The George Hotel- no. 5 Black Diamond Street, originally on the corner of St James Street but now on the busy Hoole Way stretch of the Inner Ringroad.

It was once one of a rich variety of pubs that long traded in the immediate neighbourhood- the Ormonde, Liver, Glynne, Angel, Egerton, Railway, George and Ostrich. You can find details and photographs of all of these places in our Lost Pubs of Chester; use the search bar on the front page.

Only the Egerton Arms survives today, augmented by the recently-opened Kash Bar in the former cocoa house on Brook Street.

The George was, after sitting empty for a considerable period, converted for residential and commercial use until, replete with a brand new sign 'The Old George', it housed for a few years a hi-fi retailer with flats above. That business moved into the recently closed Beehive Hotel on the other side of Hoole Bridge in 2012.

The left hand section of the building is a sympathetic modern addition, part of which was tenanted by a pizza company and is now a dance studio. At the time of this update, February 2017, the rest is, in common with the old George itself, still awaiting occupation. Work inside the old pub is currently ongoing, however. We will let you know what becomes of the place..

An advertisement in a 1903 guide book mentions a most interesting room at the George:

“The GEORGE HOTEL Black Diamond St., is well worth a visit, on account of its Grand Room of UNIQUE OIL PAINTINGS of CHESTER in the olden times.”

Fascinating. One wonders what became of them? The landlord at this time was Richard Billington, who was still there in 1910. Earlier, in 1857 it was William Axon, in 1880 Henry Hewitt, in 1910-14 F W Attewell (seen above), in 1942 Win Hughes. Jack Slawson had it during the 1960s, followed by a couple we have only heard referred to as 'Dennis and Alma'.

A folk club called 'The Tuning Fork' used to meet upstairs at the George in the 1960s. Paul Simon payed there!

More information and reminisciences of the George and its licencees would be much appreciated..