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Detail Pages
The Loggerheads, Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
SY1 1UG
Pub Type
Local Pub (Marstons)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Loggerheads
Very interesting pub and worth the visit for the grade II listed status alone.
An adventure just getting in and finding the bar!
Not too impressed with the real ale choice mind. Think there were 3 on and when I asked about the "Snecklifter", the advice was that it was 5.1%.
Not quite the tasting notes I had in mind. Decent enough pint.
Some photos at my blog - http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/270615-shrewsbury-pub-crawl.html
On 29th June 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1344 recommendations about 1330 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Peter Rydings left this review about Loggerheads
Well worth a visit good do with a bit of a clean was Sunday night when we called in about 9.30 bit untidy and a folk band on in the back room the looked as if they had taken the room up not a lot of drinking going on with them and the music was not that good but did not put me off will call again
On 19th February 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 122 recommendations about 122 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Loggerheads
Ancient building (C17th) with a pretty unspoilt (CAMRA heritage pub) four-roomed interior arranged round a central bar. Splendidly wonky walls and flooring add to the effect; the interior is described most eloquently by others below but the key phrase is ‘oozes character’ with wood panelling, leather bench seating etc. The gas effect fire would be better replaced by the real thing! Piped music on my visit included Anita Dobson so perhaps bit more sympathetic choices required! Dart board spotted. A Marstons pub, with an imaginative mix and match range of their estate at the bar. My Dark Mild was in good form. You’ve got to do this one if you’re town.
On 26th April 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Hurdle left this review about Loggerheads
My first visit to the Loggerheads. I entered by door to the snug with it's small hatch. To view the place I wandered across to the lounge with another small hatch. Wanting to see the pumps, I finally walked into the small public bar and settled on the only bar stool in the right hand corner. Normally I might have been disappointed with just 4 Marston's beers on the 7 handpumps (other 3 had clips turned), but my pint of Bold Forresters was excellent and good enough to stay for another (partly due to watching the end of the Middleweight World Championship fight). Pubs are all about time and occasion, and on my short stay today, everything felt just right.
On 21st August 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 707 recommendations about 645 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about Loggerheads
The first "proper" old pub that we tried in Shrewsbury, having had it bulled up by our tour leader. The Loggerheads was however a little disappointing, the beer was mediocre and at 5pm on a Saturday evening, we were struggling to find anywhere to sit. In my opinion, there are better pubs in town. Ancient history is fine, but really I am there for the beer.
On 25th June 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Loggerheads
First recorded as a pub called The Greyhound back in 1780, this fine multiple room building changed its name to The Shrewsbury Arms in 1828 and soon acquired the nickname of The Loggerheads, which is a corruption of ‘Leopard’s Heads’, in reference to the three leopard’s heads that appear on the Shrewsbury coat of arms. A look at the pub from outside shows that the building seems to be leaning to one side – not an uncommon sight around town – although Marston’s spent a considerable sum a few years ago to ensure that this doesn’t get any worse.
The layout centres around a brick floor passageway which leads to four rooms around each corner of the building. The main bar is accessed through a door on the right of the passageway, near to the front entrance. It’s a small room with a couple of tables served by padded benches and low stools. A small fireplace stands on the end wall, old pictures provide a bit of distraction as does the rather out of place TV screen which was showing golf. The next room is a former ‘gentlemen only’ snug with quarry stone floor, pew style seating and an etched glass front window which records it as the Smoke Room. To the rear left of the building is the Poet’s Room, which looked quite cosy with its warm shaded walls and lit fire. Padded benches provide comfortable seating for the couple of tables within. The final room is the lounge, located at the far end of the passageway on the right hand side of the building. This room has wooden flooring, a small brick fireplace, button backed banquette and low stool seating, a dartboard and a small hatch to the servery, the overall effect of which suggested that this would be the nicest room to spend time in.
Five hand pumps were dispensing Jennings Sneck Lifter, Lakeland Stunner and Dark Mild, Marston’s EPA and Pedigree. I asked for a pint of the Dark Mild and was stunned when the barman, who was a good ten years my junior, asked me for ID. In many ways, I wish I’d just walked out, as my pint of Mild was pretty ropey, although the manager later popped over to apologise for her colleague’s over the top approach.
This place is certainly worth a look for the fantastic interior, but I found both the beer and the service to be seriously lacking and I would have to think twice about returning given the wealth of other options nearby.
On 12th May 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Loggerheads
Called in twice over our 2 days in Shrewsbury. Sat in the small snug on the left on our first visit which was men only until the 1970's. Very atmospheric, there's a shove halfpenny board in here as well. Sat in the small main bar the second time where there were quite a few boisterous locals. I had a pint of Cocker Hoop and a Jennings Dark Mild, both were in good nick. It's not a pub for the fainthearted, but I like it.
