The Royal Oak, Hoole, Chester

As stated a traditional pub in a pub, bar and niche shop laden area. Three rooms, two small sitting rooms either side of the entrance corridor leading to a larger bar where the counter lies on the left.  Four pumps on the counter but only two in use, a very drinkable Rev James and Brakspears Gravity. Two low T-Bars offer a standard fare of eight national kegs. Three screens offered different sports, two on different horse races the other with test match cricket. Seating is a mix of banquette and mid height tables and stools, the side rooms are with banquettes and more screens; the bagatelle table has gone. Definitely still one to visit in spite of Marstons ownership and less than exciting beers. It has Marstons (or Captive) wi-fi but you need to register and answer a set of intrusive questions allowing them to spam you or worse.

What a delightful little pub this is - a real community local. As is the way with many of these Northern pubs, you enter into a short corridor and to both the left and right there are small snugs, and to the rear another room that contains the bar counter on the left, and with a bit of traditional seating. The room on the right contains what I thought was a bar billiards table, but having spent a few more days in Chester might well have been a bagatelle table, which is something that I have never seen in London. All furnishings are traditional - banquettes, normal chairs, small stools and normal tables. There's a garden at the back. The walls are covered mainly with fielded wooden panelling, and although there's little in the way of decor, a pub with the character of this one doesn't really need it. Let's not forget the beers. They had five on - Hobgoblin, Fuller's Quintessential, Okell's Saison, Adnam's Fat Sprat (£1.50 a half), and Brakspear's Bitter. Again I forgot to ask for the sparkler to be removed, but the Fat Sprat was in good nick nonetheless. There was no sign of any food on Tuesday afternoon; nor at any other time according to one of the locals that I spoke to. This struck me as an absolute gem. It was friendly and welcoming, comfortable and with five real ales to boot. This was an absolute winner for me, and well worth the short walk from town to visit.

A nice little pub just a short walk from Chester rail station. Has 4 real ale pumps. Unfortunately what ales were advertised outside were completely different from what was being sold inside. Has one of those bagatelle tables inside.

Situated about a mile from Chester City centre this OK pub is a small traditional multi roomed local set on a busy street just off the main road.Called in on a Wednesday afternoon to find a good selection of real ales to go at,which all the TV racing viewers were already sampling.

The Royal Oak page at the Chester Tourist site - www.chestertourist.com

The Royal Oak page at the Chester Tourist site - www.chestertourist.com