Meet Eileen Lea the legend who runs Liverpool's icon pub The Lisbon
"Anyone from Liverpool has grown up knowing The Lisbon and it hasn’t changed"
Known as one of Liverpool’s longest running bars,The Lisbon is an iconic pub in the city.
A landmark building since 1888, the bar is not only one of the city's oldest watering holes but it’s regarded as one of Liverpool’s first gay bars.
Considered a gay bar since well before the 1970s it is the cornerstone of thecity’s gay quarter.
A pub this renowned has been through many ups and downs, something landlady, Eileen Lea, from Norris Green, knows all about.
components.molecules.ReadMore:Liverpool bars and nightclubs that have stood the test of timeThe 65-year-old has been looking after the pub for over two decades and classes running it as a lifestyle rather than a job.
Eileen expected to stay just three years in her job at The Lisbon but the 'warmth' of the pub and the community kept her going.
From having her wedding in the venue, to losing close friends, Eileen told the ECHO how some of the happiest and saddest moments of her life were lived through the pub.
Speaking to the ECHO, Eileen said: "Some of my staff have been with me 19/20 years, they’re more family than staff, and there are customers that have been drinking here since the 60s...It’s just like an extended family.
components.molecules.ReadMore:Meet the landlady, 81, behind the bar of one of Liverpool's quirkiest pubs"I suppose having my wedding here was [a high], we had a wedding reception here.
"I think the highlight of the night was they played our wedding song, which was Alicia Keys If I Ain’t Got You, so she called the bride and groom to take the floor.
"I came round and said to him ‘come on they’re playing the wedding song, get up’ and he said ‘behave I’m not dancing’.
"I had to go and get one of the customers to go and do my wedding dance with me, it was a good laugh.
"Two of our staff got married and they had their reception in here as well and their wedding photographs in the Welsh dresser. We’ve had a few weddings."
Since a lot of Liverpool’s original gay bars are now gone, many customers visit The Lisbon for a feeling of nostaglia.
Eileen said: "We’ve had sad moments as well, one of our staff Jon Gorman , he’d been with us since probably the 70s, and he passed away five years ago now.
"It’s sad, people still come and his photograph is still behind the bar.
"The people who come in all say the same ‘I remember when I first came out and I come in and John was here and Jon looked after me’.
"So it goes back, there are a lot of memories for people in this place, there are couples who have been together for forty-odd years and they say ‘we did our courting in here’.
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"It’s nice and because so many of the other bars have gone, it’s a shame."
Over the years Eileen and staff at the Lisbon have actively supported Pride in Liverpool, the Vogue Ball and the Mersey Marauders gay football team.
Her work has not gone unnoticed as she made it to the final of LCR Pride Awards in ‘Ally of the Year’ category and The Lisbon was also shortlisted to LGBT+ Friendly Venues category.
Speaking about why the pub is still so popular today, Eileen said: "There are just as many straight [people] as gays coming in here, it’s because it’s a friendly atmosphere, it’s not intimidating, it’s very relaxing.
"Everybody knows The Lisbon, anyone from Liverpool has grown up knowing The Lisbon and it hasn’t changed."