Cross House Inn

I will always remember this pub fondly as the first place I bought my first pint (legally) and I am sure I am not alone in sharing this landmark with the Cross House. I guess this little story sums up the Cross House’s status as a pub for special occasions for me, but never considered as a viable option for my local.
The interior is interestingly decorated and the variety of different seating available is excellent, offering many comfortable areas to converse over a few pints. The food served there is nothing special — standard pub fare and priced accordingly — but whenever I have visited the atmosphere has always been warm and inviting, perfect for a birthday or other special occasion. That’s the thing though; although it’s a very pleasant pub, it just doesn’t have the ‘feel’ of a local. Maybe it’s something to do with the distinct lack of odd, drunken regulars (they always seem a respectable lot in there) which I see as a staple of establishments to be considered as my ‘local’ (is this normal for someone my age? Let’s not go there).
They also have a weekly quiz night, although it is probably one of the more difficult ones in Formby (only beaten by the Bay Horse) and a lovely outdoor area, perfect for a not-​so-​warm summer’s night with a few bottles of cider.

This is pub I went to on my eighteenth birthday. It wasn’t the first place I ever drank — I won’t name and shame the pub that served me when I was sixteen — but it was the first place I legally drank. It’s a nice pub too, smokefree before it became the law (strange to think there was ever a time when you might come home from a pub stinking of tobacco) and with a gastopub-​leaning menu before gastropub really existed (a pub with asparagus on the menu, even if it was a Formby specialty, was unheard of) It has the sort of unpracticed sort of charm, with mismatched furniture and low beams, that only an authentic pub really does, the sort of authentic pub-​charm that various branches of Wetherspoons and Slug & Lettuce try to emulate.
They have old speckled hen on tap occasional live music and the pub quiz is easily the best to be found in Formby. It’s a shame that we hardly seem to go anymore, I’ll have to start reliving my eighteenth birthday.

A pretty pub from the outside, which doesn’t dissapoint when you go inside. The fire is roaring and the beer is flowing. A relaxing, cosy pub with a great pub bistro menu. There are loads of different beers on draft and they have a good selection of wine. The pub is split into different rooms, which can give some privacy and a sense of being snug in what is a big pub. There is a large car park and a nice beer garden too. The pub is within staggering distance into Formby village too. Well worth a visit.