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Local Maryport · West Cumbria

Maryport's old Navy Club on South Quay is being brought back as a bar and restaurant Maryport Navy Club set for bar and restaurant revival on South Quay

By Kris WM, editor 3 min read From timesandstar.co.uk
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Maryport Navy Club set for bar and restaurant revival on South Quay
Photo: The Carlisle Kid via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Two Maryport lads are bringing the old Navy Club on South Quay back as a restaurant and bar, with rooms upstairs, aiming for summer 2027. It used to be the Ship Inn and has been shut since 2019.

If you miss the old Navy Club on South Quay, or you've been watching Maryport come back to life, this one's for you.

Darren Martin, 46, and Paul McGee, 55, are taking on the Grade II-listed Navy Club. It was the Ship Inn until the 1970s, it's been on the maps since the 1800s, and it's been shut and going downhill since 2019.

Plan is a restaurant and bar in the main building, rooms upstairs, and the newer function room brought back into use without big structural work. They're aiming to have the restaurant and kitchen ready for summer 2027, in time for the busy season and Taste of the Sea. It's not a lick of paint — rewiring and a safe roof are big jobs — so they're after grants and have put in for planning on the listed-building work.

McGee's line: "I wouldn't have gone into this if I didn't think it was going to work." Also: "Maryport supports Maryport," and "Maryport's on the up." Martin says: "We've got 100 per cent support from the town," and "I've always fancied doing it but I couldn't do it on my own."

They're banking on the Carlton, the new Maritime Museum and Shiver Me Timbers helping footfall. The council reckoned March 2025 was 35 per cent busier than March 2024 off the back of regeneration.

What can you do? Keep an eye on Cumberland's planning register for the works, and chip in or follow along locally if you want to help get it open.

Two Maryport businessmen are redeveloping the Grade II-listed former Navy Club on South Quay as a restaurant and bar with upstairs accommodation, aiming to open the restaurant and kitchen by summer 2027. The building, once the Ship Inn, has been closed since 2019.

This is for people in Maryport who remember the Navy Club on South Quay, anyone following the town's harbour regeneration, and visitors looking for somewhere to eat by the water.

Darren Martin, 46, and Paul McGee, 55, are redeveloping Maryport Navy Club, a harbourfront building that has overlooked South Quay for more than 150 years. Known as the Ship Inn until the 1970s and shown on Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, it has been closed since 2019 and fallen into disrepair.

The pair plan to turn the main Grade II-listed building into a restaurant and bar with accommodation upstairs, and to use the more recently built function room, which does not need structural changes. They hope to finish the restaurant and kitchen by summer 2027 to catch Maryport's peak tourist season and events such as Taste of the Sea. Significant work is needed on rewiring and making the roof safe, and they are seeking grant funding and have requested planning approval for essential refurbishments.

Mr McGee said: "I wouldn't have gone into this if I didn't think it was going to work." He added: "Maryport supports Maryport," and "Maryport's on the up." Mr Martin said: "We've got 100 per cent support from the town," and "I've always fancied doing it but I couldn't do it on my own."

They point to Maryport's wider regeneration, including the Carlton cultural hub, the new Maritime Museum in the former Christ Church, and Shiver Me Timbers pirate park. Cumberland Council recorded a 35 per cent rise in footfall in March 2025 compared with March 2024, which it linked to regeneration.

What you can do: watch Cumberland Council's planning register for the listed-building works, and follow local updates if you want to support or work on the project as it progresses.