Earl of Chester, Crewe

Two bar corner pub with the main bar to the left, an L shaped room with seating and at the back a space with a pool table. On the right is a more basic room with banquette seating and a dart board, the counter in here has a single keg font. The cask beers are from Merlin brewery while a big horseshoe has a selection of national favourites. The decor is very rock with posters and album covers, above the counter are some Viking shields. There’s a small beer garden at the back and a small stage in the front left bar; bizarrely with a wheelchair and Zimmer frame parked on it, maybe the Rolling Stones are expected?

Ha - I had all the Crewe pubs stored in a Bar Trek app. Entries stored from a Facebook Page and the GBG Guide. A reasonably lengthy walk from town to a back street boozer. I entered the door - and my mind may be playing tricks on me - but I swear the only pump I saw was Carling. I did a Homer Simpson's Dad rapid 360 and thought maybe I had been hoodwinked by local playing FB Tricks. Headed to Ebeneezers on the way back to the station Get home and discover it is in the GBG 2025. Really should have investigated further!

Corner pub in a residential area of Crewe that majors on rock music. As you enter, there is a basic public bar on the right-hand side, which smelt quite heavily of bleach as I walked through. The larger room to the left was where all the locals and the barman were. It has a stage near the window and a raised seating area with posters for rock concerts, featuring Aerosmith, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin & Marillion. Light fittings were surrounded with beer bottles or ice buckets, which was an interesting touch. A TV in this area had a music channel, but with no sound. Other TVs elsewhere were showing live golf. Whilst the music channel was muted, some other funky music was playing in the background. The main bar area has the bar itself on the right-hand side. The whole area is carpeted, apart from right by the bar itself. A shelf above the bar features many bottle of miniatures, whilst there are more rock posters on the ceiling. There was also a games machine and a jukebox. To the rear is a games room with a pool table and its own TV, also showing golf. An outdoor yard didn't look too promising, but was probably used by smokers. Most customers in the pub were getting on a bit. There was also a dog making itself at home, possibly the pub dog. I guess there is occasional live music here, but karaoke is also promoted on a Saturday night between 8-11pm. On the bar, there are 3 real ales. 2 of them are from the Merlin Brewery - Gold & Excalibur. The third was Ossett White Rat. My Excalibur was dispensed in a Merlin branded glass and was enjoyable. Ciders were Kopparberg, Magners & Magners Dark Fruits. John Smith's & Boddington's were also available on keg. I thought this was a basic, but solid locals pub with decent real ale and a clear love for rock music.

A good solid locals pub, with a decent welcome from the friendly barmaid and some locals parked up at the bar. Three handpumps serving White Rat, Merlins Gold and Excalibur all priced at £3.20 a pint and in excellent condition. There was a small stage area set up in the left hand side lounge, along with lots of posters of various rock bands across the ceilings and walls.