Ship Inn, Bridgnorth

This is a nice free house that was built around 1770 as a private house for a successful local bargeman, it is in a prime spot on the riverbank of the Severn and next to Highley station on the preserved Severn Valley steam railway line. The interior was previously very traditional and rustic but it was refurbished and slightly modernised a couple of years ago although some original features have been retained. There are two rooms with three distinct areas, a public bar at the front with a dining area called the Fisherman's Plaice in the back left corner of the main building and a second dining room called the Jolly Roger in an extension on the left of the building. The public bar is on two levels with an exposed stone dividing wall across the middle, this has a large tropical fish tank built in to it. The pine wood bar counter is across the back wall with a large inglenook fire place and timber lintel dominating the left stone wall on the higher level next to the counter, this is flanked by some rather amusing miniature brass cannons! There is also a small log burning cast stove in the right wall at the other end of the counter, there are beams across the ceiling and modern leather arm chairs. I only briefly popped my head in to the two dining areas but they were minimalist with red carpet and modern pine dining furniture. At the front of the building is a pine decked area which is raised up above the level of the riverbank, this has picnic style tables and large parasols. Regular ales are currently Marston's Pedigree, Banks's Mild, Brakspear Oxford Gold and Hobson's Town Crier with a single changing guest beer which on this occasion was Marston's English Pale Ale. I tried the Town Crier which was very good in my opinion. Bit of a shame that the owners seem to have chosen to tie the pub to Marston's brewery despite being a free house, I guess this is for convenience as Marston's do offer a fairly wide selection, but there are already many Marston's owned pubs in this part of the country already. Not so long ago they did have a house bitter called Jolly Roger Ale although it was absent on this visit. A good pub in a lovely spot where you can sit outside and watch the river slip by and glimpse the occasional steam engine through the trees up the hill behind the pub. Personally I think they are missing a trick regarding the beer selection, for me the main attraction of a free house is the potential to source unusual beers from wherever you fancy. The pub is also a Bed and Breakfast with four very nice looking rooms, there is an emphasise on food and they do a Sunday carvery. I have not eaten here but maybe one to take the family to for a bite to eat in the future, I would return.

Well, what to say really. I agree with many of the comments below about it being an idyllic location overlooking the River Severn but unfortunately my visit to the Ship Inn will be very much remembered for the extremely poor customer service delivered by venomous tongue of the self-lauding bar staff. In my experience, visiting the Ship Inn is the perfect way to completely ruin a family day out! We were celebrating my granddads 90th birthday on the Severn Valley Railway and stopped off that Ship Inn for some lunch, being greeted at the door and welcomed at the bar is always a pleasant customer experience…but if that’s what you want, then I suggest that you steer clear of this place! Usually, asking for a round of drinks at a bar is a straightforward and encouraged process, but this really felt like I was asking for above and beyond the services offered, although the biggest frustration came with the food order. After an hour, we were still without or food, then after chasing for the first time we were told that it was being prepared, again after 1hr 20mins we were told that it was on its way out. 1hr 55mins later, after again chasing, we were told that we’d just have to wait like everyone else, no apologies, no indication of when we could expect our order and no offers of refunding a % of the bill. Now, obviously a little frustrated by now, I asked if this is the correct way to treat a customer, to which I got the response “We can because we’re popular “ and “I don’t have to listen to a lecture from you”, now really, is this the type of place that you want to go to? I don’t think so. Needless to say we promptly left without paying for the meal. I really didn’t want to sound bitter in this review but the so called customer service on Saturday 23rd July 2011 in the Ship Inn was the worst I’ve ever experienced. I only hope that the other groups who also went through the same ordeal on Saturday (we spoke to 3 groups, 1 of which had waited 3hours for food which still hadn’t arrived when we left!) also post their experiences!

In an idyllic location overlooking the River Severn, the Ship has a large wooden deck ioverlooking the river as well as tables nearer the bank. Inside however it is very unpubbish and feels more like a Habitat shop with out-of-date designer decor, stone-effect feature walls and strange furniture. It does have a fair selection of beers though, mainly Marstons group. Not my personal idea of a good pub, although there are many much, much worse.