May 2024. Neen Sollars. Cleobury Mortimer.
Deep into the heart of the Marches now, where Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire collide, and the sudden disappearance of WiFi as you head south from Cleobury means you can’t actually find the Live And Let Live.
I’d set the directions for the village, assuming the pub is the only building there apart from the phone box-cum-defibrillator, but it’s not, and only good fortune sees me drive east for a mile looking for a place to turn before stumbling on it.
This is the picturesque frontage,
but the entrance is via the car park, which tells you a lot, as do the opening hours;
Yep, pretty much open when there’s food being served.
But that’s OK, it’s catering for a captive population trending to zero (just one other drinker while we’re there), and is very much your destination trad. dining pub.
I remember this being a perennial entry in the Good Pub Guide, a book listing the prices of the menu, listing all the beers (all “well kept”) and describing in detail the furniture and floristry.
But the Live and Let Live never made the Beer Guide, not once, till now.
The Hobsons (“well kept”) from up the road is OK, but it’s this sprawling multi-roomed interior that makes you go “Ooooh” in a Dudley accent.
You’ll have to wait for Mrs RM’s full video report, but if it was a church it would be a NCSS 4.5, and the barmaid delightedly told us we’d missed the best, 13th century part on our exploration.
OK, some of it has been reclaimed from old churches or possibly stolen from Joules pubs or car boot sales in Ludlow, but the overall effect is stunning,
and they had salt and pepper squid on the menu, and would let us park our campervan in the sprawling car park. So expect a follow-up report this year.
retiredmartin 
I thought the Live and Let Live had been in the GBG within the last 10/15 years? It has, however, been closed a lot, including a lengthy spell recently. Before that I seem to remember the interior being very much more plain (in a medieval way).
LikeLike
I’d never been in, and would certainly have remembered it !
Think I completed the Shropshire chapter every year but possible it was in the one year I didn’t. Duncan didn’t recall it being in, either.
The other place nearby I know by name but gave never been in is the Duke of York at Leysters but I think that’s been keg for a while.
LikeLike
I thought it was in the Herefordshire section?
LikeLike
Leymers is ? neen sollars is Salop, and Tenbury is Worcs
LikeLike
Maybe it’s not the same Live and Let Live. I’m thinking of Bringsty Common.
LikeLike
That’s the one ! Bringsty, Herefordshire. Closed, reopened a decade or so ago, closed again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Andy,
The Live and Let Live, Neen Sollars, has not been in The Good Beer Guide in recent years, neither has it been been ‘closed’ for several months for at least 44 years, and probably longer. As the current Landlady of 7 years, and having worked for the former publicans for 17 years of their 36 year reign, I speak with some knowledge.
Could you be confusing us with the Live and Let Live at Bringsty Common, near Bromyard?
If so, perhaps it’s time for you to pay us a visit? Look forward to welcoming you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like the Bringsty Common pub, doesn’t it ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Should I ask my branch to propose to the next CAMRA conference that NBSS be changed to well-kept; average; awful?
LikeLiked by 1 person
You only get an “Oo” with the Half Moon.
LikeLiked by 1 person