LAST week’s foray to Blackpool ended down the chippy.

Apr 26 2008 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

This week the Pub Column was again by the seaside – well seaside-ish if you think the Deeside marshes at Parkgate fit the bill. And, once again, Lady Penelope and Yours Truly nearly rounded off the trip with fish, chips and mushy peas at another favourite chippy, The Lobster Grill on The Parade.

But we had no room left inside after mooring at the Ship Hotel, just a few paces further along the front. The Ship, like other pubs in the area such as the Greenland Fisheries in Neston, has a heritage stretching back to when Parkgate – would you believe it? – superseded Liverpool as the North West’s premier port. It was also a resort renowned for sandy beaches.

That was until the Dee silted up, the marsh crept in and the mantle was finally passed across the Mersey.

According to Geoffrey Place in his history of Parkgate hostelries, the pub has been variously called the Ship, the Union and the Princess Royal, the latter incarnation sharing its name with the passenger carrying ship built at Parkgate and which sailed between the port and Dublin up until 1809.

The history of course wouldn’t be complete without its “nudge, nudge wink wink know what I mean squire” story about Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton who, as fortune would have it, was born in the nearby village of Ness.

According to Berk’s (sic) Peerage, Parkgate and this hostelry in particular, was an ideal place for Horatio to hop off after a long campaign at sea and hop on, as it were, giving a whole new meaning to the words “jump” and “Ship”.

“They used to meet here and it was definitely not to drink tea and eat cucumber sandwiches,” confirms The Ship’s Huyton-born manager of five years, Gill Brown. The hotel duly has two of its 24 rooms named after The Great Man and his Lady, complete with four-poster beds, to add that extra touch of romance.

This Not-So-Great-Man and his Lady, however, were only here for the beer (oh, and maybe the odd sarnie).

And here and beer go together well, especially since particular emphasis is given to local Cheshire brews which Gill is proud to fly the flags for. We had the beautifully light and thirst-quenching bitter from the Spitting Feathers brewery based at Waverton, near Chester. That’s a regular along with beers from the Weetwood brewery in Tarporley and Woodlands in Wrenbury.

Another thing in the Ship’s favour is the good-value food.

Served up by Holly and Lisa from behind the bar, we had huge chicken breast and stuffing baguettes with salads and a big bowl of hot chunky, fresh, chips all for just under a tenner. Well stuffed, it meant we had to forego our customary visit to the aforementioned Lobster but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

And finally there’s the ambience.

Unlike some other ye olde pub interiors which have been sacrificed at the altar of chrome and laminate in the name of so-called progress, the Ship’s recent refurbishment has kept it ship-shape and user-friendly.

For instance, pooches are welcome as long as they are kept on a leash, making it a godsend for walkers with dogs who descend on the place.

The Lady, who is a big softie when it comes to canines, fussed over two hounds in the bar before joining this happy old dog nursing his pint on a comfy sofa in a cosy alcove with a fantastic vista over the hills and far away.

Old Nelson knew his onions, all right.

Dee-lightful.