The Lion Hotel

Shrewsbury, Shropshire:

Whatpub link

This is a hotel, but scrapes in as it’s on the CAMRA Heritage Pubs site, not for the bar we drank in, but for

the Oak Bar, situated just inside the hotel on the left hand side

friendly staff. The inside is best described as “faded grandeur”: it’s lovely, stunning even, but really needs a sympathetic, light-touch restoration to bring it up to scratch as a hotel, as evidenced by Tripadvisor reviews. No cask ale, but we were drinking water anyway: the only time we managed to purchase sparkling water on our trip.

The Nag’s Head

Shrewsbury, Shropshire:

Whatpub Link

This was one of our favourite pubs of the trip. It didn’t have the full-on timewarp of Loggerheads, but it was nice and traditional inside. The beer choice was exemplary: Proper Job, Landlord, HPA and another. The barmaid was lovely, and judging by her t-shirt (Slipknot) may have influenced the music (rock, loud enough but not too loud). If only we employed more pub staff with decent music taste.

Good view of the street outside, nice-looking beer garden too.