The Shipley Bridge, Horley

Official site of The Shipley Bridge - www.chefandbrewer.com

Official site of The Shipley Bridge - www.chefandbrewer.com

During preparation for a recent Friday evening jaunt around the East of Crawley I decided to start my pub crawl at the Shipley Bridge. In hindsight this was an error of judgement because Gatwick is not the easiest place to leave on foot and walking alongside the B2036/27 on a thin footpath was hair-raising to say the least. At one point I thought that I was going to fall through the dark into a river. Therefore I was relieved when I finally got to the pub, even when I found out it is a Chef & Brewer establishment. When I left to go to the next pub I decided to get a cab, but that is another story! This large pub is located down a side road off the B2037 a stone’s throw from the M23. It is also not far from the end of the runway at the airport so there is a constant stream of low flying planes overhead. Being a bit of a plane geek I saw the presence of these metal birds as a plus, but the constant noise may make others wish to pass on the plentiful outside seating. This is primarily a food led pub so it was not surprising to see a large car park, but the adjacent small field with a small football pitch was a first. By the entrance to the sprawling interior is a sign asking people to wait to be seated. I ignored this sign and made a beeline for the bar that was stocked with standard draught and San Miguel. I also counted six hand pumps, but three of these were unused and one was off leaving Harvey’s Best and Greene King IPA as the cask options. All of the tables were set for dining with menus in situ so I was able to discover that cod and chips was priced at £10. There are food deals which occur on certain theme nights (e.g. burger night) throughout the week. During my visit there was some low inoffensive background music playing and I spotted advertisements for live music on a couple of evenings in December. As it was only the end of October I would assume that live music is not a regular occurrence. This is a family pub aimed at diners so I will not be going out of my way to revisit anytime soon.