No. 88 The Egerton Arms (Saughall)

Visited on 15/9/11. Fate up against your will. Through the thick and thin, he will wait until you give yourself to him. Ah yes, the killing moon illuminated the footbridge from Saltney, over the black glass river and beyond. Through the Greyhound park, then Blacon, then nothing. We were in the middle of God knows where. Fortunately, for a pub in such a remote location, the ‘Egerton’ has managed to resist the march of gastro-isation and remains a decent boozer. It was busy when we arrived and there was a pool match on. They were playing, erm, the ‘Egerton’ (No. 28), their namesake pub from Brook Street. Spooky or what ? What are the chances of that ? Two pubs with the same name playing each other at pool – on the very night we decide to visit ? Fate up against your will. Anyhow, we enjoyed a really nice pint of Brain’s SA in here and could easily have necked another following what was after all, a massive 10 minute long bike ride ! However, you all know the score by now. We had to move on...

No. 87 The Saltney Ferry

Visited on 15/9/11. Last time we were in Saltney this place was closed, so when we heard it had opened up again, we just couldn’t wait to get back there. No really. We’d even heard they’d started doing real ale, so were shocked, mystified, perplexed and nonplussed to discover this wasn’t the case. Four handpumps were present on the newly refurbished bar, but all of them had their pump-clips turned around. Brownkeg it was then – and it was hideous. Of the handful of people in there, it was impossible to tell who were staff and who were customers. All were gawping at the telly and none of them said a word. The carpet was curiously spongy. Er, that was it. Not even a whiff of menace to liven the place up. 

No. 86 The Pied Bull

Visited on 1/9/11. Until relatively recently, this historic coaching inn was looking tired and in need of ideas. Fortunately though, the current proprietors have somehow managed to loosen the shackles of the pubco and are now operating the place in a more independent fashion. Key to their strategy is to focus on real ale with the emphasis very much on local microbreweries including their own, which is situated in the cellar. Anything up to six ales are on offer at any one time, although on this occasion none of the homebrews were represented. It was busy though – and there wasn’t a single lager drinker in sight. Excellent stuff. Slightly less excellent was the fact that there wasn’t a single woman in sight either, largely due to the massive nerdfest that is their evidently popular Thursday night music quiz – male bonding for charts anoraks – a sort of ‘fight club’ without the violence [what the hell are you going on about ? Ed.] No matter. Hopefully, the homebrew production capacity can be ramped up to the point where it’s permanently available in the pub – I’ve been here three times now and it’s never been on. Further work needs doing on the décor also, but everything is heading in the right direction. This is a boozer re-born – and maybe a model others can follow. Another beer festival is scheduled to take place here in October and we’ll deffo be back for that – if not before.

No. 85 The Red Lion (Northgate Street)

Visited on 1/9/11. Not all pubcos are malevolent asset-strippers, hell-bent on destroying our heritage by twatifying decent establishments, strangling investment and restricting trade in others that don’t fit their bizarre economic model, then selling the run-down properties off for housing or other retail use. Not a bit of it. Nicholson’s (they’re from darn sarf) actually believe the route to success lies in providing quality ales in a civilised environment – a mad idea that might just catch on. And if the ‘Scruffy Murphy’ years of the 1990s represent this place’s nadir, it could well have reached it’s zenith under the present regime. It’s certainly a very smart pub now, providing good food (supposedly) and a fine range of ales. Currently they’re showcasing IPAs from around the country – 26 in total, but with just 5 or 6 on at any one time. Great idea this, but session beer it ain’t ! A 'half' was therefore in order for the magnificent Moor Pacific IPA – 6.0% abv, hopped to hell and beyond, yet blusteringly quaffulescent. Other ales we sampled included the less impressive (Tony) Hadley’s IPA – another sixsh percenter brewed by the ex Spandau Ballet croonist at his Red Rat brewery in Suffolk – I guess some of you might already have known that much was true to be honest. We also tried the quite frankly unpleasant Mahseer IPA from Green Jack – a vile, cloying creation that I hope we don’t encounter again. The staff here were really pleasant and well informed and it would have been nice to sample a couple more of these ‘challenging’ ales, but in the interests of avoiding brain damage, we decided to move on...

Interlude

Adjacent to the Liverpool Arms is a 1970s edifice called Centurion house which stands on the site of the old Northgate brewery. The Northgate was Chester’s biggest and most successful brewery. It was built in the mid 19^th century and survived until the late 1960s, although by then it was being run by Warrington based brewer Greenall Whitley. When it was demolished, the mosaic from the foyer of the main offices was rescued and re-assembled as part of the terrace behind the office block. If you want to see it, head to the Liverpool Arms then try and find your way up the back passage.

(More on the Northgate Brewery can be found here at the excellent chesterwalls.info website)

No. 84 The Liverpool Arms

Visited on 1/9/11. You want some action hombre ? Well you’ve come to the right place. The Liverpool Arms or ‘LA’ as it’s now known, is Chester’s oldest gay bar and in many ways it’s most unlikely. Outwardly it just looks like a classic street corner Victorian boozer and even when you enter [snitter, snitter] it doesn’t look that different to a regular pub. Then you notice the little chandeliers around the bar - and the prominently displayed portrait of the Queen - and, erm other stuff. Rather surprisingly, following our experience at Chester’s other main gay venue, Bar 69 (No. 35), real ale is served - Bombardier to be precise - and it wasn’t a bad pint either. Well pulled, full bodied and with a creamy head – just how the locals like it, according to the barmaid. As we were about to leave, we were surprised for a second time, as a really fit bird walked in. She headed straight for the stage, looking as if she might have been the act for the night (it was still early). She was very attractive and beautifully dressed, but unfortunately we didn't have time to hang around and see her perform. She did have really big feet though...

No. 83 The Bull & Stirrup

Visited on 1/9/11. The intricate brickwork of this late 19^th century commercial hotel makes it one of the most attractive buildings in Chester. The interior is more minimalist now than it would have been in the heyday of the Arthur Parker type travelling salesman, but the décor and furnishings are actually quite tasteful. More than can be said for the ale then unfortunately, as this establishment which earned some notoriety for a brief period a few years ago as Chester’s first ‘lap dancing’ bar, remains ‘keg only’. “We’re well known for the quality of our Guinness”, commented the landlord, as if that in some way compensated for the absence of real ale. I tried it anyway. It tasted like Guinness. The commonly held belief that some pubs serve Guinness which is in some way superior to the norm is a myth. Guinness tastes exactly as it does when it comes out of the factory unless you do something bad or negligent to it. It can only taste worse – it’s impossible to improve it. That’s simply the nature of filtered, pasteurised, commodity beer product. I’d have to say this would be a decent boozer with a couple of hand pumps on the bar though - reckon they might soon see the error of their ways. One to watch maybe.