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in brief
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chester area news and reports
The minibus then headed for Parkgate, famous for its marshes, seafood and a promenade and sea wall which only see water a couple of times a year at spring tide. The first stop was the Red Lion, an old Peter Walker house of some character, divided into lots of small intimate rooms. The Red Lion now sells a range of four or five real ales, mostly from national brewers. The exception on this occasion was Wychwood Hobgoblin. A hundred yards or so down the front, the Ship Hotel also has a range of ales and is a keen supporter of local microbreweries. Most were in good nick. Sadly there was insufficient time to get down to the Harp at Little Neston, a superb little local about a mile south of Parkgate. The Harp is situated in an idyllic spot on the Dee marshes and is reached by a short pot-holed road. The writer visited a few weeks earlier and enjoyed excellent pints of Holt's Bitter and Titanic Iceberg along with an impromptu music session. Four other beers were on tap. The minibus then crossed into Merseyside where the next stop was the Fox & Hounds at Barnston - Wirral Branch's Pub of the Year 2008. This roadside pub was packed out and its popularity is well deserved. More Brimstage beers were the order of the day. We then headed for Hoylake where we started at the ever improving Ship with yet another pint of Brimstage Trappers Hat. It's good stuff. After a brief excursion for some to the Hoylake Lights - a Wetherspoons outlet - everyone reconvened to end the evening at the Plasterers Arms, a little backstreet local which is an absolute gem. More excellent pints of Brimstage (!) and Copper Dragon were downed as a band played us out with Irish folks songs, jigs and reels.
Up the road, the Bouverie, littered with uncomfortable sofas and pouffes, provided a surprise by having Courage Directors on. OK too. With contradictory opinions of the loud music mix provided by the in-house DJ, it was on to the estimable Telford's Warehouse. No worries about the quality and range of the ale at this place with Weetwood Cheshire Cat, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted plus brews from Hornbeam and Cottage available. The only disappointment was how few people were there to see an excellent live band called The Asbos. Hopefully fame and fortune awaits them. Who'd heard of Coldplay when they first performed here? Finally, it was on to Northgate Street where the keg-only Liverpool Arms was by-passed along with the raucous and indecently busy Red Lion. In the Pied Bull a pop quiz was in full swing and the ale on top form including the likes of Hopback Crop Circle, Millstone Grain Storm and Rudgate Well Blathered. So, a decent mix of pubs for the freshers and sophomores. Shame they probably all drink lagerade, alcopops and Cheeky Vimto.
Having already landed the "Gastropub Award for the North West", during a black tie dinner held at the London Hilton on Park Lane, they were declared 'The National Champion, Best Gastropub 2008'. This would be a considerable feat based purely around Chester, such is the local proliferation of food-based pubs, but to come top in the whole country, well, hats off. A big factor in the Plough's favour was that it has its own sizeable vegetable area with pigs, turkeys and chickens housed at the bottom of the beer garden whilst the judges commented that owners Raph Boydell and Philip Harland had taken their pub 'that extra distance', providing top class food. Good ale too as there's usually two Spitting Feathers ales featured on the bar alongside the likes of Theakstons Best.
What did people miss? Well, there were twenty odd ales plus two ciders on stillaging in a room next to the main hall and music stage. The conditioning was faultless. Bar staff had held a Sell Out Sweepstake over which ale would be first to be drunk dry. Fancied runners for this one were WC IP Ale, Six Bells Big Nev, Brimstage Trapper's Hat and Lion's Tail Blooming Blonde but the winner was 2008 Cultured Beer from the sadly now bankrupt Cains brewery! Other ales included Beartown Black Bear, Northern Hit & Run (a raspberry fruit beer), Titanic White Star and Three Tuns XXX Bitter. Having sampled a few halves, my favourite would have to have been Purple Moose Madog's Ale which proved a perfect accompaniment to some wonderfully spicy, locally made onion bhajis and veggie samosas. Roll on next time.
Reasonably enough, the new alehouse will be called The Brewery Tap, and will be selling Spitting Feathers ales plus guest ales from other microbreweries. Food will also be available with the promise of freshly prepared seasonal ingredients sourced, where possible, from local growers and suppliers. What tremendous news and what a splendid building too as Gamul House is a one-time Jacobean hall, built as a part of a townhouse where (bit of history for you) King Charles I spent the night after the battle of Rowton Moor. Latterly, by way of a come down, it had housed a pizzeria. We eagerly await it's opening.
As for the beer, first off they had Courage Directors and Spitting Feathers Honeytrap but the promise is that this will increase to four ales across the six chrome handpumps split between familiar national ales and two lesser known micros. Good luck to all with this new venture.
This can be found by
taking the turning off the A534 at the Cock o’Barton and following
the signs for Tilston. The Carden Arms is reached in about 1.5 miles.
