SHREWSBURY

Trail 4 - Return to station

Welcome to Pub Trails - SHREWSBURY

Trail 4 - Return to station

Shrewsbury is an Historic market town near the England-Wales border. The centre of the town is almost surrounded by a loop in the River Severn.  One road comes in from the North, close to the railway station, without crossing the river while two roads enter the town centre by bridges, one called the English Bridge and the other The Welsh Bridge.

Shrewsbury is the county town from Shropshire. It is actually a large town with around 100,000 of a population. However, the city centre seems removed from this largeness as it is 80% surrounded by the River Severn which gives it a separate feel. This is where the old town was and the new is built with and on it.

Shopping is varied with national chain stores in the shopping centres and local shops and boutiques in the local streets. The centre has many pubs, cafes and restaurants

Shrewsbury has an Abbey (associated with the fictional character Brother Cadfael from the books by Ellis Peters), a Cathedral and a Castle.

Nearby is the World Heritage site of Ironbridge, also Stokesay Castle and Acton Burnell Castle. Nearby National Trust properties include Attingham Park and Cronkhill Villa.

There are Four Trails running on from one another therefore you can actually start at any of the pubs and move on the number you wish. The complete trail will start at the railway station and return there at the end.

First Section - to the Welsh bridge and river (blue icons)

Second - Into the town

Third - Down to the English Bridge

Fourth - returning to the Station

Section 4 can start at The Lion Hotel from section 3

Section 4 - Return to the station

Continue walking up the hill from the Nag's Head and start this trail at The Lion Hotel. Cross over and walk up the street opposite where, on the left-hand side, is Cromwell's Wine bar.

Further up is Darwin's Kitchen & bar (was keep walking up hill and here at the next corner round to the left is The Loggerheads. Walk along this short street and turn right. Follow the curve, at the church, round and down to the right is The Bull Inn. Return to The Loggerheads (have another one).

Walk back to the road you came up and diagonally opposite the corner across the church yard there is Yorkshire House.

Walk down the hill past Shrewsbury Castle and as the station comes into sight there is The Vaults followed by The Bull's Head

Pub Facts

The 28 pubs in the Shrewsbury Trail cater for a wide range of customers.

There are cafe-bars, restaurant-bars, old corner pubs, food-bars, shiny new lounges and some past their sell by date.

 

Most pubs have real ale and some have lots of it. the vast majority offer food and some are food places that offer beer.

 

There is a lot of outside seating available. most try to offer at least seating by the road to watch the shoppers go by. A few have actual beer gardens but many more have some sort of patio or at least a small open area for smokers.

PLACES TO VISIT WITH PUBTRAILS

 The towns and villages highlighted on this web site have a wide variety of pubs and beers in them.  All of the places are great to visit, whether for a day or longer, and most have tourist attractions for all of the family.

There is a large variety of pubs throughout the different towns shown below. Some you may wish never to visit again but even discovering these can be interesting. There are pubs that you would not take your wife into. While some you could not take your girlfriend into. A few you would not take either into. However, most of the pubs are very pleasant.

HOME MAP of places visited

Alnwick Ambleside Anstruther Bakewell Bamburgh Barnard Castle Bath Berwick upon Tweed Birnam & Dunkeld Bourton on the Water Bowness on Windermere Bridge of Allan Chester Chichester Dunblane Dunoon Edinburgh Ely Fort William Glasgow Gourock Greenock                   Helensburgh   Inverness Kelso Keswick Knaresborough Largs Linlithgow Lyme Regis Melrose Montrose Newton Stewart North Berwick Norwich Oban Pebbles Penzance Portree Pitlochry Quorn Richmond Rothesay St Andrews Seahouses Seend Shrewsbury Skipton Stirling Stratford-upon-Avon Stockton Heath Whitby Windemere Whitstable York

 The Lion Hotel

The Lion Hotel

Real Ale :  Butty Bach (Wye); Shropshire Lad (Wood’s); Shropshire Gold

Bitter:  Tetley’s Smoothflow

Lager: Carlsberg

Cider                     Guinness

 Cromwell’s Wine Bar (now called Cromwell’s Inn)

Cromwell’s Wine Bar is a modern bar and is now called Cromwell’s Inn, which makes more sense as it was a lovely bar with beer garden, in an old building. The servery is small and the room is split into two. The nearer right-hand side has some dining tables and a comfy bit for waiting on a table. The further end is definitely set out for dining. Beyond this, outside and up a few stairs is a large patio which in turn leads to a further patio, up more steps, going back over the building. The inside is is pleasant and atmospheric.

Have a half pint here.

CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2025

Real Ale :    Three Tuns Pale Ale; HPA –Hereford pale Ale (Wye)

Lager:         Urquell;   Becks;  Peroni; Stella

Cider:                             Guinness

Pub Jukebox:

Alcohol themed music to listen to while you browse.

Sunday Morning Coming Down - Kris Kristopherson

Darwin's Kitchen & Bar (was Porter House)

This report is for PorterHouse, which is now called now called Darwin's Kitchen & Bar is still a smart upmarket food place – a bar-kitchen. There are two rooms. The main one has the servery with seating on stools around the window and tall tables closer to the bar. There are dining tables further on in the opened up room. There is a second dining area, in a conservatory, through to the left. This has a small outside seating space (smoking area) which leads to the street by the front door. The boutique b & b has 4 rooms.

