No. 58 The City Arms

Visited on 9/6/11. After leaving ‘the Brewery’ it was just a few strides down the road to the next venue of the night – no need even to move the velocipedes. From the outside, ‘the City’ looks like it was built in the same era as ‘the Brewery’, but on the inside it has a different feel. Rather than racing being on the telly, there was a big plasma screen TV tuned in to MTV and the clientele were all a lot younger. No ‘doms’ team here then. It’s quite a big pub and even has enough room for an indoor bicycle storage area – an odd feature which nevertheless, I’m all in favour of. There were also a few unusual artefacts scattered around the place including a signed photograph of Cassius Clay and a saddle on a plinth. Could it be that the great man had passed through this way prior to his conversion to Islam ? On a horse ? Sadly not. I’m unsure as to the significance of the saddle but the landlord had bought the picture in a job lot a few years ago and didn’t even know if it was genuine. Yet again, no real ale was available, so we drank keg Tetley’s. It tasted like, well, keg Tetley’s. Other important features of this pub include a bagatelle table, which was covered, and Chester’s most minimalist beer garden – a single table surrounded by four concrete walls. Zen and the art of drinking keg.