A lost underground social club loved by thousands was a place where workers "made friends for life".
Located in the basement of the Royal Liver Building, for years staff would head to the Royal Liver Social Club to enjoy a pint or two during dinner when it was part of working culture, or to celebrate a special occasion. Formed by the Board of Directors of the Royal Liver Friendly Society in the early 1980s, the club was originally exclusive to Royal Liver Staff, but later opened up to staff from other tenants in the building and members of the public.
Open a few days a week during lunch or after work, the Royal Liver Social Club was incredibly popular, particularly on paydays. Two entrances, one from inside the Liver Building itself and a flight of metal stairs on Water Street, would lead staff to a small bar, where they could grab a drink or have a game of pool before heading back to work, the Liverpool ECHO previously reported.
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Many friendships and relationships were formed in the club that are still going strong. It was also home to many of the Royal Liver sports clubs and the start location of an annual run up the building in aid of charity.
The social club closed in the early noughties and in 2004 became Bartells Café Bar, in memory of Carl Bartells, the designer of the original Liver Birds in 1911. But it's memory still lives on.
Tina Morris, 59, from Formby, worked for the Royal Liver Assurance in the 1980s and also worked behind the bar in the social club and helped organise events as part of the committee. She previously told the ECHO: "We all used to dress in Wallis clothes which was so, so in at the time.
"On a Friday especially we’d have a scarf thrown over it, that’s what we wore. That’s why we were called the data dollies, there were 30 of us.
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"It was the social club in the sense that it was a family and a community, people weren’t just there for the drinks. Everyone bought you a bevvy on your birthday, but you couldn't drink it because you were going back to work, so everyone bought you a bottle of Skol special and left the lid on it.
"So you ended up with about 30 bottles of Skol that you had to take back home." Tina said one of her favourite memories of the social club was the annual trip to Blackpool organised by the committee and that every year on the anniversary of the club opening, workers could order whatever drink they wanted for 30p for one day only.
Tina said: "One of the best memories I’ve ever had was on one of the girls birthday's who loved Elvis Presley. We had an Elvis Presley impersonator come into the club at lunchtime all dressed up and the whole club joined in with the singing. It was just amazing.
"When I got married, they used to have kissograms that had just started to become a thing. I was made a wedding dress out of net curtains so I looked like a bride. Then Superman comes in and said ‘no you’re not marrying him you’re marrying me’ and picked me up and ran off with me.
"He took me to the Pier Head and was running around with me and then brought me back. That was another very special day."
Tina said the club also raised money for different causes, such as Band Aid and and the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. And that many colleagues have remained friends in later years.
"I'd like to raise a glass to the people that we did lose so young. We lost people to Covid who were only sort of in their 50s. It was just so, so sad," she said.
"Even though I've been gone for years, they’re still very much my friends who I still keep in touch with. Even in lockdown we were ringing each other to see if we were ok. I have lovely friends and they’re friends for life, they’re lovely, lovely people."
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Sue Murphy, 62, from Tranmere, Wirral, started working in the Liver Building in June 1978, just three weeks before her 19th birthday. After completing 31 years, in 2009 Sue took early retirement at the age of 50.
Sue previously said the social club had numerous quiz nights and there were pub rallies held around the Liverpool City Centre pubs which started and ended in the social club. There was also an annual race up the stairs from the club to the roof in aid of Children in Need.
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Sue said: "After the Social Club closed, whenever we spoke about the good times we had to new members of staff they couldn’t believe what a great social life they’d missed out on. We count ourselves very lucky to have had the club, which saw the start of many relationships, some of which are still going strong now.
"If you’d had a bad day in work and wanted a quick drink before going home, you didn’t have to worry about having someone to go with because there was always someone in the club to sit and chat with. The club was hired out over the weekends and anyone on the Social Committee would volunteer to work the bar, me included, and even though it was hard work, with very late nights, it was fun to do."
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Catherine Morris, 57, from Crosby, worked in the Royal Liver from 1982 to 1988. She said herself and colleagues would go out after work and get changed in the staff toilets before heading down to the social club.
Catherine told the ECHO: "Everyone knew everyone. I wasn't one who went down every lunchtime, but I certainly remember it for meeting after work on a Friday and quiz nights. Everyone would come down and buy you a birthday drink and in all fairness I suppose you used to go back up a little bit fizzled but you always did your work.
"It was a mixture of we worked hard and we played hard and it was at the time when everyone did have a bit of a social life with work. It wasn’t just going into work and having a job, you had that camaraderie and I think the social played a big part of that."
Catherine said friendships made in the Royal Liver and in the social club have "lasted a lifetime." She said: "It was just where everyone come together.
"I only worked there for six years then I went to work for a well-known bank for 30 years and although I loved my time in the bank I think my long lasting friendships were made in the Royal Liver. All the girls still meet up at least two or three times a year and have a night out."
Sharon Bird, 61, from Allerton, worked in the Liver Building from 1977 to 1990. Sharon described the social club as "a typical '80s club" and said "what went on in the Liver stayed in the Liver."
She said: "Every occasion was celebrated down in the Liver - it was a big thing. Christmas Eve, birthdays, it was always chocker. Prior to that we’d be allowed to go out to a pub for a two-hour lunch - you’d never get away with it now.
"We used to finish work at 12pm on Christmas Eve and we’d go into work all dressed up with tinsel around our neck and go to other places in town. But the minute we got our social club that was it. We just loved it.
"There were loads of Christmas songs and 'Oops Upside Your Head on the floor.' We probably spent more time on the floor than we did anything else. Anything went and it was lovely because most people knew everybody."
Sharon said she can also remember a period of time when the social club hosted exercise classes for staff on their lunch break. She said: "We went to work in the Liver and it was very much about the social aspect. We were all similar ages and we really did have lots of good times. It was just amazing, it was brilliant."
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