Traditional pubs are dying out in Chester

TRADITIONAL pubs in Chester are under threat because too many venues have flooded the market in recent years, an expert has warned.

Frank Marnell, the chairman of The Chester Licensed Victuallers Association, made the claim following a number of high-profile pub closures over the past few months

This is an interesting claim for sure, maybe the market is just moving on from wanted a boozer, to wanting an establishment that offers more, take Harkers it’s rammed pretty much most nights and then take a look at some of the pubs we’ve been too more recently the Bull & Stirrup for example.

It’s interesting that when I mentioned this project to a guy at work, he remarked “ah, Chester a pub for every day of the year!”. This I thought was rather odd as we’d only counted a hundred or so pubs within a mile of the cross. A few conversations with the older generation of taxi driver (‘they’ won mastermind don’t forget) revealed that, yes there once was almost 400 pubs in Chester and pretty much a pub on every street corner and astonishingly, Boots the Chemist used to be a pub according to one taxi driver.

Of course we haven’t checked any of these ‘facts’ but it appears the pub has been on the decline in Chester for decades, but I’m sure we’ll continue to see a shake out of yet more pubs in the near future.

The Dublin Packet

Not sure what you can say about this pub, big screens, a poor beer selection and a toilet that they should have given you wellington boots before you used it. The bar staff had a much charisma as, well the bar itself.

5.3.11

3/10

Quite poor this place, no real ales and the place stank of urine, liked the traditional seating along the length of the pub but the nearer you got to the toilets the more prominent the smell got…

CP

The Commercial Hotel & Bar

This is another pub I’d looked forward to checking out, I walked through it a few days before at lunch time and it looked new, very modern and distinctive. It was packed and had a bouncer on the door. The beer was OK, Cheshire Cat was on tap so a local brew. Maybe this shouldn’t make the list as a pub as it was more of a bar full of middle aged people.

5.3.11

a confused 4/10

 

Utterly dreadful, reminded me of several Liverpool night pubs you’d pay to enter and still have a crap time (but this was lighter and cleaner inside). Didn’t finish the pint of Cheshire Cat, it was minging.

Night club/bar for the middle aged… 3/10

CP