Mapping Memory by National Museums Liverpool

Transcript for Kingston House remembered by Tony Wailey

Tony: "Kingston House just used to be there and we all used to go and have a cup of coffee there before going and signing on. If we got any money for signing on we always used to then go to the Mona, the pub the Mona just next to James Street Station. It’s called the Liverpool Bar now after the Falklands, it used to be called The Mona (Tony plots the bar on a map). Kingston House, it was a big new building but downstairs it used to be a coffee bar and all the seamen used to get in there. In fact they used to have one guy there on the mop because if people had had a bad night they would always have the shakes and that."

Interviewer:"What do you mean?"

Tony:"Well, you know there’d be a lot of spillages if people were coming in and they’d had a drink the night before, so what I always remember was a guy on the mop, he was always mopping the floor because people would be getting a cup of coffee (imitates shaking the cup) walking back to their seat and the coffee would be going all over (laughs)."