Bob Thurlow had been fascinated by pubs from an early age, recognising their importance to our heritage even before he was old enough to drink in them! Then In the early 1960s, as a student of Hispanic Studies at Liverpool University, he frequented the now demolished Lorne on Brownlow Hill, where he was elected as Chair of the Snug Society and was obviously enjoying the beer by then! Later in the decade, in Ye Hole in Ye Wall, he started an organisation called the Days of Shame, which refers to the six ‘expeditions’ (aka pub crawls!) members made each year, in many parts of Liverpool and surrounding towns and cities!
Besides these fun times, Bob’s interest in photography and local history was enhanced by his visits to public houses where in quieter moments he would take photos and make notes. He became a member of the Victorian Society as he was increasingly fascinated by the splendour of Victorian architecture and the wonderful features to be found in many pubs. But he was also increasingly aware of the threat to them by the ’sledgehammer of the property developer’.
So, Bob’s credentials as a passionate supporter of both beer and pubs, and their preservation, were well established when he attended the meeting at the Globe in Cases Street on 18th January 1974, at which Merseyside Branch of CAMRA was formed – and was elected as its Chair. Bob knew there was a real battle to be had in those dark days against the Big Six breweries intent on flooding the market with keg beers, and he was instrumental in quickly mobilising an active committee and branch of local members to fight the cause of real ale. Within months, the Mersey Drinker newsletter (forerunner of MerseyAle) had been launched and in September the first ‘Liverpool Real Ale Beer Exhibition’ took place at the Everyman Theatre – a remarkable achievement in just eight months!
For many years subsequently, for family and work reasons, Bob took a back seat from CAMRA as an organisation. However, it was very apparent when he re-emerged and spoke at the Branch’s 40th birthday celebration at the Globe in January 2014 that he hadn’t lost his love of real ale and pubs. or the inspirational touch that had got CAMRA off the ground in Liverpool and surrounding areas of Merseyside all those years ago. He was invited to be the guest three months later at a branch meeting held upstairs at the Philharmonic pub where he spoke to a packed audience with all his original fervour. He urged everyone in CAMRA to do all in their power to defeat that of the ‘powers-that be’ and to stop the closure and/or conversion to other use of our precious pubs. He spoke of the history of beer and brewing, including the vital early role that women played in the latter, and highlighted the social and economic changes that have impacted on pubs and led to the plethora of closures. His salutary talk was aptly illustrated with a series of slides of LIverpool pubs over the years, many of which were no longer there. These wonderful images can now be found in Bob’s splendid book, produced in conjunction with photographer David Wrightson, ‘Inn Liverpool’. This book was originally written over 40 years ago and somehow shelved but, thank goodness, Bob and David decided to unearth their remarkable work and it was finally published in 2017. A well-attended launch was held at the Philharmonic in February 2018 and I don’t think anyone left without buying a copy!
Bob sadly died just a few weeks ago, on August 27th. He was a lovely man with a great sense of humour, and a true campaigner. We owe him a lot.
Our condolences to his lovely wife, Linda, and their family.
Jean Pownceby
