complete creative control. The story goes that he told Liam: "Let me write your songs and I'll take you to superstardom, or else you'll rot here in Manchester".

'There was a lad swaggering around everywhere - you could just see that he had something' Superstardom arrived pretty quickly. But the band was helped on their way by Chris and Tony - including the recording of the all- important demo. The Real People saw a lot of potential in Noel, but it was meeting Liam that convinced them that Oasis would go places.

"I'm sure I'd met Liam at a gig", said Chris. "I'm sure he'd come to a Real People gig and didn't have a ticket. There was some kid on a wall outside in Northampton throwing stones at the window - I went down and got him in. I'm sure it was Liam when I thought about it years later.

"But we met Liam properly at our tour in Manchester. Both me and our kid (Tony) were like 'who is that lad?'. There was a lad swaggering around everywhere - you could just see that he had something."

Whatever the 'something' Liam possessed came to the fore during the recording of the demo in north Liverpool. That was not without a push in the right direction, however.

To read the full article, click here.

Council will learn from other tragedies to provide support after Southport stabbing

After the mass stabbing in Southport, Sefton Council said it will learn from other major tragedies to provide the necessary support for people impacted by the events on July 29. The local authority is currently working with resilience teams from Manchester and London who helped create recovery plans in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell disaster.

A cabinet report published ahead of a council meeting on Thursday September 5 detailed Sefton Council's response to the mass stabbing incident on Monday July 29. Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died in the knife attack, with eight children and two adults being left in hospital with serious injuries.

Sefton Council described the horror which unfolded on St Luke’s Road in late July as 'unimaginable' and something which has brought devastation and despair to the local community and beyond. The council are now working to establish a fully rounded recovery plan to support all those affected by the incident.

The local authority stated their recovery plans would also consider the impact of the violent attack on the Southport Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre on 30 July and work has already started on creating a comprehensive community response. This work has included psychological and trauma support, the creation of a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team and facilitating practical guidance in tackling violence against women and girls, racism and Islamophobia, hate crime and anti-social behaviour.

The report added: "The Council has worked with our partner organisations to deal with the immediate aftermath of the tragic events, and our priority now is continue listening to the parents, children and young people directly impacted, and to engage with all communities and business across Southport to enable to the town to recover."

Deborah Butcher is Executive Director of Health Care & Wellbeing and has been chairing the Recovery Coordination meeting with key partners. Adult Social Care is part of the Psychological Care Coordination Group, which was established to assist with the provision of support offered to those impacted.

Ms Butcher detailed a series of services already implemented including a psychological care coordination group and said there are plans to expand services in the near future. She added: "We've been learning from other major incidents for example the Manchester Arena attack and Grenfell.

"We have been working with those resilience teams involved in those incidents so that we're learning from those teams around the types of support and the offer we need to have for our Sefton residents.

"We are also using NHS England standard guidance on responding to the stress caused by major incidents.”?

Read the full article by clicking here.

Contact us

Is there something you'd like to run by us? Please contact me at [email protected]?- If you have enjoyed reading this email, why not forward it to a friend? And if your friend has passed this on to you, you can sign up for free daily updates at https://tinyurl.com/yw7beb5z