The Blood Bay, Ludlow

A lovely little pub just off the Market Square, one might well surmise that this hasn’t changed at all for decades. That said, it has in fact only been here for about seven years when it was converted from a shop. Whether or not the shop had a similar décor, or whether it’s been very well planned to make it look old, I’m not sure. In keeping with the Victorian style of the pub, mobile phones were banned and this rule was enforced. The front bar is quite small, with the bar counter taking up the back wall, and a few small tables and chairs. Much of the wall was wood panelled and painted a deep salmon colour, with the flooring being old wooden boards. A few old pictures were dotted around, including a portrait of Queen Victoria, and above this a small bookshelf. At the rear was a similar sized room that was broadly similar in terms of décor, but with green painted wallpaper on the walls. This served both as a corridor to upstairs but had also been further partitioned off to create a cosy snug. The partitioning included both etched and stained glass, whilst the snug had padded bench seating on either side, and more old pictures. There was also a small hatch to get service directly from the bar. Beer selection seemed to be limited to just a pale ale, a bitter and a stout and on this occasion, these were represented by Cotswold Lion Brewery’s Shepherd’s Delight, Uley Taverner and Chantry Diamond Black respectively. The solitary cider meanwhile was Barbourne Traditional which went down very well. Oddly though for a Victorian style pub, there was no gin available. Overall, a cracking pub, and whilst the barmaid seemed a little standoffish to start with, she was quite pleasant once she got chatting.

Camra OCR pub entry - ocrpubs.camra.org.uk

Camra OCR pub entry - ocrpubs.camra.org.uk

Perfectly described below and unknown to me I didn’t realise this was a shop conversion of Victorian era, garnering an Outstanding Conversions and Restorations award from CAMRA; the interior is largely original. There were four ales on unclipped pumps, named on a blackboard to the rear, with a cider, Pale, Bitter and Hobsons Dhustone Stout, £2.10 a half and excellent, served by the mildly eccentric but effusive barmaid. With the hearty, friendly and chatty locals in on my Friday 9.00pm visit, I really enjoyed my brief stay; the lack of a car would have kept me in for longer, this making for a great double with the Blue Boar and triple with the Rose & Crown, if you like Joule’s beers.

A cracking little pub, converted from a shop. Very dog friendly as there were 3 in during our visit and 2 of them were huge, which doesn't leave much room for humans in the two tiny rooms. A very friendly welcome from the barmaid. No pump clips , but there is a chalkboard benind the bar. Ther's another room upstairs, which is impressive, but it was empty, so we sat in the rear room. No electronic devices allowed, so conversation rules. We both loked it and would happily call in again.