Telfords Warehouse, Chesterback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A warehouse conversion that doesn't feel like 'just another warehouse conversion'. It is okay though rather than good - ale was drinkable (Weetwood) but they had bouncers on the door (and should have been £4 to get in for the band only I told them I was only having a swift pint and not staying for the band).
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As the name implies this pub is a converted Warehouse, which occupies a prominent place outside the northwest corner of the city walls. Although it can be seen from a long way off, it isn’t until reach it, that you realise the frontage onto the street has no door ! Instead (and there are no signs) you have to go through an archway, down a worn and narrow flight of stairs, past a plie of about 100 used beer kegs, and round the back where the entrance is.
The bar is in a room to the right of the entrance, along the far wall. You can sit at the bar, or there are number of tables here, plus various objects (including a well winding mechanism), and a huge window looking out onto the moorings of the canal. There are laso other rooms, up and down stairs – but I haven’t explored those yet !
There are six changing beer on handpump – usually including at least one dark beer (hooray). Last time I had the Liverpool Organic Kitty Wilkinson Stout – which was reasonable. There are also a number of continental beers on keg. The ones I remember being La Chouffe and Warsteiner.
Food is available though the place doesn’t emphasize it. From the platter delivered to the chap next to me at the bar, it looked very nice. Then I saw the prices on the menu – virtually nothing under £12 ! One item cheaper was advertised on the wall behind the bar – Moulesona Monday ! [ Plates of mussels with various vegetables / sauces, including recommended beers for each style ]
There is also various live music events advertised - seems to be about 3 nights per week. The acts sounded interesting. I’m not sure whereabouts they hold the gigs – presumably in one of the rooms I’ve yet to discover. However, I have to report that there is rubbish background music playing most of the time.
A final word of warning, although there are none of the ubiquitous Sports TVs, as I was leaving they were unveiling an enormous flat screen to show the rugby – but seemed to be having trouble getting it to work.
8/10 – worth the trek out of town
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A Sunday afternoon pit stop from shopping with the wife in town.
This pub is a large ex warehouse by the canal that is popular with cyclists, families and ladies who lunch.
6 hand pumps with 3 of the ales being guests. I had a pint of Wincle's Sir Philip @ 4.2%, a new beer from a new brewery for me and very good it was too. As well as the cask ales there's Timmermans, Punk Dog IPA and La Chouffe on keg as well as a good selection of European lagers.
The walls are adorned with old advertising signs and there's a large mechanical waterwheel in the centre of the main bar area. Original wooden flooring throughout with old wooden tables and chairs, there’s large glass windows that look out to the canal below. The room to the left of the bar hosts music nights and up a few steps is a room that was more laid for diners and was busy on my visit.
Lovely building and setting with good ales, perfect for a Sunday afternoon pit stop.
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Visited Telford's on Saturday 8th February. Never been before, went primarily to see a band. Great venue, beer very good for both variety and quality. Very very busy, 5 deep at the bar for most of the evening, but if you wait your turn then it doesn't take long, the staff were very efficient and even better, very friendly. I plan to come again sometime midweek or earlier at the weekend, when i expect it won't be quite as crowded.
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this place is superb and well worth seaking out. ale on great form. previously went in the Spitting Feathers Brewery Tap and I'd say TW had a better selection (just in my opinion of course) 9/10
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100 per cent agree with the previous comments. Outstanding pub in a very pleasant location.
The Weetwood Cheshire Cat was in great form, the friendly bar man stating its very popular with the regulars. Food menu was a little pricey but we decided to stay for food and was glad we did. The food was outstanding and proved good value for money, don't mind paying a little extra for top quality food which was a class above many restaurants I have tried recently. The roast chicken and chorizo rigatoni was outstanding! 9.5/10
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good to see a fellow bite top reviewer oop north enjoying this superb place Mr blackthorn! Anyway i wont waffle on as everything that needs to be said has been said about this place,wicked beer,good service,lovely location,amazing building,9/10
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Glad I read the review by Blackthorn, it convinced us to visit here Saturday.
What a great find!! They had some music at a sensible volume and it was album tracks that I liked!
My wife enjoyed a Timmerman's Strawberry Belgium fruit beer served in a nice posh glass and me and my brother enjoyed a couple of pints of Dark Side of The Moose (Purple Moose Brewery) gorgeous hints of coffee and a Weetwoord Brewery beer Cheshire Cat a light citrusy blonde beer. They were all spot on! They also had Surreal Ale from the Abbeydale brewery.
We sat outside at benches next to the canalside to enjoy the breeze and relax chatting and watch a family of swans float by! It was great to get away from the hustle and bustle of the City Centre (especially as it was a Race Day unbeknown to us - d'oh!) Staff were very friendly and it's a place we will certainly revisit.
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A large barn like conversion of a former warehouse in a pleasant spot next to the canal. It�s a good sized pub over three floors, with a different feel to each level.
The ground floor is the biggest area with large floor to ceiling windows completely covering one wall and offering views down the canal. There is also some outside seating here. The walls are all exposed brick, big rafters in the open vaulted ceiling and in a nod to it�s industrial past, a large crane in the centre of the room. The upstairs area is a little cosier and more geared up for dining, while the lowest level is through some brick arches and has low ceilings, perhaps a little more rough and ready, and is split in to two. One half has a table football game and a few leather sofas, and the other side is open with a stage at one end. Bands feature prominently here with something on most weekend nights. Forthcoming acts were chalked up on a board above the bar.
