Bear & Billet, Chester

Located next to the Bridgegate on Chester's fine city walls, this pub once served as the gatekeeper's residence, before being converted to an inn called the Bridgegate Tavern around the early 1800's. In more recent times the pub gained a little notoriety for being the birthplace of John Lennon's grandmother before becoming popular as a biker's hangout in the 1970's, eventually falling into decline and ceasing to trade as a pub in 1999, before reopening as Benson's at the Billet in 2001. Eventually the pub was taken over by Okell's Brewery, who rightfully restored the Bear and Billet name and tidied the pub up to its present state. The exterior is, as you can see from the photos, classic Chester and this is pleasingly reflected in the interior as well, which is all dark wooden beams and fine wood panelled walls. The front room has the servery on the left hand side, a decent amount of seating and a fireplace on the right hand wall next to an attractive cabinet full of beer bottles. There are two more sections beyond this area, each with some nice mixed seating options around interesting old tables and access to a beer garden is possible through the rear door. There are two large TV screens in this part of the pub, both of which seemed to be showing an archaeology programme, which was a bit odd on a Saturday night. The place was absolutely packed on our Saturday night visit and it was about three deep at the bar, thanks in part to a private function in the upstairs room, which was so busy that it was impossible to have a look around. There were four beers on at the bar - Okell's Bitter, Phoenix Arizona, Moorhouse Blonde Witch and Exmoor Gold - as well as Thatcher's Cheddar Valley Cider. The staff dealt with the queues at the bar quite efficiently and seemed able to keep check on who was next to be served. My pint of Arizona was in pretty good condition and had it not been so busy, I would have probably tried some more. This is a nice historic pub with plenty going for it, but I suspect I caught it at a bad time, as it wasn't the most comfortable drinking experience with so many people crammed in. Still well worth a look though and a great double header with the nearby Brewery Tap.