The pub is used by locals and
golfing types alike who have played the nearby In common with nearly all rural pubs, the Carden “does” food, but this is reasonably priced, the menu is varied and comprehensive, and the quality excellent. Landlord Mark Parry makes the point strongly that this is a pub which has a restaurant attached to it. The visitor cannot fail to notice the warm welcome, and the great atmosphere of a true English village local, so although off the beaten track, it is well worth seeking out. Give it your support or else it may end up like the boarded up Fox & Hounds opposite!
The good news is that landlady Denise has now joined CAMRA and is hoping to gain Cask Marque accreditation in the near future. She's also planning to increase her beer range and, to kick things off, a mini beer festival is being held over the August Bank Holiday. The list of beers has not yet been finalised but it is hoped that there will be up to five from the SIBA list including brews from the likes of Ossett, Marble Arch, Hanby and Kelham Island.
A listed building full of character, genial hosts, friendly locals, good food and good beer. What more can you ask for? On our visit the three handpumps were offering Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Oakham JHB and Salopian Shropshire Gold. Quite a line-up and it wasn't just put on for our benefit either as all those beers regularly feature as do Copper Dragon Golden Pippin and Thornbridge Jaiphur. The pub is at the heart of the local community and despite very difficult trading conditions, hosts Gen and Gerry do a cracking job of keeping this splendid watering hole alive and kicking. It's always a joy to visit. Congratulations to all the management and staff for winning this well deserved accolade.
On the bar the locals are bucking the trend for pale ales as sales of the Everards Tiger are now far outstripping that of the Deuchars IPA. The third handpump is taken up with a changing guest ale with Sharps Own on this occasion. So next time you visit why not nip outside to enjoy your pint and what is laughing called the British Summer.
In Hooton the Hooton Arms still does three interesting rotating guests which, in this instance, were Okell's Easter Spice, Hanby Drawwell and Adnams. Atmosphere here varies dependent on the timing of your visit viz a busy carvery on Sunday lunch, a disco on Saturday, quiz night Tuesday etc.
Robinsons ales are on at the reliable White Swan on Old Chester Road while the district's two Wetherspoons (the Wheatsheaf at Overpool and Thomas Telford in Ellesmere Port) always have something unusual for the area. Finally there's been some good ale out at the Bunbury Arms in Stoak where exceptional pints of Weetwood Best and Bath Gem have recently been enjoyed.
The Grange Farm had tours to show off their rare breed Redpoll cattle and there was a fascinating tour of Trafford Mill, an old water mill that is currently undergoing restoration and hopes to be open as an attraction in the near future. In the Nags Head itself there were representatives from the local Barn Owl trust and Natural England, it was very interesting to learn a lot more about the local area and about rural Cheshire in general. Don't fret - the article does mention real ale! Black Sheep and Landlord are the regular tipples here and the couple of pints of Landlord we had were top notch. It was a great afternoon and nice to see the pub so closely involved in the local activites. Well done to everyone involved in organising and running the events.
The Morris Dancer, with campers, caravaners and fairground rides at the rear, was the centre of most activity and happily this pub appears to be definitely on the up after recent tribulations (see Kelsall Duo below). You could buy Weetwood Bitter, Old Dog and Cheshire Cat just about everywhere here from the main bar and the restaurant to even a little outside booth. The only annoyance was one evidently drunken chap singing sea shanties or something to himself until a band of proper musicians mercifully drowned him out with some toe-tapping beats.
Finally back up the main drag again and opposite St Phillip's Church lies the Kelsall Community Centre. An Australian folk duo held a captive audience in the main hall but we settled down for the Leeds v Doncaster Division One play-off final on TV in the other bar. Smart and tidy, with rear tennis courts and a bowling green this was an impressive set-up and one not to be overlooked by locals as it always serves Weetwood beers and is under £6 for annual membership. Three Weetwood ales were served in first class condition. Definitely a contender for Branch Club of the Year!
Off the Wall, when it first opened had Cains Bitter. That soon disappeared. Will the Theakstons last? We're certainly not expecting cask to hang around at the newly opened Oddfellows on Lower Bridge Street - not to be confused with the Oddfellows Arms on Frodsham Street. In the interests of research we popped in to find one unmarked chrome handpump which the barman reckoned had Flowers IPA in it. On pulling there was a lot of hissing and spluttering before he decided it wasn't on after all. How can that last with no promotion or pump clip? Very strange venue this. Bedouin tents, Alice in Wonderland theme rooms and bored looking goldfish. Here's a review for you - Chester Chronicle. The much hyped new Cruise venue also on St John Street has no cask ale not even in the Cool Britannia bar. The vast queues of people outside will be crushingly disappointed.
