Brook Street

From Chester Wiki

[edit] Brook Street

Brook Street runs between Station Road and the Gorse Stacks roundabout, parallel to Hoole Way, and is thus a main artery between the city centre and the neighbourhood of Hoole.

In recent years, Chester City Council and the Chester Chronicle have both attempted to promote Brook Street as Chester's "Notting Hill". It's hard to see the comparison - Brook Street has been in a state of dilapidation for many years and has yet to be gentrified in the way that Notting Hill in London has become.

That said, Brook Street has an eclectic mix of shops and pubs - a costume hire shop, a Polish deli, several convenience stores, record shops, furniture shops, to name but a few. At the station end, there is a tattoo and piercing parlour and the Nice n Naughty adult store. The pubs include the Stanley Arms at the Gorse Stacks end and The Railway at the junction with Hoole Way.

Brook Street has been included in the plans to redevelop Chester Station (scroll down to the section of Facilities for info and links]]. It remains to be seen how much budget will be allocated to reverse Brook Street's gentle decline. It certainly needs money spent on it, but the current proposals could mean that Brook Street would lose much of its current character, which many Cestrians feel would be detrimental.

• Brook Street on ChesterTourist