New bar opens in building where 'a lot of magic has happened'

A new bar is set to open its doors this weekend in a building where "a lot of magic has happened".

Black Cat will officially open on Rose Lane in Mossley Hill on Saturday, May 18, serving a selection of craft beers and real ales. The bar is a haven for anyone who loves beer and is Black Cat's second venue in the city, joining its sister site on Smithdown Road.

Rich Midgley, Andy Scott and Chris Welsh are the faces behind the business, which they hope to take to the next level with their new venue on Rose Lane. The team noticed a gap in the market on Rose Lane when an empty unit became available. The bar was previously home to the popular bar and restaurant Pi, followed by Haul's bottleshop.

But its history stretches back even further than that as the original home of the record label Deltasonic, which started there in 2000. The record label has signed a lot of local Liverpool talent over the years, including the likes of The Coral and The Zutons.

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The area where the record label was based is now an office upstairs in the bar. Andy, 42, told the ECHO: "A lot of magic has happened in that office. The history it's got, you can sit there and think local bands have been in there, some have been signed and brought out records, from this very room we're in right now. It's magical.

"If you're into local music it's very special."

A blue plaque outside the bar reads: "Alan Wills 1961-2014 'music maverick' started Deltasonic here in 2000." Black Cat have also been given memorabilia from the record label to pay homage to the building's history, including a number of gold records from bands like the Zutons, to signal 100,000 records sold.

The bar's sister site on Smithdown Road has become a firm favourite in the city since it opened in 2017 as Craft Taproom, before later rebranding to Black Cat. Many of the draught and cask beers are made by Black Cat in collaboration with Merseyside breweries, including Big Bog, Liverpool Brewing Company, Carnival and Chapter.

The bar is set to open a pizza kitchen for those looking for a bite to eat. A quiz will also be held every Tuesday at the Rose Lane site.

Andy said: "It's a really cool place to have a bar - it's a nice part of the world. This was available and we wanted to expand for a while.

"I grew up on Allerton Road and Rich lives two minutes away from Rose Lane. We're all local and we know there's a need for somewhere else. Pi was very popular. We're filling a gap they've left behind."

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