Bar and restaurant, the latter a tidy piece of Beijing with red lanterns and an extremely attractive cosiness. Bar area of three basic rooms, including one for TV, an idiosyncratic rear cafe suite and a standard lounge fronting the servery. All very peaceful on a Bank Holiday afternoon until the pleasantness gets shattered by some loud walkers, discussing the hardest crisps they've ever had ad infinitum and crunching them in unison even louder. The author had to walk off himself for a tour of the black and white photos of Kelsall in an attempt to dampen the extreme irritation. Morris Dancer, Kelsall: Weetwood Cheshire Cat, Eastgate, Old Dog A one-time Good Beer Guide entry which had slumped horrendously downhill. Recently taken over. Very neat and clean pine wood bar with gentle chat and only mildly annoying kids. Snooker on the single large TV in the bar, plenty of large table seating surrounding the servery. Apparently the new landlord has got rid of the riff-raff and the place has become nice again - it certainly has the feel of somewhere you want to come back to (or stay a bit longer).
While the pub itself had Weetwood Cheshire Cat and Shepherd Neame Spitfire on handpump, the guest cask ales were on stillaging in a rear marquee complete with decking, tables, chairs and flowers. The ten or so beers, all in fine condition, included Coach House Squires Gold, Hanby Cheery Bomb, Plassey Welsh Fusilier and Woodlands Midnight Stout. Particularly pleasing to this reporter's palette were Station House Buzzin, Weetwood Oasthouse Gold, Beartown Kodiak Gold and especially Beartown Ginger Bear. Certainly not helped by disappointing weather, it was sad to overhear on the Sunday, despite the hard work and endeavour, that attendance had been disappointing although the pub did come alive when hungry competitors returned from the lunchtime Car Treasure Hunt. On this point, a gripe at CAMRA members and some of the familiar faces on the real ale circuit. More of you should be making an effort to get out to events like this and showing some support for such gallant initiative and enterprise. Little wonder country pubs are closing. Not only that you're missing out on some damn fine beer. Try harder in future. Here endeth the lesson.
Formerly known as the Ermine the pub reopened after a thoroughly commendable refurb a couple or so years ago and was selling Adnams Bitter and Broadside. Sadly an initial burst of success wasn't built on and trade gradually drifted away. As one Hoole resident comments, on the Chester@ Large message forum puts it:- "The Flookersbrook shut down last Sunday. What a waste, a fine venue in theory that's had a fortune spent on it in recent years. Well situated and handy for the station, buses and cabs, it could have been a great place for music and food but was in reality a miserable dump run badly." Maybe it will pick up again. Cheery tidings elsewhere though. The Bromfield Arms seems back up to good form after it's recent blip when there was a transitional manager. This John Barras house is in the midst of one of it's sort of beer festivals where they have a few guest ales on spread over a number of weeks. On a recent visit the O'Hanlons Yellowhammer was truly superb - almost a 5 out of 5 on the CAMRA equivalent of the Richter Scale. The Vale Gravitas, a SIBA 2007 Gold Medal winner, was also in good form. Elsewhere Theakstons is back on at the Faulkner - not the best the other day - while the Royal Oak and Oaklands (both Cask Marque pubs) generally have Banks and Greene King respectively. And then there's the Bawn Lodge which usually has Thwaites. That's all folks. Anything over six months old is entered into our archived records and not available on the website. |
The new Lloyds No 1 outlet in Chester opens on the 27th of October. It
will be called Forest House.
(11 October 2008)
The
George & Dragon on Liverpool Road is a Greene King tied-house
with Cask Marque accreditation. Lots of pump clips turned round in this big
pub of TV screens, electronic games, pool and darts. Abbot was the only
offering - very average. After checking out the curious keg-only La
Terraza wine-bar on Cheyney Road, it was on to Garden Lane to visit the
characterful two-roomed Chichester Arms (pictured) where
students played pool on one side and a few locals - one woman dancing away
to the sounds of Michael Jackson - populating the lounge. Boxing and
football photos (including rare local acknowledgment of Chester City FC)
decorated the walls while two handpumps serving Deuchars IPA and Shepherd
Neame Spitfire adorned the bar. The former scored highly. 
There
are two unsung thriving locals on Hope Farm Road in Great Sutton which have
been serving cask for years. The Sea Horse sells Draught Bass while
the Straw Hat (pictured) has John Smiths cask
plus a weekly guest with "limited availability" (this has included
Hopback Summer Lightning and Sharps Doombar). The
landlord says he will get more ales in as demand warrants and has
asked the regulars to nominate their favourites. Close by on
the A41 the Old Wirral Hundred sells cask Banks's. The Sutton Way
meanwhile is boarded up.
Down
the hill, the gastro-orientated Oak was doing a brisk trade in Sunday
roasts and had three beers on handpump plus other gravity fed ales on extra
stillaging. A diverse selection included the likes of Anglo Dutch Tabatha,
Rudgate Viking, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Burton Bridge Golden Delicious,
Oakham White Dwarf and Abbeydale Moonshine. Again the beer was in good nick
except for a very cloudy Moonshine. Bad marks to the barman who, when
dealing with one complainant, contested there was nothing wrong with it when
there self-evidently was. Fair's fair. It was changed without
hesitation. 
Farmers
Arms, Kelsall : Weetwood Old Dog
Hoole
News (5 May 2008)