Real Ale Appreciation Group – Day out in Chester

What a find day out we had in Chester made all the better by the glorious weather.  There were 20 of us made up of Liverpool CAMRA members and U3A.  Having arrived at Chester at 12 noon we made our way to the Harkers Arms which is situated in the canal.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Peerless Oatmeal Stout on offer and decided on a pint. From here we visited the Mill Hotel which has a seating area overlooking the canal and five real ales on offer.  We then walked on to the main high street and up on to part of the Roman walls, descending 5 minutes later to our next pub the Brewery Tap.  This former banqueting hall is a real gem with stone floors and tapestries on many walls.  Good menu too and many had their lunch here.  From here we wandered over the road to the Cross Keys.  This is a lovely traditional style pub with stained glass windows, ornate mirrors and panelling.  Practically straight over the road from here is the Bear and Billet a 17th Century former town house.  From here we doubled back on ourselves and managed to find The Church which was recently converted and has ecclesiastical remnants including old pews, an organ and stained glass.  After leaving here we walked a further 5 minutes up the road to the Pied Bull which in historic times was a coaching Inn and also has its own microbrewery in the cellar.

Time was now moving on and we had to think of catching the train home but not before visiting Ye Olde Cottage Inn which has been awarded CAMRA Chester Pub of the Year 2016.  This is a wonderful old style community pub with a good selection of excellent beers.

We caught the 7pm train back to Liverpool and reminisced about how many good pubs we had managed to get to and the amount of beer we had consumed!

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