The Old Woolpack Inn
Now I’ll admit that I’m no spring chicken (although like so many I do still feel like it in my head). But, on the other hand, I’m not old enough to remember a pub a regular reader has brought to my attention. The Old Woolpack Inn? No, not the one with Amos Brearly and Mr Wilks on a well known soap opera. The one that used to be in Northgate Street.
Old Chester Pubs
You may or may not remember, I have written articles about old Chester pubs in the past. To save you looking through the whole list of blog posts, here are the links:
Old Pubs In Chester City Centre – click HERE.
Pubs No Longer With Us – have a look HERE.
The Old Woolpack Inn would quite clearly fit right in with either of those posts. But, it hasn’t been the focus of it’s own specific post.
The article piece below is a real life experience of this pub from a regular Chester Lifestyle visitor.
The Old Woolpack Inn
Just reading the article re the Old Boot Inn. I used to go there a lot when I was a young man!
I went to school with a lad named Chris Kelly whose family ran The Boot in those days of the 60s and I spent considerable time playing there. Sadly Chris passed away some years after I lost contact.
As my “official drinking” years approached I’d spend considerable time between The Boot Inn and The Old Woolpack Inn.
The Old Woolpack Inn long stood at 27 Northgate Street on ‘Shoemaker’s Row’. After it closed, the building housed Sidoli’s Restaurant, then Wienholts Bakery and now Chatwins Bakery.
The modern photograph in the link below, showing it as such, was taken by the author in 2010. The Woolpack had theatrical associations (and doubtlessly patrons), being situated close to the long-lost Music Hall- in fact previously being called The Shakespeare Tavern.
It is recorded as such in Pigot’s Directory for the years 1818-20 when the licencee was Thomas Hughes. The licencee in 1822 was George Woolley, in 1840, when it was The Woolpack Tavern, Thomas Mansergh, in 1850 Thomas Porter, in 1857 R Smith, in 1880 Henry S Hewitt, in 1902 James Steele, in 1910-1914 J P Hankins, in 1935 Mrs J Singleton.
Polling Station-The Old Woolpack Inn
The inn was recorded as being used as a polling station in 1809.
I wonder how many locals will remember, or even know about, The Old Woolpack? Not sure how accurate it is, but to me it was the first pub in Chester where I was served a pint of draught Guinness!! There are photos of on the following link: https://www.chesterwalls.info/woolpack.html
Fascinating Stuff
Fascinating stuff. I do remember Sidolis, Wienholts and obviously Chatwins, but no, I don’t remember The Old Woolpack Inn. I understand that Northgate Street itself was a street full of pubs.
I’d imagine that was a great pub crawl to go on. “The Northgate Street Pub Crawl”.
Anyone else remember The Old Woolpack Inn? Or, any other pubs no longer with us? I’ll do a bit of digging around and see what else I can come up with.
Wouldn’t it be great to go back in time and visit these pubs!!! Right, where did I park my DeLorean Time Machine?
Chester Lifestyle
Thanks for visiting my Chester Lifestyle website. I hope you enjoy reading it. For more information about my website and Chester in general, take a look HERE.
Things To Do In Chester
As well as taking a trip back in time and popping in to the Old Woolpack Inn, there are plenty of other things to do in Chester. For a few ideas, take a look HERE.
