Tuesday, July 29, 2025

BUSES AND BEER IN CHESTER.

 PLEASE NOTE: CAMRA, IN THEIR WISDOM, HAVE DECIDED TO CLOSE DOWN THEIR WHATPUB SITE, SO MANY OF THE LINKS POSTED IN THESE PAGES MAY NO LONGER WORK.

Meanwhile, let's take a look at Chester City Transport's offerings in the city centre. Guy Arab no. 12 is seen beside the town hall at night.


More of the city's buses by the cathedral.



More modern CCT buses, seen on Northgate (top) and the new bus exchange.




Crosville ran the "out of town" routes in the 1970s.


Crosville was split up prior to being sold. Crosville Wales ran towards Wrexham.


Arriva took over Crosville Wales.


The other bit of Crosville later merged with PMT.



Other major operators have included MTL and Stagecoach.



Independents have included Avon Buses (from the Wirral), Fisher's of Bronington, GHA Coaches, Lofty's and Wright's of Wrexham.





A replica London 'B' type operated a tourist service back in 2014.

Right, onto the pubs! Let's start with the very historic Bear & Billet. It used to have Okell's beer from the Isle of Man, but no longer, it seems. The pub has its own Wikipedia page.


Sadly, the Talbot has since closed its doors.

The Coach & Horses, right in the city centre, is still going strong.

The Ship Victory was a great pub, but closed forever in 2015.

I've heard good reports of the Faulkner Arms.

The Brewery Tap, an old upstairs bar, is the best place to try Spitting Feathers beers.

We'll end this post in the Cross Keys, a Joule's tied house.

Next time, we'll be heading out of the city.

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

DEVA CENTRUM (PART 1)

Deva, as you may well already know, is the Roman name for what we now call Chester. In this post, we'll take a good look around the centre. Let's start with Northgate Locks on the Shropshire Union Canal.


 Chester once had another railway station, called Northgate, but I have no photos there. However, here are a couple of pics of LNER locos at Chester Northgate shed.


On Northgate itself is the Pied Bull, with a brewery in the cellar.


Below Northgate Locks, more canal infrastructure.



The railway, heading out of Chester towards North Wales, passes close by.


By the canal basin is Telford's Warehouse, now converted into a pub.


For a while, after the new Bus Exchange opened, the old bus station off Northgate was used for PSV parking. Vehicles from Huxley's, Midland Red North and Devaway are seen here.




Let's go through one of these gateways into the real heart of the city (Postcard from my collection).


There used to be trams in old Chester.




The old buildings in the city have survived well.


There's Roman ruins too (Postcard from my collection).


Here's the impressive sandstone cathedral in 1995.


Here's a look inside.



Now, the old Dee Bridge in Chester, in 1976.


Down by the river, there's a bus rally!



Back within sight of the city walls, we'll end this post at the Albion Inn.



Next time, we'll see more of the buses and pubs of Chester.

BUSES AND BEER IN CHESTER.

  PLEASE NOTE: CAMRA, IN THEIR WISDOM, HAVE DECIDED TO CLOSE DOWN THEIR WHATPUB SITE, SO MANY OF THE LINKS POSTED IN THESE PAGES MAY NO LON...