The Good Intent, Rochester

Now demolished and replaced with housing.

Splendidly-unspoilt post-war reconstruction of an old pub serving the local estate. The whole place has a somewhat run-down but lived-in feel, like many pubs used to be, but importantly has the character and friendliness to carry it off. The main room has darts and pool, with another bar visible, apparently accessible through the garden entrance. The icing on the cake is the stillage of half a dozen barrels with beer (and one cider) served straight from the cask, together with an enthusiastic staff member who insisted on doling out tasters. The changing ales included examples from Hook Norton, Wickwar and Uphams and were in excellent condition. An unreconstructed boozer which definitely deserves a visit.

The Good Intent is a pretty ordinary looking back street pub. Once inside i went into an oblong shaped room which is bare boarded,the seating is a mix of bench type and a few tall tables and chairs,there is a pool table to the left and darts board to the right. There were 6 pumps on the bar with 3 unclipped,i had a drink of Harwich Battery Bitter which went down very well,the other beers were Skinners Betty Stoggs and Hop Bakk Summer Lightening. Decent background music was playing on my late Saturday afternoon visit. This is a pleasant enough pub to have a few drinks in. Pub visited 6/6/2015

An excellent Victorian alehouse in the backstreets and a GBG regular. It was previously a Trumans (and Burtons) house, now a freehouse. It was originally a corner pub with a tiled outside wall, but changes to the road layout, extension of the original building and demolition of adjacent housing have changed it to the structure it is today. It has a slightly shabby main bar with worn wooden floors and a bit of manky carpet dotted around here and there. The décor is dated, there is a pool table and dartboard, plus a tv screen and separate projector. There's a slightly smalle second bar to the side and a garden with seating. Staff are friendly, and the locals are very welcoming. It's dog friendly and provides water for our canine companions to sup. The real strength of this pub is its beer. There were 3 gravity dispensing casks behind the bar – I had Tring's Side Pocket for a Toad, a festival favourite of mine, and it was perfect. I'll definitely be back, and I highly recommend tying this pub in with a visit to the nearby Man of Kent to make a first class crawl.

This is a very simple single room, backstreet boozer that stands out by virtue of its decent beer policy which sees up to eight available on stilage behind the bar. On my recent visit there were just the three available - Jennings Cocker Hoop, Plain Ales Arty Farty (£2.80) and Theakston Double Cross IPA, with a real cider also racked up. My pint of Arty Farty was excellent and even more enjoyable given the price. The barman who served me was very polite and the staff in general seemed like a friendly and welcoming bunch, popular with their regulars. The pubs interior is a pretty basic affair, with a large open space to the left of the room taken up by a pool table, whilst the servery is situated in the rear right corner. Seating is limited to a row of banquettes and comfy chairs along the front wall, plus a few high stools along the bar counter and the odd small table near the pool table area. The decor is kept simple, with wooden flooring and walls which are wallpapered on the bottom half and artexed on the top. A dartboard is available on the right hand wall, but would require some furniture arranging to be able to play on it. A juke box was playing music at quite a loud level on my early evening mid-week visit and there was a good group of friendly locals in creating quite a nice atmosphere. I did spot a second room behind the servery, but this appeared to be no longer in use as most of the furniture seemed to have been removed. I like this sort of uncomplicated pub and thought that the staff and locals gave it the character that its appearance lacks. If the beer is always as good as the pint I had in here, then this is a must do when in Rochester and it makes an excellent double header with the nearby Man of Kent.