Have a half pint here

Real Ale: Oracle; Shrewsbury Gold

Bitter:      DNA (Wells)

Lager:      Peroni; Kozel

Cider       Thatcher Gold                

Guinness

Pub Quiz

What planet in our solar system has two moons?

Answer at foot of page

 The Loggerheads ♥ ★

The Loggerheads (Marston’s) is an old four roomed pub. The left-hand door takes you to a choice of doors with a sigh pointing to the door on the right “bar”. Enter here to find a very small bar. The door opens in and a three-seater padded bench is against the outside wall. Look around the door and another is against the wall end at the bar. That sets out the dimensions of the room. A fireplace juts out from the opposite wall.  The servery, at the rear “stretches” the width of the room.

The left wall of the servery has a hatch to serve into the corridor which would have been straight on from the entrance. Off of the corridor are two rooms – a smoke and a snug. The right-hand side of the servery also has a hatch which looks into a lounge. A passage behind the bar connects the lounge to the other rooms and toilets. Folk music nights and food during the day.

regular in Good Beer Guide, including 2023, 2024

Have a pint or two here.

Real Ale :          Cocker Hoop; Sneck Lifter; Banks’s Bitter; Pedigree; Dark Mild (Jennings); Sunbeam; EPA (Marstons)

Lager:               Fosters; Carling; Carlsberg

Cider:                Strongbow            Guinness

 The Bull Inn

The Bull Inn (Marston’s) entrance takes you to a large room, with some tables it is mainly a standing area, with the servery at the far end. Going round to the right of this the pub opens into another room with table seating. This room then extends, and narrows, going to the rear of the pub. This also leads to a beer garden. There is outside seating at the front as well.

Have one here

Real ale:   Banks’s Bitter;  Hobgoblin; Bloomin Marvellous;     Canadian Red

Lager:       Carling; Peroni;  Budweisser;  San Miguel

Cider:        Stowford press                                             Guinness

Yorkshire House ★

Yorkshire House is a two roomed dark rock music drinking pub. The walls are Iron Maiden colouring and decorated with names of heavy metal bands. Full sized models of a wizard and a space warrior decorate the space to the left of the door. The servery is just inside the door to the left with a large sitting room to the right and a similar one through at the other side of the bar.

Have a pint here.

Real Ale:        HAP (Wye Valley); Mad Goose (Purity); Trooper (Robinsons)

Lager:            Carling; Coors Light; Stella

Cider:             Old Rosie; Stowford press; Strongbow                          Guinness

 The Castle Vaults (was The Vaults)

The Vaults, now The Castle Vaults, entrance takes you to large room with variety of seating. The large servery is down a few stairs to the left. A music. Live and DJ venue. There is an attractive roof terrace.

Real Ale Guide (CAMRA) 2015

Have a  pint here

Real Ale: Town Crier (Hobsons); Three Tuns Pale Ale; Shropshire Giold; Butty Bach

Bitter:

Lager:  Carling; Holster Vier; Stella

Cider:    Strongbow                          Guinness

The Bull’s Head  

The Bull’s Head (Marston’s) has a square shaped servery serving the bar at the entrance.  There are some seats by the window then a fireplace wall leading around the bar to pool area. There is a warning that leaning on fire could be dangerous! A larger lounge is round to the right via a narrow space between bar and wall.

Have a half pint

Real Ale:     Pedigree; Banks’s Bitter

Bitter:           Mansfield Smoothflow

Lager:         Stella; Carlsberg

Cider:         Thatcher's Gold;    Strongbow    Guinness

Links for SHREWSBURY city centre Pubtrails

  • Trail 1 - Station to Welsh Bridge

    (blue icons)

    Bulls Head

    The Alb

    The Salopian

    The King's Head

    The Shrewsbury Hotel.

    Hickory's (formerly The Waterfront)

    The Armoury

    Montgomery's Tower

  • Trail 2 - Into the town

    (yellow icons)

    The Loopy Shrew (formerly Bellstone)

    Morgan’s

    The Coach and Horses

    The Admiral Benbow

    Ashley's

    The Hole In The Wall

    The Three Fishes

    The Bull Inn

  • Trail 3 -Down to the English Bridge

    (green icons)

    The Three Fishes

    The Wheatsheaf

    The Old Post Office

    The Lion Hotel

    The Henry Tudor House

    The Hop and Friar

    The Lion and Pheasant.

    The Nag's Head.

Other places with several trails

“You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.”

 

 

— Dean Martin

Other interesting pages

  • Books on Beer

    A selection of recommended books covering all aspects of beer and brewing. There are books on the history of beer and others on different styles of beer.

    For example

    An Inebriated History of Britain by Peter Haydon

    Amber, Gold & Black by Martyn Cornell

    Brew Britannia by Jessica Boak & Ray Bailey

    The Story of the Pint by Martyn Cornell

    Miracle Brew by Pete Brown

    Built to Brew by Lynn Pearson

    And many more

  • Books on Pubs

    A selection of recommended books on pubs and their history. There are books on the social history of pubs and the design of pubs through the ages.

    There are also books on visiting pubs and ones recommending pubs to visit.

    CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide

    Death of the English Pub by Christopher Hutt

    Brewers, Brands and the Pubs in their Hands by Tony Thornton

    Licensed to Sell by Brandwood, Davidson & Slaughter

    And many more

  • Map of CAMRA branches

    Map of CAMRA branches and e-mail links

ANSWER: Mars (Phobos and Deimos)