The Coracle, Telford

The Coracle is a bare board micro with an L-shaped bar counter in the left rear corner that faces a beer shelf along the front left and seating up the right-hand wall. A couple more tables are found in a small rear seating area where some pub games also reside. There’s a beer fridge behind the bar counter, and on the back bar are 11 craft keg fonts. There are also five hand pumps, four of which were in operation drawing Buxton Brewery’s Fallen Halo, Salopian’s Shropshire Gold, Brew York’s Diana Voss and Wylam’s Plum Porter. The Fallen Hero and Gold were both spot on. If in the area it’s well worth popping into Ironbridge to have a look at the famous bridge, and it would be rude not to have a beer in here whilst there.

Once again, we'd saved our best pub of the day in Shropshire until last. This micropub has two rooms, front and rear, with a single unisex toilet also in the rear room. The bar is in the front room on the left. A coracle hangs from the ceiling. A blackboard at the side of the bar lists the real ale, cider and craft beer selection. 4 real ales were Bristol Beer Factory Danger High Voltage, Beer Ink Scrawler, Salopian Golden Thread & Alter Ego Milky Joe. The real cider was Ascension Purple Haze. They also had a couple of fizzy ciders, which were Thistly Cross Scottish Fruits & Ross-on-Wye Birdbarker. Craft beers were Verdant Allen, GlassHouse Full House & Tanizaki, Polly's Anemoia, Deya/Beak Cosmic Control, Deya We'll Take It Off the Zombies & Ridgeside Picurd & Hold Fast: Azacca. There was a good mix of drinkers in here, including beer tickers, youngsters and generally like-minded people to ourselves. We enjoyed a good hour or so chatting in here and I have to say that the Milky Joe was a delicious beer. We retreated to the curry house a couple of doors up, which does not serve alcohol, but suggests fetching your own from the Coracle. The fridge did stock a huge number of additional beers, mostly in cans. Easily the best pub in Ironbridge and possibly the best I've visited in Telford so far.