A great county, and not one over-dominated by its county town, either.
Tough picking six; was spoilt for choice in Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, though pickings get a bit slimmer towards the north-east.
No tour of England is complete without a wander round Shrewsbury’s medieval streets and health food cafes. I might have picked an old central favourite like the Loggerheads here, but you can’t go wrong with a Bass pub in 2024,
and although it took its time to make the GBG, the Cross Foxes was an instant classic. I suspect it always was, even outside the Guide.
Sample banter:
“Did you see that Liverpool do Man City last night ?” (AAAGH)
“Yeah”
“Haven’t seen Scousers so excited about one leg since McCartney met ‘eather Mills”
“xxxx”
Not for the fainthearted, but then neither is life.
Our next pub is a little more refined,
but that’s Ludlow for you. Another “must-see” on your trip, especially for lovers of ancient timber, though sadly The Feathers STILL hasn’t been converted into a Brunning & Price, its natural fate.
Joules have done a stunning job restoring the Rose & Crown, which had half a dozen (posh) Old Boys in 2 minutes after the 11am opening, all spreading out around the rooms.
Polite staff, good Pale £3.30 a pint, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John (not in person) and seating with views to the courtyard.
It might not be the best pub in Ludlow, but it’s the one you ought to visit.
You ought to visit Oswestry, too. It’s tidy rather than spectacular, but the street art is good, they share a football team with the Welsh, and there’s some Proper Pubs.
In truth, the Bailey Head is a bit “polite”, the sort of pub that wins CAMRA awards, a classic, classy community pub whose Landlord makes some of the more sensible contributions on CAMRA Discourse.
A really cheery welcome, a mix of afternoon shoppers and the odd old boy, weird dub music, fresh flowers and some proper seating.
Almost as if some intelligent people had taken micro pubs principles (the good ones, obviously) and stuck them in a proper pub with a “Come on in” on the door, rather than a list of what you can’t do inside.
Best of all, a filling home-made venison stew for £4.50 (2018). With proper butter.
Let’s go to to the farm next.
Upper Farmcote, Bridgnorth – The Lion O’Morfe
The post on this rural classic has been one of my most successful, accumulating as many views as the one on a strip club in North Woolwich (2 referrals from “Undressed to kill” today).
Comparable isolated pubs in farming areas that spring to mind are the Cross Keys in Selattyn, which some of you will know, and the Red Lion in Breachwood Green, which you won’t.
Unlike the Cross Keys, the Lion appears to be open all day, which these days takes you aback a little.
And no-one is here eating anything other than cheese and onion rolls.
A dozen folk, by no means all older than me, spread over two rooms and seemingly settled in for the duration. I picked the small table in the corner of the chatty room, and immediately knock over a footstool. Footstools make few appearances in my Ember Inn reports.
I’ll be blunt; the banter was a bit shocking by Cambridge standards. “Male privilege doesn’t exist. Prove me wrong” being one gem that would have stirred Mrs RM into action.
I hid my head in the specialist reading material.
And to complete my five, here’s Shifnal.
Just before Covid the Old Codgers “did” Shifnal in a day, and very good it was too.
I didn’t know which one to pick from the half-dozen, so I chose the one with Old Mudgie looking stern.
The White Hart isn’t a guaranted Beer Guide entry, but it looks the part,
and the Holden’s was fresh and foamy.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying life in 2019. Wonder what went wrong ?
“They were obviously having more fun in the other bar, so I popped in to have a nosey around, only to be politely outed as a snoop and told “The beers are listed on the board in the other bar“. I crawled back, tail between my legs.“
Over to you to complete the set. I haven’t picked one from Bridgnorth proper; the Black Boy would be good, except the name will have to change to “The Broken Funicular” I guess.
retiredmartin 
Great county, Shropshire, one of my favourites and this is the first of your county posts where I’ve been to ALL the pubs. Other suggestions could be the Bridges in…err… Bridges, down a lane in the middle of nowhere near the Long Mynd or the Railwayman’s Arms at Bridgnorth station.
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Vague recollection of Bridges being great. Spoilt for choice in Bridgnorth !
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Bill,
It’s an adjacent county I thought I knew well but Martin has mostly picked pubs I don’t know.
I remember the Horseshoe at Bridges forty years ago ( 1982 to 1986 ) for Mild in a proper unspoilt pub and suspect that it might have sought better luck with a new name.
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The Golden Lion Bridgnorth serving, as you and I know, the finest Black Country beers.
In Ludlow I found the Rose and Crown a bit faux internally (my Joules obsession) and suffering from too many beers. The favourite from our stay was the bustling and friendly Ludlow Brewery tap.
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As with Bill, this is the first and probably only one of your counties where I have been to all of the pubs, basically because you haven’t included any “poxy micropubs”.
I’d second the Golden Lion as a Bridgnorth entry. What a pity Bridgnorth isn’t on the main-line railway network.
