Man set up his own pub so he had one he could walk to

Graham Hardcastle took a leap of faith when he decided to open a pub.

The Wirral Council worker, 51, had always had an interest in beer. Intrigued by micropubs serving craft ales in Liverpool and other parts of the country, he thought Bromborough needed one of its own.

That hope was answered by The Bow-Legged Beagle, which set up shop in Bromborough Village in 2020. However, Graham, who was born in Dublin and grew up in Wallasey, wanted such an establishment closer to his Bromborough home.

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So he decided to act and set up HOP - a micropub found on Allport Road - in September 2022.

Graham told the ECHO: "I thought this part of Bromborough needed it. I live in this part of Bromborough and I had an appetite to open one up.

"That comes from the fact that my wife and I go to York and Sheffield each year - I went to university in Sheffield. We noticed these sorts of places becoming more popular in Sheffield in York and then a few opened in Liverpool.

"During covid, the Bow-Legged Beagle opened in Bromborough Village. They opened before us, I started drinking there but it was a bit too long a walk from me.

"My friend owns this building. It was a bakery before us. When it became available, we had a chat and agreed to go ahead."

He added: "We opened last September and we've been busy ever since."

Running HOP has been a steep learning curve for Graham, but one which he has greatly enjoyed. He balances the job with his employment with the council and has enjoyed fine tuning the pub while working on where to take the business next.

He said: "I didn't have the foggiest clue what I was doing