Dropping into one of Gloucester's older pubs offers customers a taste of history as well as their favourite tipple.

A new leaflet showcasing historic watering holes in the city is about to be launched during the Heritage Open Days next month.

As part of the popular Gloucester History Festival that runs for two weeks from September 2, the Open Days allow people free access to a number of historic buildings often restricted to the public.

It offers people a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the rich heritage of the city both for locals and tourists visiting from further afield, including overseas.

For this year's Open Days an informative flyer has been produced by Marketing Gloucester with Gloucester historian Darrel Kirby, detailing all of the great historic pubs within the city.

Gloucester is a city with a long and distinguished history and it retains a large number of historic buildings. Many of them were built as, or have been converted into pubs, and still retain a great deal of their original character.

Among a long list of fascinating facts is one from the Pelican Inn, which claims to be built from the remains of Golden Hind, an English galleon most well known for her circumnavigation of the globe, captained by Sir Francis Drake. Originally named Pelican before being renamed mid-voyage, there is some credibility to the claim.

The Old Bell is another historic pub with a lot of personality. It features a magnificent carved fireplace, built circa 1650 for apothecary Thomas Yate depicting the Yate family.

Look closely at the four cherubs for possible hidden messages about one of the children. The fireplace has been insured for an incredible £1 million.

The New Inn is also said to the finest example of a medieval galleried inn in Britain, and is a perfect start to the Historic Pubs trail.

Author of The Story of Gloucester's Pubs, Darrel said "We are lucky in Gloucester to have a lot of pubs with long, fascinating histories, or which occupy buildings that do, so it is great to see these new flyers helping to tell their story.

"How better to appreciate the city's heritage than with a decent pint in your hand."

Emily Knight, of Marketing Gloucester, added: "It's been wonderful working with Darrel on this informative leaflet. We're very pleased to be able to launch in such an important history festival as Gloucester has been in the top three for Heritage Open Days for the past five years".

With more than 100 events and buildings to explore, Gloucester's Heritage Open Days event is one of the best in the country.

It takes place between Thursday, September 7 and Sunday 10. Leaflets can be found at the Tourist Information Centre and a number of the historic inns.

The full list of pubs mentioned in the leaflet are:

Café Rene

Cross Keys Inn

Dick Whittington

The Fountain Inn

The Imperial

The Lower George Inn

The New Inn

The Northend Vaults

The Old Bell

The Old Crown

The Pelican Inn

Robert Raikes' House

The Sword

The Tall Ship

TANK

The Whitesmith Arms

Caption: the historic New Inn in Gloucester