Welcome to the last post for my travels in July 2020, a tumultuous month of highs and highers.
Expect a euphoric Review next up, unless I have to go into hiding after my infamous Daily Mail appearance on Monday.
BRAPA may have endured 51 Surrey pubs last week, and now looks like my avatar, but I’m hated by someone called Tim Sque with zero followers.
Coincidentally, my last hurrah in July came with a Spoons breakfast in Wellington.
Sadly, the old bit of Telford rather than the one with zero Coronavirus. Or the similarly workaday town in Somerset.
We left the beauty of Ellesmere early.
Yes, up at 5am, on the road before 7, parked up in Wellington before the hordes set off on the train to Wolves for Banks’s and pork cobs.
I had a strange desire to walk up to the Wrekin, that famous beauty spot folk Salop folk drive halfway up, have a coffee and cake in a cafe, and drive back down.
But somehow Mrs RM persuaded me a walk from the Council car park to the Spoons was what was needed.
By 8.15 we had our small breakfasts, sadly at a pre-“Rishi largesse” price.
I noticed a chap with a pint of Spoons near the fruit machine and asked the nice barmaid when they started serving alcohol (it’s normally 9am).
“We started 20 minutes ago my love“. Seriously, if that doesn’t make you want to move here, what would ?
Just a half of Ruddles that Mrs RM rated “Nice“. And it was.
The gentlefolk are returning. To Spoons at least. Next door they had the double joys of mobility vehicles and pawn shop (pawn not porn).
Wellington looked better than I remembered on previous trips to that Spoons and the smartish Pheasant. Clean, pedestrianised, floral.
OK, probably not enough pubby pleasures to warrant an Old Codgers Day Out when the masks come off, but I enjoyed the street art and a pretty indoor market selling faggots or something approximating them.
We never did get to the top of the Wrekin, though. Is there a micropub at the top ?
retiredmartin 
“probably not enough pubby pleasures to warrant an Old Codgers Day Out” – agreed. We were better off in Codsall and Shifnal – or we could just leave Wellington mid afternoon for the Great Western.
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You tell em. More exclusives in the Mail to come I’m sure…
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“Hurrah for the black pudding”
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1.29 for the Ruddles, what was the cost of a half?
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No, Tim wouldn’t be able to sell it at that price !
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His prices amaze me.
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65p. Jealous ?
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Very, and not of the price but of the beer at any price.
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The beer is generally good enough, occasionally excellent (an Abbot in Dereham last week), occasionally rubbish. That’s reasonable.
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By the way, did you enjoy drinking in Wetherspoons in Bewdley and Manchester and wherever?
The Spoons in Deal, for example, was very boisterous.
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I think it’s more about ‘where’ than ‘what’.
Anyone commenting “If you’re in Spoons then you hate pubs” doesn’t consider Tim’s venues to be pubs and might pay £1.29 for a pint there and £1.29 for a half in a Proper Pub.
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Why would someone # your breakfast
? #whatatool
Great example of a boozer hitting it’s target audience and carrying on with cask.
Good job you didn’t post a pre 9 half of Ruddles or he’d have lost the plot
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It’s really interesting how people get or don’t get humour, isn’t it ?
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Yep…never take yourself too seriously is my motto and clearly yours too 👍
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I’ve never got humour.
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Are you trying to tell us something about #1 son and the girl whose parents have Joy Division oven gloves?
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When I saw the title of your piece I genuinely thought you had been to the Wrekin Inn in Wellington (https://whatpub.com/pubs/TEL/3236/wrekin-inn-telford). Unfortunately it is closed, so you couldn’t even if you’d thought of it.
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One of the least exciting WhatPub entries there. The opening times are still better than some micros.
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Just stumbled across your great blog – you’ve got some nice photos of our town here (not easy, I know!). Glad you liked the window/doorway murals – our little group put them up a couple of years ago (this booklet explains who they feature, by the way – the ones you’ve photographed are numbers 3 and 4: https://wellingtonhistorygroup.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/wellington-the-makers-dozen-mural-trail.pdf) … Anyway, hopefully in a few months the town will be slightly more worthy of a pub crawl outing, as Rowton Brewery (who brew at The Pheasant) have bought the almost-lost Wrekin Inn and, just out of the town, The Cock Hotel is undergoing a major refurb by Joules Brewery. There are also plans for a memorabilia-laden real ale bar on the station platform. We have an official ale taster (you can google him) and he’s very excited about these developments. Hope we’ll see you again 🙂
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Don’t be so hard on the town ! A really liveable place, according to a couple I met in Ironbridge last year, and lots of history besides the great walks up the Wrekin and the pubs.
Glad to give some credit to the murals, really good work.
No doubt I’ll be back soon enough.
Cheers
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Just downloaded the leaflet and the first thing you see is a lady drinking a pint, always a good sign ;-0
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