Summer Chess at the Cardinal's Hat

Worcester City Chess Club, turned out and homeless as a result of a decision by their former summer venue to offer food during the evenings have found a new summer home. It's the Cardinal's Hat, Friar Street, in Worcester's historic centre. The bar staff are friendly and will chat if you are the first of your party to arrive. For location and a picture of this historic pub, click here.

"The Hat", as locals call it, is one of the oldest pubs in England and traces its roots back to Worcester annals in 1497. It was then the place where the citizens kept their fire hooks. It is now the summer venue of Worcester City Chess Club ("re-founded 1837") and a gathering place for Civil War re-enactors. For a short period of its history during the height of the anti-Papist movement in England in the mid-18th century, it was called the Swan and Falcon. In 1814, the name was changed to the Coventry Arms, to gain favour from the Earl of Coventry, then Recorder of Worcester. The Hat's original name was restored in the 1950s.

Landlady Andrea (centre) is delighted with the flowers and chocs, the City Chess Club's prezzy, at the end of the summer season at The Hat in 2009. She is flanked by Club Secretary Steve Mellor (right) and team member John Clark (left). Picture: Ray Collett