Two best friends, one long-held plan and a bookshop with a bar in it.
We're Megan and Megan. We met at playgroup on the Wirral when we were about two years old, and we've been best friends ever since. We were classic Harry Potter kids, and we never really stopped reading, or stopped telling each other what to read next.
That's the whole idea behind Chapters. Think of us as your book-loving best friends. If you tell us what you loved last, we'll happily press the next one into your hands.
Chapters started the way most of our best ideas do, over dinner and a bottle of wine. We'd talked about opening a bookshop together for years. One night the talking turned serious, and by the end of the evening we'd planned the whole thing. The shelves, the bar, the name.
A trip to Hay-on-Wye, the little town of bookshops on the Welsh border, settled it for good. We came home certain about what we wanted to build: somewhere that doesn't feel intimidating, somewhere relaxing and homely. A cosy corner to hide away in with your favourite book, and a proper glass of wine within reach.
"Chapters just felt like it belonged here."
Megan & Megan, founders of Chapters Book Bar
When we started looking for the right room, Chester kept pulling us back. Then we saw 13 Watergate Row South, on the first floor of the historic Chester Rows, the Tudor covered walkway that runs above street level. Up the steps from Watergate Street, along the gallery, and there it was. Old beams, soft light and the sound of the street just below.
We opened the doors on Saturday 21 March 2026. Since then we've handpicked every book, bottle and detail ourselves, and one of us is usually behind the counter. Come up the steps and say hello.
