Old Waggon & Horses, Bewdley

Traditional little pub that was doing a roaring trade for food on my visit with most tables busy with diners. It was a bit quieter in the bar area where I enjoyed my pint of Hobsons Town Crier. There were 4 ales on when I called in. Well worth a visit.

Quite correctly in the Camra 2017 Good Beer Guide. This place doesnt look too much from the outside but its a little oasis on the inside. Freehouse - so I imaging the beer range changes a lot. Of the six real ales on, the choice came down to a three tuns or a Bathams. Bathams won and it was superb. Out of the four pubs visited, this was the busiest. There's a reason for this. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2mV8xsi

On one of the main roads into Bewdley, the Old Waggon and Horses is a pleasant, homely freehouse with a multiple room layout. The entrance porch gives you a choice of rooms, with the right hand door leading through to a simple public bar with plain painted walls decorated with various pictures of sportsmen, a dartboard and lots of trophies as well as a few old black and white photos. The room is furnished with basic banquette and low stool seating and to the rear there is access to the servery which is in an L-shape and also serves a small space to the left, which in turn leads into the left hand side of the pub. The bar has a typical dark wood counter and a spectacular tree trunk lintel, which certainly makes it stand out. The left hand room is also bare boarded with curved banquettes, standard chairs and low stools filling much of the space around the edge of the room. The place has a rather homely feel thanks to a fake beam ceiling, a nice brick chimney breast with an old stove in the hearth, various black and white local photos and a collection of ceramics that look like they’ve been loaned to the pub by your Gran. Further to the left there is a separate carpeted area, perhaps aimed more at diners, with a fine tiled fireplace, bench and chair seating and a kitchen serving hatch and buffet area to the rear. A nice tapestry acts as a bit of a focal point alongside various old adverts and a series of shelves full of old tins and chinaware. Music played quietly throughout my visit and I noticed there was a large raised patio garden to the side of the pub, plus a few benches out the front as well. On the bar, six ales were available – Banks’s Mild and Amber, GWB Hambrook Pale Ale, Hobson’s Town Crier, Bathams Best and Ludlow Gold – with at least one real cider option on offer as well. The Bathams couldn’t be ignored, so one of the very friendly barmaids served up a pint that was in fantastic shape and a clear reminder why this is such a sought after beer. This is another good pub on the eastern fringes of town that certainly merits a visit in passing. I found the pub to be quite a cosy and comfortable place to settle down over a pint and the beer quality is something they obviously work on, as my pint couldn’t have been improved upon. A little flat in terms of atmosphere on a Friday afternoon, but I’m sure things improve later in the day and this was one of the highlights of a good mini-crawl around Bewdley.

Only a couple of mins walk from the Rising Sun. I quite liked this pub, as it does have a certain charm both inside and out. The pub has a traditional interior, with a small compact bar in the right hand corner of the pub. There was various settling areas and seating in the lounge on the left was comfortable. The bench seating out front was even more desirable when the sun came out. Two ales on handpump on this visit Bathams Bitter and Banks Bitter