Good choice of beers on tap with Thwaites Original and IPA, Weetwood Cheshire Cat, Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted and the local (for me, that is) RCH East Street Cream. Ciders were Kingston Press and a Stowford Press Export, which I�ve not seen before.
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we were at the cnal festival in the basin and the staff were very helpful with the huge amount of people who turned up and brought drinks outside to us
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I found this to nearly be a good pub - if such a thing is possible. Good range of beer, but the barman took an age to serve us. The interior looks impressively, but it's so big and airy that it can feel soulless and empty at times. We also had a bite to eat, which was very average. Meh, I wouldn't mind returning, but certainly won't go out of my way to do so.
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Warehouse-type building with large windows overlooking a canal basin. We attempted to eat here. But reservations were required. In fact the place was fairly busy with young middle-upper class people and they were spilling out to pleasant canalside tables, despite the looming threat of thunderstorms. 5 cask ales were available - Fernandes Pilot Lite, Anglo Dutch Summertime, Scottish Ales Mountain Dew, Thwaites Original and Weetwood Cheshire Cat. Cider was Stowford Export. A band was setting up as we were there. Car parking is handy. The toilets were clean.
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Good choice of real ales and a great view over the canal moorings. It's a bit out on a limb though. We usually go there for a late lunch, so I cannot comment about night time. Ususally call in for one whenever I'm in Chester though.
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The pub was busy when we called but we managed seats and eventually got served at the bar through the queue and those hogging the bar area while talking after getting served. One of the beers we had was returned as it was not right, and I had a job convincing the staff to change it. A friend took his back to ask if it was OK and managed to get the beer changed for both of us.
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it's ok, saw it on fire once, the chef set it a blaze.Students talk about there self alot there.it's a bit lovey.new labourer, you know lefty, but love money, just abit more than there self. square black glasses a must
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lively pub with good selection of real ales.
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A great pub, brilliant for a night out with good live music from bands and dj's. Friendly staff and a great atmosphere. The food is fantastic and there's loads of choice - one of my favourite places to eat - anywhere!!
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Someone please tell that pensionable loon that frequents Sunday nights to just stop. An open mic night that can strike fear into the hearts of anyone with their own teeth. Chester, you can do better. As for the lot behind the bar!! You are not in Hollyoaks!!
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Pretentious in the extreme. It's the place the students go to play at being arty, faux-cultured adults, and old has-been men (you know the ones - ponytails and leatherette waistcoats) go to desperately feel young again. Oh, and then there's the college lecturers, who prowl around, preying on the younglings they've spent the last semester grooming, before their names appear on a public register.
It's hideously crowded, with awful music played at painful volumes. A toilet-to-patron ratio of 1:9000 (exceeded only by the barstaff-to-patron ratio) makes having more than one pint a logistical nightmare, not that one could possibly get served more than once in any 24 hour period without the aid of stout sharpened stick with which to dispach the other 3000 parched saps waiting for the barmaid-diva to take pity on them. You really do have to be beautiful/trendy/arty to get served in this place, or weep pathetically (as I do), hoping for a sympathy pint. My advice? JUST DRINK OUT OF THE ADJACENT CANAL (it'll make you ill, but you may retain more of your dignity).
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It burnt down a few years back. Some sicko rebuilt it.
Full of students drinking tap water.
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I concur, this is an excellent hole. I have known this place for some time now and I usually rate a place based on how many times they let me in after I've been barred. The food is quite delicious, musically they have a great selection (Sunday is good for, usually, local crap bands, occasional techno, funk, soul, reggae and all (not Sunday), again no hardcore punk but hey) and the beer is good if not a little overpriced. The thing that really gets me is the bloody attitude of the staff, well not all of them... There does seem to be a style contest or some s**t, I don't know, I don't care, I just want a drink. The place hasn't been the same since one half of one of the brothers left and they changed the door staff and it burnt down because my mate left the grill on after they barred me...ahem...erm...It is a wonderful place to drink but I always get the feeling it could be better.
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My favourite bar, very friendly, great beer/food/music.
fran - 6 Aug 2004 20:55 |
A consistantly good drinking hole which has been out on it's own for over 10 years. All the basics are there, great beer(regular and guest casks, premium czech/bavarian lagers)excellent food, very laid back atmosphere, good mix of clientel and also an occasional sprinkle of magic on it's many 'live nights'. Oh I forgot to say that it is one of the most architectually interesting buildings in Chester and wonderfully located over the Shropshire union canal. All in all it's a must visit if in Chester.
Jill Crawford - 6 Aug 2004 20:11 |
When you get right down to it, this is the only really good drinking establishment in Chester. The main room is a nice, big airy space and the walls are adorned with attractive contemporary photographs and art. The back rooms, which regularly feature musicians both "has-been" and "about-to-be", are more cellar like, and a bit dingy, but in a good way. The food is excellent, but the menu doesn't seem to alter very much. The opening hours are significantly less draconian than in other pubs in the city, with the bar not closing until after 1am most weekends. The one negative thing I would have to point out is that most of the staff seem a little too obsessed with the glamorous soap opera which is their lives to be as attentive to serving you as they could be. All in all, if you are visiting Chester, don't dismiss it as a crap night out until you have been to Telfords. It's significantly better than anywhere else in town.
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