Craven Arms Hotel, Craven Arms

Huge coaching house from 1805. Despite being the only pub in Craven Arms (there is a hotel/inn by the discovery centre) its seems to be struggling, yet valiantly carrying on. All neat and tiny inside. Multi roomed with a carvery/dining area, bar, pool room etc. I was in on a Saturday and the landlord explained the menu was limited as it was January and they were moving to a new menu. No worries, the food was quickly served, good value and homecooked. Beer wise - just the one real ale on and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Wadworth 6x. I have no idea where the people of Craven Arms go out.

This is a nice old building, dated 1805, standing by a busy roundabout on the A49 in the eponymous village. I didn't know what to expect, because typically these days places like this tend to become a bit run down - people just don't stay in hotels like this any more, and although plenty of traffic passes, fewer than one in a hundred drivers even thinks about stopping. In the front porch there's a choice of left to the "ale bar and lounge" or right to the public bar. I chose left, and found two large and pleasant rooms, initially looking quite smart, though closer examination indicated some wear and tear to some of the upholstery. On the bar were two hand pumps, both selling golden ales from local breweries, Ludlow and Salopian. I tossed a mental coin and ended up with the Ludlow, which was a little tired and uninspiring, and who knows whether the Salopian would have been any better?