The Loggerheads, Shrewsbury

First recorded as a pub called The Greyhound back in 1780, this fine multiple room building changed its name to The Shrewsbury Arms in 1828 and soon acquired the nickname of The Loggerheads, which is a corruption of ‘Leopard’s Heads’, in reference to the three leopard’s heads that appear on the Shrewsbury coat of arms. A look at the pub from outside shows that the building seems to be leaning to one side – not an uncommon sight around town – although Marston’s spent a considerable sum a few years ago to ensure that this doesn’t get any worse. The layout centres around a brick floor passageway which leads to four rooms around each corner of the building. The main bar is accessed through a door on the right of the passageway, near to the front entrance. It’s a small room with a couple of tables served by padded benches and low stools. A small fireplace stands on the end wall, old pictures provide a bit of distraction as does the rather out of place TV screen which was showing golf. The next room is a former ‘gentlemen only’ snug with quarry stone floor, pew style seating and an etched glass front window which records it as the Smoke Room. To the rear left of the building is the Poet’s Room, which looked quite cosy with its warm shaded walls and lit fire. Padded benches provide comfortable seating for the couple of tables within. The final room is the lounge, located at the far end of the passageway on the right hand side of the building. This room has wooden flooring, a small brick fireplace, button backed banquette and low stool seating, a dartboard and a small hatch to the servery, the overall effect of which suggested that this would be the nicest room to spend time in. Five hand pumps were dispensing Jennings Sneck Lifter, Lakeland Stunner and Dark Mild, Marston’s EPA and Pedigree. I asked for a pint of the Dark Mild and was stunned when the barman, who was a good ten years my junior, asked me for ID. In many ways, I wish I’d just walked out, as my pint of Mild was pretty ropey, although the manager later popped over to apologise for her colleague’s over the top approach. This place is certainly worth a look for the fantastic interior, but I found both the beer and the service to be seriously lacking and I would have to think twice about returning given the wealth of other options nearby.

What a very quirky place this is! I went in to the main bar room which was small but very comfortable. I counted 7 handpumps on the bar - I opted for the Snecklifter by Jennings Brewery which was delicious and very well kept. Interesting chat with the locals who were very friendly. One pointing out to me the door frame to the room we was sitting in. I said the joiner must have been pissed when he built that as it was slanted! This in fact added to the overall charm of the place. As I walked to the toilets, I soon realised that it had three other cosy rooms, all linked by a narrow corridor. I love pubs like this as I see them as hidden gems, that have not been ruined or updated. Once the young lady behind the bar finished her shift, the landlord came in. I complimented his pub and his ales. I also just happened to mention that he was a dead-ringer for Mr Manchester himself - no other than Anthony H Wilson. The infamous Hacienda nightclub owner and also the owner of Factory Records. I'm not sure if he was pleased or perturbed by my comments? One of my favourite pubs in my short visit to Shrewsbury. Highly recommended!

The Loggerheads is a fine traditional town centre pub situated in the old part of town. Strategically placed sandwich boards on the nearby street corners invite us to “step back in time until 1780”. Outside the pub, we see a plaque telling us that The Loggerheads is Shrewsbury’s most traditional pub dating from 1665 and that it was first recorded as a public house in 1780 when it was known as The Greyhound, subsequently The Lord Hill. We’re also told that the Loggerheads is the name given to the three leopards or lions heads depicted on the arms of the town of Shrewsbury. Note also the old etched windows denoting Smoke Room and Bar Parlour. The building is now Grade 2 listed. A single entrance leads into an L Shaped quarry tiled corridor off which there are 4 different rooms. The most interesting room is the first room on the left which features old settles and bell pushes. We see that this room was “Gentlemen Only until 1975”. Note also the splendid framed painting of customers ( men of course ) packing out this room in days long gone and a fold away shove halfpenny board. There’s no bar counter in this room, service being provided via a hatch to the bar counter situated in the main bar on the other side of the corridor. This bar – the parlour bar – appears to be where the regulars congregate and features a wooden bar counter, wooden flooring and basic furniture. At the end of the corridor, at the angle of the L is a more cosy and comfortable snug type bar. At the other end of the corridor, past the parlour bar is a larger brighter room with a dartboard and padded banquettes and something of a slightly more modern feel. On the wall here, above the serving hatch to the main bar, we see the old pub sign, depicting loggerhead turtles – which appears to be a former interpretation of the pub’s name, not now generally accepted as correct. The pub is listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Food is now offered – you are invited to “create your own sausage and mash” with a variety of types of each available at lunchtime. There weren’t any takers on my recent mid – September visit and the pub was disconcertingly quiet for a lunchtime given its central location. With just a few regulars passing the time of day. Although I don’t recall seeing any external brewery branding, it’s evidently a Banks / Marstons pub with the usual range – Pedigree, Jennings, Hobgoblin etc available. My pint of Jennings Snecklifter - £ 2.90p – was an excellent pint and made a welcome change from the pale beers that seem to dominate certain other town pubs ( eg – The Salopian Bar ). You should definitely include this one in any Shrewsbury crawl

A multi room layout, the front windows are etched with the functions of the rooms behind. The centre room, the bar parlour has the counter and the two rooms to the side are served by hatches in the room or corridor in the case of the Gents Only snug. The beer quality and service were above reproach and the locals were a chatty friendly bunch, definitely a must visit when in Shrewsbury.

We came in here tonight when this area of the town centre had a power cut for 20 - 30 minutes. What a wonderful atmosphere with the few emergency lights and many candles set up by the bar staff with a violinist playing in one of the rooms. as we were in here for one of the 5 - 6 ales there was no problem serving these from the traditional hand pumps. The make shift cash till was in a half pint glass with the low light making it had to see the change but at least it was working unlike the electric one. There was enough light to find our way though the corridor to a room that had an unoccupied table. What a shame that the power came back on! A great interior in one of the narrow streets in the upper part of town and this place hasnt changed much (if any) from our first visits many years go.

Fantastic traditional multi-roomed building which has been a public house since the late 18th century and is now owned by Banks’s (Marston’s). the interior is a warren of four small rooms linked by an L shaped corridor, on entering you will see the narrow corridor with the main public bar immediately on the right, this has a bar counter across the back of the room which has serving hatches at either end for the other rooms, a small fire place on the right, leather bench seats, an old pub sign on the wall with a framed certificate indicating that the pub is listed in CAMRA’s national historic pubs inventory due to its traditional interior and an old TV that should be listed as well! On the left of the corridor is a small snug with a sign warning “Gents only”, an inglenook fire place dominating the right hand wall and wooden settles. Opposite the entrance at the end of the corridor is a second snug with a small fire place in the back wall, leather seats and old portrait photos of famous literary types on the walls. Here the corridor bends round to the right behind the public bar and leads to the fourth room which is a larger lounge with a brick fire place on the right, a dart board in the corner and leather seats. Regular ales are Banks’s Bitter and Draught Bass with four changing guests that were surprisingly from small independent breweries such as Sadlers Worcester Sorcerer, Mellow Yellow and Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby (GBG 2010). I’ve seen this a couple of times recently and I believe that due to proposed changes to licensing laws Marston’s are now allowing landlords to chose guest beers from breweries that are not part of the Marston group, which is great news. This is a brilliant traditional pub with tons of character and a decent selection of good beer, this was the first time that I had visited but it most certainly will not be the last. Shrewsbury has some great real ale pubs but I think this one is just about the best. I have no hesitation in recommending this pub and I can confirm that the sausage and egg sarnies are also spot on.