Great pool and fabulous juke box at former Hartlepool pub

We are talking about the Chester Hotel which once stood in Raby Road.

We wanted to know what you remembered of it and shared a 2007 photograph of it on social media.

It reached more than 22,000 people and was liked by more than 300.

Just as importantly, more than 120 of you took the time to share your memories and this is what you had to say.

Paul Butcher called it a ‘brilliant pub’ and said ‘great memories from the back room with that great juke box and pool table !!!’

Thanks go to Paul and to Kevin Hufc Moore who played darts for the pub and said: “Great memories and made some great friends along the way, happy days.”

Donna Kitching ‘loved the Chester’ while Diane Evans said it was the ‘best pub in town. All the family loved the Chester, brill pub.”

Do you agree? Email [email protected] if you have another favourite from times gone by.

Jeanette Young had memories of the Sunday pool night, a surprise 50th birthday party and being proposed to at the former Raby Road favourite.

Elaine Stubbs remembered the ‘beautiful’ food and Steve Frank loved both the Chester and another demolished Hartlepool pub, the Powlett. “Both had excellent juke boxes.”

Linda Butterfield thinks it was a shame that the Chester disappeared and David Sherry commented: “My aunty had the pub for a few years … and I met my wife there when she worked as a bar maid in the Chester.

“Fifteen years later, we have been married for eight and have two little girls. Our house is built where the Chester used to be. Such a shame it was knocked down.”

Thanks to everyone who responded and to those who liked the story, including Amanda Duran, Les Watts, Louie Littlewood, Graham Stonebank, Margaret Llewellyn Rodgers, Ronnie West and Gary Small.

So did Carole Suggett, Aundrae Hutchinson, Tracey Maughan, Diane Phelan, Ann Belsham, Donna M Sweeney, Bayleigh Rose Carter, and Rosie Howlett.

There were plenty other popular pubs in Hartlepool which are no longer with us.

We would love to hear your memories of them.

What were your favourites? And why were they so special?

Perhaps it was the beer, the atmosphere, the regulars, or even they just happened to be there at the right time in your life.

Share your memories with us, we’d love to hear them. Send them to [email protected]

And if there are any other subjects you would like us to cover in Memory Lane, again get in touch.

No matter what the subject, we would love readers to set the agenda when it comes to memories of Hartlepool.