“It’s the only proper pub left in Deal” – not my words, a claim made by a small band of locals at The Forester, on The Marina, just outside town.

They also insist this seafront boozer is the best place to drink in a town which now has far too many trendy pubs, upmarket wine bars and nowhere near enough real public houses. It’s also the cheapest they say, if you take the huge Wetherspoon in the town centre out of the equation.

It’s a good job they were on hand to inform me this is the best pub in Deal, as first impressions could easily lead you to think it’s a tad tatty, with worn furniture, far too many fairy lights and an obsession with the 1990s.

Before coming to town, I had no idea this place existed and my first sight of the extremely faded pub sign had me wondering if it was still operating?

When I stepped into the long, thin bar there were locals sat on stools at the far end of the room chatting to the barmaid but she was quick to say hello and ask what I wanted to drink. My initial impression was that this could be a Shepherd Neame house, but I now know it is not a tied house.

Having praised the place to the hilt, the marvellously merry buddies at the bar returned their concentration 100% to controlling Alexa, taking it in turns to purposely skip each other’s choices as soon as possible.

The London Pride was off, but as I’m not a fan I suppose that’s no great loss, but fortunately there was another ale available on tap, so I ordered a Timothy Taylor Landlord and settled in with my £4 pint to be entertained by the banter.

The two fellas, Nick was the one with a small dog called Dennis, while Gav had a cap and sunglasses pushed up on his head, had been buddies in the army, while barmaid Kate and Gav’s partner had been at school together.

The nutty shouting at Alexa descended into an intense debate about TV show Naked Attraction – the details of which will take me a good few weeks to get over!

I’m told the previous owner, Irish landlady Margaret Moran who absolutely loved this place, died four years ago and passed the pub down through the family.

While the customers belted out their best renditions of songs from the 1980s, the large TV screen at the front, mercifully set to silent, showed tunes from Now 90s, including PJ and Duncan’s Let’s Get Ready To Rumble.

Whilst the brown chairs are unashamedly tatty, I couldn’t help noticing the beautifully engraved front window, bordered by more tasteful white fairy lights, and complimented the barmaid about it. She agreed it is lovely but said it was replaced fairly recently when the original was smashed by a disgruntled punter unhappy at being barred.

Walking past the well-maintained pool table, I left the songsters to explore further and discovered there’s a very interesting garden at the back with a couple of even more ‘interesting’ statues which appeared slightly sinister in the dimming evening light.

The toilets were reasonably well maintained and I liked the fact that, despite a makeover at some point, it looked as if an old sink had been retained.

By the time I got back to the bar, we’d been joined by another pair of walk-ins, but they took a Timothy Taylor and alcohol-free lager, preferring the quieter front seats and a view of the silent 1990s’ screen.

There are plenty of minor nods to The Forester’s Irish heritage with shamrock hats and Tayto crisps, to name but two, but the sign immortalising Margaret and recognising her devotion to the pub is the most telling and it’s clear she was held in high regard.

There’s also no doubt she was the driving force behind its popularity and the reason many locals still rate it as Deal’s final proper pub.

Once everyone else had gone I was left alone with barmaid Kate who was keen to share her heartfelt memories of this wonderful local and explain why she hopes it might be sold as a going concern. However, the most astonishing information she shared was the fact this was her first shift behind the bar of The Forester.

She’d looked like an absolute natural to me all evening and I assumed she’d been working here for years. If Kate’s capable of looking like a consummate professional from the word go, hopefully she will be pulling pints in the pub for a long time to come.

THE FORESTER, 15 THE MARINA, DEAL CT14 6NG

Décor: Unashamedly tatty but it’s not trying to win any design prizes. The barmaid worked hard to keep it clean and there are plenty of interesting items on display, not least the Drewisms over the bar. **

Drink: The Timothy Taylor Landlord was absolutely fine, but it would be nice to have the choice of a second ale. The Madri was well served and exactly what you would expect. **

Price: The locals claim this is the cheapest place for a pint in Deal. The bitter was £4 and both Madri and Stella just 50p more at £4.50 so, putting Spoons aside, unless anyone knows any different, they might be right. *****

Staff: The biggest compliment I can pay is I assumed she’d worked here for years. It was the barmaid’s first night and, by her own admission, she was in at the deep end. An absolute natural and a pleasure to meet. *****

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