The Pied Bull is an historic Chester city centre pub that has origins as far back as 1155 and is reputed to be the oldest licenced premises in Chester. The strengths of the pub lie in the wide selection of real ales on cask (along with a couple of their own brews which I’ll get to in a bit), and the cosy traditional style of the interior. Given that it’s a city centre pub with history you can expect to bump into a variety of characters in there ranging from…

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View Larger Map The Blake is in the hilliest part of a hilly city, so new owner James Birkett may be putting his neck on the block in trying to attract a drinking crowd to this old Stones house on the edge of Ruskin Park. His track record at the New Barrack Tavern and the Sheaf View suggests otherwise. If you’ve been to either of those pubs, you know the quality to expect. The Blake is a much smaller pub than the other two, with a friendly atmosphere engendered by…

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View Larger Map The pub was surrounded by scaffolding and swathed in the sort of blue mesh fabric that responsible builders put up these days – fortunately whatever work was going on was confined to the exterior. Once inside there’s a relatively peaceful scene, but then the oddness hits you: as well as being a pub with good beer, plenty of character and a friendly atmosphere, this is a pub that relishes eccentricity. Looking around, I could see one or two items of normal furniture, but most of the stools…

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I popped into The Magnet for a quick pint shortly after it opened in November 2009 and have been a regular visitor ever since. From the outset it was quite simply streets ahead of anything else in the area in terms of range, quality and value – and this is an area already sporting a couple of very decent local real ale emporia. When it first opened, it was still very much a work in progress and the owners have continued to improve, extend and generally beautify it ever since….

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