Iain Tyrer describes himself as the last surviving member of a bygone era for Aigburth Road.
The 59-year-old opened Iain's Barber Shop in 1995, after working at a now-closed women's salon next door. He said the road, which connects Aigburth with Dingle, has been "constantly evolving" over the past three decades.
Now home to a new influx of hospitality venues, including micropub The Little Taproom, Jamaican restaurant Mahoe Blue, Asian venue Sutikku and Italian street food spot Cartoccio, Iain thinks the road feels very different to its former self. He welcomes the new arrivals but thinks the road is in need of more.
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Describing Aigburth Road in 1995, Iain, originally from Speke, told the ECHO: "It was a hive of industry then. There were still a couple of hairdressers, there were no beauty shops, fewer fast food shops. The only store that sold food was the bakery.
"There were independent bike shops, a huge tile shop next door, it had a chemist, a book shop. The big tile shop was replaced by the curry house Light of Bengal, but that's been there for over 20 years.
"I think I'm the last surviving member now because all the rest have all moved on, closed down or been bought out. In my time here, the building next door has been a Tandoori takeaway, then empty for a number of years, then a chip shop that changed hands three times in four years, so it's constantly evolving."
Iain laments that independent shops have been lost all over the country, with shopping habits now so different to those of the pre-internet age. Aigburth Road is no different, but Iain is encouraged that hospitality businesses have moved in recently, filling a void the road once had.
He said: "The Taproom brought something that this area just didn’t have. Lark Lane has it, but this road didn’t.
"We had pubs, but the Taproom is great and is something new. The couple who run it are lovely. It’s testament to it that they only opened a week before the lockdown but they survived."
Just two doors down the road, inside The Little Taproom, Si Vanderbelt is preparing to open for the evening.
Serving independent craft beer and their own gin in the micropub, the Taproom has become a popular venue in its near three years on Aigburth Road. Si, 46, hopes it is now part of the fabric.
He told the ECHO: "When I sit at these windows – half my day when I'm prepping is spent waving to people. The first few times that happened, I thought 'this is the best thing ever' – just waving to your neighbours and regulars, we knew we were in the right place.
With his partner Aggy Perreau, Si opened the business in March 2020. It was forced into closure within a week as the UK went into lockdown.
"It was not the most auspicious start", said Si. However, they navigated the pandemic, able to serve takeaway draught beer in milk bottles, often enjoyed nearby in Sefton Park.
Now, almost three years on, Si believes the micropub is in a good place.
He said: "During the pandemic, there was that big idea of 'shop local, shop independent'. I think people took that to heart.
"It's one of the few good things to have come out of that whole experience and I think people really take to it. Especially Aigburth, that is a place that would really take to that idea."
Si thinks there was nobody on Aigburth Road offering what the Taproom could. He said: "The Fulwood Arms is great, it's a lovely pub, The Old Bank is as well.
"Obviously you've got a whole range of stuff on Lark Lane. But what the area really lacked was someone who was going to offer what we offered.
"It's a very chilled atmosphere, designed around just coming in and having a chat over a decent pint. The beers we were offering are only from independents, but really nice modern beer that you can't drink anywhere else around here."
People have taken to it. The bar's small space is often packed out, with regular drinkers coming from Aigburth, down the road from Dingle and others travelling from Woolton and Speke for a craft beer.
Si added: "Our customers are 95% regulars, they're all in a few times a week. We know them all and we get excited when they bring their newborns in for the first time or bring new people in.
"We absolutely love that. We just wanted to be part of this community."
Si believes that feeling has been enhanced by the growing number of independent businesses on the road.
He said: "We've got brand new neighbours Mahoe Blue, which is wonderful and I'm dead excited for them to be here. We love working here. There's a great community vibe in L17.
"We'll send people to other venues like Sutikku and they'll send people to us. Next door is the same. If we could have a few more, that would be great."
Further up the road from the Taproom, as you pass Lark Lane, Saroja Alasko and husband Christian Di Dio are serving a busy lunchtime crowd at Cartoccio. Like the Taproom, Italian Cartoccio opened during lockdown.
Explaining why she started the business, Saroja, originally from Rome, told the ECHO: "My children go to school in this area and I love it, it's a lovely area. I was looking for a place to eat lunch and I thought 'why not open one?'.
"A little while ago, it felt like many places were closed and I believed in this road. I thought it was a good time to bring some nice places on the main road.
"When I looked at the area, I thought that Lark Lane already had its appeal – it's lovely and has a lot of footfall. This is a wonderful street but it needed a bit of revival."
The influence of Lark Lane is mentioned in a lot of the ECHO's conversations with traders. Connecting Aigburth Road with Sefton Park, the lane hosts an abundance of restaurants and bars, which draw people from across the city.
Braidy Maloney, one of the owners at cake and coffee shop Catherine Braidy, believes one of Aigburth Road's biggest challenges is being so close to the popular street.
She told the ECHO: "It would be nice if more was to be done to make it look a bit nicer here. I think we suffer because of Lark Lane, everybody wants to go to Lark Lane and because it's only a stone's throw away.
"There are such good businesses along here, we've just had the Caribbean restaurant open and that's brilliant. But we're all so good at what we do here, but everybody wants to go to Lark Lane.
"I think if they can make this more attractive – I don't know what we could do either to make it a bit more welcoming. It's really difficult. Keeping people this side of the park and not at Lark Lane is the challenge."
Si sees it differently. He views the road as a separate entity to Lark Lane and can benefit from playing into that and establishing a greater number of draws.
He explained: "We're just that bit far away from Lark Lane which means that people come specifically for us – sometimes on their way there or on their way back if they've gone for dinner on the lane."
"But if we could have a few more food venues in this little pocket, that would be great. We always say, we absolutely want another little food place, a café, just to have this as a complete little stretch."
Saroja agrees, saying: "They don't necessarily have to be food related but just more independent places would be great. There has to be balance with the other companies, everyone has their place but you don't want to be overwhelmed.
"It's a good place to set up because there's a community feeling between all the businesses. Everybody knows each other, people come up for lunch from businesses down the road, there's a lot of help if you need something or you need advice, it's the old-fashioned way."
Those who spoke to the ECHO would like to see the road's offering pieced together, with incoming businesses able to complement what is already there. They think it is heading in the right direction but a couple of tweaks are required.
Braidy said: "The road is almost there. I think it needs to find a bit more of an identity. Rents are always expensive, but it feels like there are a lot of empty shops, if more could be done to bring independents in, that would be great.
"You pass a lot of places with shutters down in the day, we want as many local businesses open in the day. There's a good offering, it's about making sure it works in conjunction with one another.
"It's missing something but what that something is, I don't quite know. I'm sure we'll get there."
Iain thinks the road's current iteration would benefit from a focus on shops rather than hospitality. He said: "I think the road has lost something by not having those little independent businesses. Yes, there are plenty here but not many open during the day time so they don't bring custom here during those times.
"I feel like customers make their way here, they don't happen on us. You've got to make your window as interesting as possible to get yourself noticed now.
"Go back a few years, people would come to get their bike done and they'd be told it would take about half an hour, so they'd go and get their hair cut in that time. There's nothing here to attract people to my business. I think another problem is the road is now mainly used to get from South Liverpool to town, for commuting."
For now, Si is relishing being part of Aigburth Road's community of independents and at the forefront of its revitalisation. He makes his point as a regular passes the Taproom's front window.
"This lad walking past now, he plays for the Royal Phil. He doesn't come in that often, he's got kids, but there's always a wave because he's part of our community", he said.
After the man did indeed wave, Si added: "There you go. It's wonderful."
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