The Old Harkers Arms, Chester

The canal side Old Harkers Arms is an L-shaped pub with a central L-shaped serving counter across the rear. There’s seating across the front windows and up the left to a small dining room in the left rear. Premium keg was available alongside six hand pumps that were drawing Ossett’s Excelsius, Brimstone Brewery’s Sandpiper, Oaks Brewery’s East Coast Pale, Weetwood’s Eastgate and Cheshire Cat as well as Titanic’s Plum Porter. There are also some Lilleys cider options, but I went for a pint of Sandpiper which was OK, but expensive at £5 for a 3.6%. The service was friendly, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to revisit.

A Brunning & Price by the river in a converted warehouse, so expect B&P prices. Quite well done inside – painted brick, cast iron supporting pillars and radiators, an old factory clocking in machine. a slight industrial feel and the usual B&P features. Very busy on mid-afternoon Saturday and we had to share a table with a slightly startled middle aged couple. Seven ales on; 2x Weetwood, B&P house beer, Beartown Cream Bearlee, Titanic Plum Porter (NBSS 4) and a couple of others I forgot to note. Most people were drinking rather than eating, which is a good sign. Overall, it was pretty good and I’d happily recommend this one be included in a Chester crawl. It might be expensive but the beer quality is excellent, so the extra 30p is worth it.

I had previously been to the Old Harkers Arms in August 2017, but was the last pub of the crawl before getting the train back from Chester, and being a Saturday evening it was rather busy. I was in Chester earlier in the week and, despite not initially intending on doing so, thought I would call back to experience it during the daytime when it would be quieter. I found this to be a pleasant, quite large pub, with a bar in front of you as you walk in the main door, and a further bar round to the left hand side. There is an area off to the right with tables and chairs which looks quite cosy, but the area to the left feels more open. Each bar has a bank of six hand pulls, four of which were duplicated across the two banks at the time of my visit. These included a bitter with a heavy metallic pump clip which makes it look like it is probably a permanent feature, along with Cheshire Cat and Eastgate by Weetwood, Brew No 1 Vanilla Mild by Rudgate, a Welsh ruby ale, Acorn Blonde, Town Crier by Hobsons (without a proper pump clip), and finally Titanic Plum Porter. My half of the Vanilla Mild was £1.95 and slipped down nicely. Not sure there's a lot to rush back for but it's not a bad pub.

This is the sort of place that inexplicably attracts trendies, the nouveau rich or people that are just too stupid to realise they are being ripped off. It's a grotty old warehouse by a stinking canal that has been converted into a rip-off pub. Inside it's roughly L shaped with wooden floors and packed with braying idiots. I noticed beers were from Weetwood, Abbeydale, Heavy Industry, Archers (aka Evan Evans), Titanic, Big Hand and one called Brunning & Price Original. I later discovered that this is a low ABV boring brown beer that they actually commissioned Phoenix Brewery to produce for them. Pathetic! I went for the Abbeydale Moonshine at an extortionate £3.80 which was either not as good as it once was or not that well kept. As far as I know this is the first Brunning & Price pub I've been to and certainly hope it's the last.

This is a Bruning & Price pub that advertised ten real ales on. Well, it was too busy to count them, but the two banks of handpumps had at least ten pumps between them. I had Brew Brothers Cheshire Best at £3.60 a pint. Like other Bruning & Price pubs, this one majors on food. Main courses range from £11 (sausage & mash) up to £18 for the rump steak. Light bites are from £9 to £11. I had a burger plus trimmings which was somewhere between £12 and £13. These are not budget pubco prices, but there again the quality was a lot better than the £9 or so burger (including a pint!) that I had had the night before. Most of the tables were reserved by early evening on the Tuesday I visited. Being a Bruning & Price pub it's quite elegant inside. The floor's bare-boarded, but with several rugs to break up the space. Furnishings are all good quality normal tables and chairs, and the walls are covered with prints, except for the back wall which is entirely shelves of books. Of course there were sprigs of flowers on all the tables, but as a big plus I spotted a shelf containing copies of the Good Beer Guide going back a few years. There are a few tables and chairs outside at the front right by the canal. This is a pretty decent pub, even if it is somewhat plush inside. The ale choice is excellent, and although it's quite foody I would be very happy to visit again.