No. 57 The Brewery Arms

Visited on 9/6/11. And so to Saltney and first up, this place – surely Chester’s most prosaically named boozer - maybe ‘the Beer Arms’ is the only pub name that might surpass it. Actually, I quite like that. I wonder if there’s a ‘Beer Arms’ anywhere ? [checks Google] Nope. Welcome to ‘the Brewery Arms’ then, BRITAIN’s most prosaically named hostelry. This is a quintessential community pub – the kind that’s been closing in droves over the last 10 years or so – a building steeped in social history – a beautiful place. Ahem. Ok, it’s looking a bit ‘shot at’ these days and could probably do with a lick of paint, but it’s got that ace old pub atmosphere. There were quite a few folk in when we arrived, including a sleeping alky and some old lads playing ‘doms’. The racing results were coming through on the telly and beams of sunlight, filtered through the grimy windows were dancing off a baldy’s pate. Old school. No real ale (surprise surprise), so we drank Theakston’s Dark Smoothflow – a beverage almost completely devoid of taste, but drinkably inoffensive. After a while we were asked to have a go on the scratch card, so we each put a pound in for a couple of squares. “What’s it for mate ?”, we asked. “The doms team”, came the reply as our ‘hard earned’ was carried away in a pint glass. While we were still pondering the conundrum as to why the members of a ‘doms’ team need money for anything other than their own ale, a voice called out from the back of the pub. “Who the frig is Tarquel ?!?” Ha ha – we’d won ! They rather shrewdly managed to knobble us for another card before we left, but we were still up on the deal. Result.