We’d stopped our campervan overnight in the Little Roodee car park in Chester. Something to do with the adjacent racecourse ? It’s the best bed you’ll get in Chester for a fiver.
I’d never really taken to Chester as much as you’re supposed, a bit too posh shops for me. The walk around the walls in the twilight converted me though.
A few discoveries on the night. My son found 379 new Pokémon on the walls, we watched an open air Prosecco-sponsored screening of “Thelma & Louise” (not much use without the sound), and then saw this at the Albion.
QUIZ TIME – what has changed ?
Resisting the temptation to call in and ask for a children’s menu and Wi-Fi code, I walked the distinctly unattractive 40 minutes to outer Hoole for Chester’s new Beer Guide entry.
Looking like a Greene King open plan sports bar, I assumed the Piper‘s Guide entry is for effort. The local populace weren’t biting. A range of Doom Bar and Red Willow was being ignored while I was there, and my request for Feckless saw the pleasant barman start to pull a Thatchers. I should have let him continue. Warm beer is no advert for real ale.
Hoole is an oddity, turning into a succession of old fashioned but smart Guest Houses as you get back toward the walls. One of those, the Lodge, was the busiest bar of the night by a distance.
I’m not sure why, but clearly this is where the Hollyoaks set go on a sunny Tuesday evening. Simon Everitt will find lots of conversational gems, but the posing table and soulless interior will appeal less. Decent enough S&N range beers (NBSS 3).
With Joule’s Cross Keys oddly closed Mon-Tue, I ended up on a chance back at the award-winning Cellar. It’s a gem, with a similar feel to Bar Fringe in Manchester or the newer Leeds bars. Moor’s So’Hop was the best advert for good cask of the month so far (NBSS 4) in an atmosphere that was pubby and characterful.
My new favourite Chester pub, along with the Pied Bull, which I cruelly ignored in favour of writing my blog in the McDonalds. I’m still dreaming of the WiFi in that McDonalds.
retiredmartin 
I’ve always been disappointed by Chester pubs, whether it’s the tourism bias or property costs putting off independents, I’m not sure . A supplier of mine tells me he has more bad trade debts in Chester than anywhere else.
I was in the city a couple of months ago and, like you, discovered the Cellar, which was pretty busy on an otherwise quiet Thursday evening.
I quite like the nearby Harkers, the canal side Brunning & Price pub which isn’t as food orientated as most of their sites.
I didn’t really take to the Pied Bull and the Spitting Feathers brewery tap, which I’d been looking forward to,
was quite a letdown.
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Interesting perspective. Agree on Harkers. I went to Pied Bull after food hours and had really good beer,need to go back. Wasn’t impressed by Brewery Tap for some reason.
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