AS THE rest of Liverpool city centre reinvents itself, on Knight Street one place is unearthing its past and keeping hold of it.

Jul 5 2008 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

AS THE rest of Liverpool city centre reinvents itself, on Knight Street one place is unearthing its past and keeping hold of it.

The Grapes pub has been a favourite for some time, and especially since it was taken over by husband and wife team Anna Slater and Paul Agoro, in February, 2003.

Anna, originally from Herne Hill, sarf London, and Liverpool lad Paul, decided to take the plunge and move into the pub business after returning from a stint as teachers of English in the Chilean city of Iquique.

And, as keen amateur historians, they soon discovered the rich heritage of the place. Built in 1785, it is one of the oldest buildings in this dream-like, laid back part of the city. The excellent Ye Cracke and Pilgrim are neighbours, while Chinatown languishes just the whiff of a chop suey roll away, the Cantonese translation of Knight Street having been suitably emblazoned in Mao’s favourite Red onto the street sign. The duo have cultivated a chilled-out, bohemian aura to the pub with a clientele who like to prop up the bar perched on the comfortably-worn high stools or snuggle in the comfy corners to the front and back. This is fuelled by three well-kept real ales – Jennings Cumberland Ale, Deuchers IPA and Cains with the promise of more hand pumps to come – and Latino jazz every Sunday evening, plus the occasional spice thrown into the musical mix. For instance, the legendary Wizards of Twiddly headlined a cancer charity do at what is their favourite boozer last week.

Presiding over all is the benevolent statue of Buddha.

He reposes in the sun trap of a beer garden, a rare facility which has ensured that the Grapes has not lost any of its Puffing Billy regulars, unlike other hostelries.

“We regard our Buddha as an official shrine, and people leave all sorts of stuff in front of him,” laughs Paul.

Even its ghosts – Anna claims that there are at least eight – fit in with the ambience of laissez-faire. The most prominent is the spirit of 19th-century licensed victualler Henry Knowles, who resides in the cellar. Anna can describe him as being about 5ft 8in, stocky with very dark hair, as she has bumped into him on any number of occasions.

“He likes to give me the occasional friendly shove on the shoulder,” says Anna, who wants to hold a seance soon to bring them all out to play.

They were fearful, though, that a recent spruce-up would have rattled the spooks’ other-worldly cages, but if anything it seems to have settled them, especially since the accidental exposure by workmen of the pub’s original signs, covered for decades by layers of rotting wood and paint. After prompting from the intrepid couple, Sharon Brown, of the Museum of Liverpool, and interior design expert Mike Maddocks, Punch Taverns has been persuaded to stump up the dosh to keep the “Mellor’s Noted Wines and Spirits” in situ and preserved behind perspex. The gold-leafed The Grapes sign will also be restored and remounted.

A Unique Selling Point, or USP, is how Punch qualify this work in their shareholder-friendly modernistic way.

Anna and Paul prefer to use the old- fashioned expression, Labour of Love.

Buddha and I know which we prefer.