History

By 1985, Jerry and Graham had a hankering to be back in Chester after some years down south, as properties were considerably cheaper and they felt they could have a bigger impact up here.

They heard about the basement of an old warehouse that fronted the canal, which at one time had been a canal-boat chandlers run by a Mr Harker. Goodness knows what possessed the two of them, because what confronted them was a ghastly dripping-wet cellar with bricked-up windows and a garage at one end, pierced by the bulk of a lift shaft which serviced the floors above. To make it usable they would have to tank the whole area and terminate the lift shaft at the floor above, which would mean heavily re-enforcing the ceiling so there would be no danger of the lift crashing through if its cables broke.

So that was fine then.

Harkers before

Because the site was in a run down part of town, and the site itself needed more than a lick of paint, none of the local banks believed it would work and declined to finance it, which is where it all got a bit ginger. In the end Jerry and Graham managed to persuade 3i PLC, a large venture capitalist, to lend them the £120,000 needed, in exchange for an option on 20% of our shares. The deal was done.

The same view today

We used reclaimed materials wherever we could, with a bar-front made out of lovely old mahogany doors, and a bar top made from reclaimed chemistry lab counters, and we severely rogered the new floors, so the pub really does look like it has been there for ever - in fact soon after we opened, one old boy speaking to Jerry told him sincerely that he used to drink in there as a lad, and he really believed it. Mind you, it’s easy to get a bit confused at times, when you’re in a pub.

Anyway, the pub went off like a train - we did well, 3i did well, the landlord did well and the customers did well. Poor old banks, eh... and we all continue to enjoy the place. There is no better business than when everyone benefits, and even the bankers come for lunch, God bless ‘em.