Congratulations to Corby Mark for guessing my next destination.
I mean, how could you resist the Benbow ?
As Vaux Wanderer says;
The Benbow has been a GBG regular for decades, though perhaps sitting behind the Loggerheads, Coach & Horses and 3 Fishes in the pantheon of Shrewsbury pubs.
My return visit on Thursday night was nostalgic. In 1999 Mrs RM let me have an hour to “Tick the Town” and the Benbow really shone for beer, a barrel of Adnams Bitter they’d smuggled past the pub chain or something. Best Adnams I’ve ever had.
Now what really shone was the homeliness of the place.
Great welcome, fantastically irreverent bants at the bar from a mature crowd (probably younger than me), and an Old Skool line-up.
Probably four too many on the bar if I’m honest; the Salopian was tasty if not as crisp as it can be.
But you’ll struggle to beat the conversations from the theatre crowd on the next table.
“So what you’re doing in the Autumn is a BIG production ?”
“Is it virile or fertile, the word I’m looking for. At my age it makes a difference“.
Bowie would have felt at home.
I had a train to catch, or I’d miss my Stafford takeaway.
Blimey, aren’t these alleyways dark ?
retiredmartin 
Yes, the Benbow is a cracker. I boycotted the Three Fishes for years because it was a non-smoking pub before the ban (I was still on the fags in those days) Went back post-ban and the beer was great but I found it a bit cold and unwelcoming. Unlike the Benbow and Loggerheads.
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Although the anti-smoking thing is now a long time ago, the Three Fishes has always seemed to lack something to me.
A problem with the Admiral Benbow is that it only opens at lunchtimes on Saturdays, so it’s off the agenda for a day trip on any other day. It’s a nice comfortable pub, but I’d also concur with the beer being a bit on the flat side.
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Only open Saturday lunchtimes ?
Blimey.
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Bill,
I remember the Three Fishes back then and John Sims running it as if he was still a military officer, an exasperated “You people” in response to my perfectly justified and polite request for my seriously short measured pint to be topped up.
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Was the Three Fishes that no-smoking pub ? A bit precious, I thought.
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Yes, that’s the pub, and the landlord that introduced the policy.
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Looks great. I must visit Shrewsbury.
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Looking forward to a few beers round Shrewsbury next Friday ahead of the HMHB gig there, these last few posts have certainly whetted the appetite
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The next one is the best of the lot !
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I believe those alleyways are called shuts. Did you see Grope Lane?
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