Life on the street that is one of the last of its kind in the city

Sitting in the shadow of the Anglican Cathedral is one of Liverpool's last surviving cobbled streets.

Pilgrim Street, originally known as Jamieson Street, in the Georgian Quarter, was renamed after The Pilgrim pirate ship which once brought its business to Liverpool's docks. The cobbled street is part of the Canning Street Conservation Area and is home to several Georgian buildings.

Former coach houses and garages on the street have since been converted into apartments, a coffee shop and Airbnbs. Planning permission was approved this week to turn 3-9 Pilgrim Street from a garage workshop into a residential building.

We took a look at how the street has changed over the decades. When John Whittle first moved into his workshop, J&A Upholstery, on Pilgrim Street in 1974 he recalls watching the stone masons working on Liverpool Cathedral.

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John, 78, said: "The area now compared to when I moved in 50 years ago, it's really come up leaps and bounds. When I first moved in it was the Toxteth riots in the 80s.

"People want to be around this area more now than ever. It's near to town and parking is just a case of buying a parking permit. It's a really nice area.

"It's amazing the things that are changing. A lot of shops are turning into cafes and coffee bars now. Rodney Street used to be all doctors, now tattoo [artists] are renting the places out."

John's workshop was once a coach house with stables on the ground floor and living quarters for the coachman above. John has spent the last six decades repairing antique furniture on Pilgrim Street, including dining chairs used by Queen Elizabeth II when visiting Liverpool Cathedral.

He said: "They come from far and wide - antique dealers. I do traditional furniture.

"I just love going to work on Monday morning. People keep saying to me 'You should retire' but no I like doing what I do.

"It's all through recommendations as well. I never advertise my work."

Pilgrim Street has become popular with film crews shooting scenes in the Georgian Quarter, with Sherlock Holmes among the productions filmed there. John added: "They use Pilgrim Street for filming to get the sound effect of the horses on the cobbles."

At the end of last year, the ECHO was invited for a look inside two new-build homes on Pilgrim Street which sold for £500,000 each. Liverpool firm EW Developments, who led the design and construction of the properties, described them as a "unique development in a historic part of Liverpool city centre."

The newly-built homes are directly adjacent to The Pilgrim pub, which opened in the 1980s after spells as an art gallery, a paint warehouse and even a chocolate factory. To enter the pub you walk through a courtyard and down a spiral staircase into the main drinking area, which is tucked away below street level.

It is owned by the same people who run The Swan on Wood Street and Ye Cracke on Rice Street. Despite its relatively short history compared to its sister venues, The Pilgrim has seen some eccentric moments. In the 1980s, then-landlady Joan Radcliffe was a big fan of Christmas.

So-much-so, she staged a second Christmas and New Year celebrations for customers during the summer, complete with Christmas dinner. With its close associations to the arts, hosting poetry and comedy evenings as well as theatre productions down the years, The Pilgrim still has a reputation for catering for "arty" types.

The pub's popularity with students comes from its proximity to LIPA and the city's universities. It has also become known for serving cheap pints and house spirits.

A little further along Pilgrim Street is COFFI - an independent coffee shop serving flavours from across Europe. Natalie Southern, 37, and Michael Davis, 38, opened COFFI back in 2021, inspired by their time living in the Romanian capital of Bucharest where they were spoilt for choice with the coffee on offer.

Converting the 18th-century coach house into a coffee shop was no mean feat. The premises had most recently been used as a garage for the owner's car who lived on Rodney Street.

Natalie told the ECHO: "We wanted somewhere interesting that looked a bit more exciting than your standard shop front. It was a bit more of a challenge because we had to do a lot of work.

"There was no staircase, no toilet, it was just completely open and empty. There's a guy who comes down the road all the time who used to look after horses in here which is really lovely."

COFFI has a steady stream of regulars coming through its doors including locals living in the Georgian Quarter and students from the surrounding universities. In the summer months, the coffee shop is full of tourists visiting the area.

Natalie said: "There's lots of hidden little sights in the area that you wouldn't necessarily know about. In the winter we still get people going 'I didn't know you were here' because we're quite hidden away.'"

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