I’ve been in the Rose & Crown as a Wem Ales pub, but not in its Joules incarnation. Many Joules pubs have very pleasant interiors, but they are all a bit faux and arch for my taste.
The Loggerheads would certainly be a shoo-in in the absence of the Cross Foxes, although it was better when it had Bass. I don’t see the Cross Foxes as particularly raw, but I can see why twentysomething hipsters might not feel at home, as with the Hare & Hounds in Manchester city centre.
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Sometimes a micropub is a necessary inclusion to give a feel for a place, e.g. in Chorley market or a brewery tap in Bermondsey.
I know what Ian and Paul mean about Joules but the Rose & Crown fits in well with Ludlow and works better for me than the Blood Bay, which is the most recent Ludlow entry.
Cross Foxes/Hare & Hounds is good comparison.
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If nothing else, micropubs are rarely open when I’m actually there!
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I actually scored my beer NBSS 4.5 in the Blood Bay, which according to the listed criteria means you have to stay there drinking the same beer until they throw you out. But this was one of those rare occasions when I had hired a car, so I had to leave after just a half of Uley Bitter.
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And I will third the Golden Lion. Fantastic beer and a nice place to stay.
Dick
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I have never been to that county. Your post makes me want to go!
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You should, Morten. The southern part near Clun and the Welsh border is particularly attractive.
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Couple of nice pubs in Clun too
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I grew up around North Shropshire and now my family live in Shrewsbury. It’s always weird seeing it on the internet, many people I speak to don’t even know where it is.
I’m glad you managed to visit Wem, a weird place whose residents are convinced it is the centre of the universe. For your own safety and sanity I’m also glad you managed to leave.
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Wem has never had a Good Beer Guide entry since I started properly “doing” the Guide, Market Drayton and Whitchurch the closest entries. Glad we went, and enjoyed the pubs immensely, good beer in most too. It’s not THAT weird !
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For quite a few years there has been a strange GBG desert in the north-east corner of the county. The current edition only has four entries north of Telford and the A5.
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Poor old Telford. What about The Cock, right by Telford United AFC?
WhatPub says that it’s been “sympathetically restored” by Joule’s. There wasn’t much wrong with it before if you ask me.
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“sympathetically restored” by Joule’s
That’d be a first.
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Just looked at their website “gallery”.
The pub I knew is no more.
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Oakengates, just outside Telford, has got three great pubs almost next door to each other.
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Crown, Fighting Cocks, Station ? And then a few near the Telford ground.
We spent a fair few weekends in Telford’s business hotels in the late 2000s, loads for children (Wonderland theme park), pubs in clusters, great walks.
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9am breakfast in the Tudor ( four sausages ), 10am on £2.95 Draught Bass in Craft Union’s George IV, 11am for the new Pedigree in the Queen’s Head.
That was my leisurely morning in Lichfield that gave me ample time to properly think about Shropshire.
The only pub therein I’ve been to a few times recently is the All Nations at Madeley and that would be one of my top five.
I’d also include a Bishops Castle pub though nowadays probably the Castle rather than the Three Tuns.
My favourite was the Royal Oak, the Tiddly, at Ellerdine Heath under the late Barrie Malone and wife Rose.
Nearly as good was the New Inn at Newport but the wrecking of the historic interior by the current owner makes it the pub there I now avoid.
The Loggerheads has always been good.
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Weren’t by any chance sat in a bean bag by the radiator for that pic, were you, Martin?
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No mentions for the Sun at Leintwardine? I thought it might have floated someone’s boat. Another pub with tremendous beer – another NBSS 4.5 the same day as the Blood Bay (see above). This one was Ludlow Stairway, with my star-struck comment below: “I had no idea this beer could be so good.”
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Leintwardine is in Herefordshire.
I agree about the Railway Shed in Ludlow, particularly given its proximity to the station.
Blood Bay and its sister pub leave me cold, especially given the owner’s ludicrous sub- Humphry Smith rules.
No surprise to find a Bass stockist in Shrewsbury getting the nod, above the likes of the Nags Head or Three Fishes.
White Horse in Clun is a must.
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I’m not that keen on the Ludlow tap, bit sterile as a pub for me.
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Oops! My bad. I think I knew that anyway, but Pubs Galore has it listed under Craven Arms…
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You can’t trust them lot at Pubs Galore, Will.
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“Everyone seemed to be enjoying life in 2019. Wonder what went wrong ?”
I can’t forget what happened to me on the way to Shifnal. I think it was an omen.
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I’ve forgotten already. Were you forced to drink keg beer or something ?
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No, Abbot across in the Sunbeam.
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A great county, hard to pick a shortlist. Other pubs not already mentioned worthy of consideration are:
The Stiperstones, Stiperstones
The Coach & Horses, Shrewsbury
The Admiral Benbow, Shrewsbury
The Church Inn, Ludlow
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All great choices, Andy. I remember the Benbow conspiratorially producing a barrel of Adnams Bitter in 1999 (they were Punch and shouldn’t have had it).
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