The Water Rat, Telford

This pub is very food led and has two rooms both of which are effectively dining rooms. It's got a very modern feel about it, although the building itself may be old, it's difficult to tell. There is an area of raised outside decking and across the car park there is a huge beer garden, which is where I sat last night. It backs on to the river and is overlooked by the 4 massive cooling towers of Ironbridge power station. It is quite spectacular to see these brooding giants completely surrounded by trees in the middle of the gorge itself. It's very peaceful down here, the only sounds I could hear were the river, a wood pigeon and some sheep in the distance. They have 3 handpumps, 2 were on selling Wye Valley Bitter and Holden's Golden Glow. I had a pint of the Wye Valley which was pretty good. It's not a traditional pub in any sense, but it is pretty good at what it does.