12/03/2009
Old pub with multiple small rooms, all with a diffferent character. Low ceilings, flag floors in parts. In other words a proper Olde Worlde gem. Beer selection is OK with Banks's Bitter & Winter Ale plus Pedigree and Ringwood XXXX Porter on when I called in. Had a pint of the Winter Ale which was very good. I'll certainly call in again.
On 21st April 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3224 recommendations about 3135 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Anonymous User left this review about Loggerheads
What a very quirky place this is! I went in to the main bar room which was small but very comfortable. I counted 7 handpumps on the bar - I opted for the Snecklifter by Jennings Brewery which was delicious and very well kept.
Interesting chat with the locals who were very friendly. One pointing out to me the door frame to the room we was sitting in. I said the joiner must have been pissed when he built that as it was slanted! This in fact added to the overall charm of the place.
As I walked to the toilets, I soon realised that it had three other cosy rooms, all linked by a narrow corridor. I love pubs like this as I see them as hidden gems, that have not been ruined or updated.
Once the young lady behind the bar finished her shift, the landlord came in. I complimented his pub and his ales. I also just happened to mention that he was a dead-ringer for Mr Manchester himself - no other than Anthony H Wilson. The infamous Hacienda nightclub owner and also the owner of Factory Records. I'm not sure if he was pleased or perturbed by my comments?
One of my favourite pubs in my short visit to Shrewsbury.
Highly recommended!
On 8th October 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 0 recommendations about 0 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Loggerheads
The Loggerheads is a fine traditional town centre pub situated in the old part of town.
Strategically placed sandwich boards on the nearby street corners invite us to “step back in time until 1780”. Outside the pub, we see a plaque telling us that The Loggerheads is Shrewsbury’s most traditional pub dating from 1665 and that it was first recorded as a public house in 1780 when it was known as The Greyhound, subsequently The Lord Hill. We’re also told that the Loggerheads is the name given to the three leopards or lions heads depicted on the arms of the town of Shrewsbury. Note also the old etched windows denoting Smoke Room and Bar Parlour. The building is now Grade 2 listed.
A single entrance leads into an L Shaped quarry tiled corridor off which there are 4 different rooms. The most interesting room is the first room on the left which features old settles and bell pushes. We see that this room was “Gentlemen Only until 1975”. Note also the splendid framed painting of customers ( men of course ) packing out this room in days long gone and a fold away shove halfpenny board. There’s no bar counter in this room, service being provided via a hatch to the bar counter situated in the main bar on the other side of the corridor. This bar – the parlour bar – appears to be where the regulars congregate and features a wooden bar counter, wooden flooring and basic furniture. At the end of the corridor, at the angle of the L is a more cosy and comfortable snug type bar. At the other end of the corridor, past the parlour bar is a larger brighter room with a dartboard and padded banquettes and something of a slightly more modern feel. On the wall here, above the serving hatch to the main bar, we see the old pub sign, depicting loggerhead turtles – which appears to be a former interpretation of the pub’s name, not now generally accepted as correct.
The pub is listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.
Food is now offered – you are invited to “create your own sausage and mash” with a variety of types of each available at lunchtime. There weren’t any takers on my recent mid – September visit and the pub was disconcertingly quiet for a lunchtime given its central location. With just a few regulars passing the time of day.
Although I don’t recall seeing any external brewery branding, it’s evidently a Banks / Marstons pub with the usual range – Pedigree, Jennings, Hobgoblin etc available. My pint of Jennings Snecklifter - £ 2.90p – was an excellent pint and made a welcome change from the pale beers that seem to dominate certain other town pubs ( eg – The Salopian Bar ).
You should definitely include this one in any Shrewsbury crawl
On 4th October 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Loggerheads
A traditional old pub with four rooms, this has remained unchanged for many years I would imagine which makes a pleasant change when so called makeovers have destroyed so much of our pub heritage. The bar counter is located in the centre of the pub, although it is only directly accessible from two of the rooms. The main room at the front of the pub includes the bulk of the bar counter, and a small serving hatch to the right gives access to one of the side rooms.
The front bar is furnished with some type of lino on the floor, dark red wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and pale brown paintwork above. There was an old black fire-place and a plasma that was perhaps a little out of place, but at least it did not have the sound on. Various old black and white photo’s were dotted around the walls.
At one point someone in one of the rooms off to the side starting strumming a guitar and singing. Whether this was part of some official pub entertainment or simply a punter who fancied a sing along, I’m not sure. The food offering was very much of the basic pub snack variety, with Pork Pie and mustard or pickle available for £2, a Sunday Roast for a fiver or “create your own” sausage & mash for £6.50.
Several beers on tap, although perhaps a little uninspiring choice - Nelson Sauvin New Zealand Single Hop, Jenning’s Dark Mild, Marston’s Pedigree, Bank’s Bitter, Marston’s 5 Hops and Jenning’s Sneck Lifter. Cider’s were Strongbow & Thatcher’s Gold. Overall, I’d say this is a great, unspoilt pub and well worth a visit. On the other hand, it was very male dominated, and most of the clientele was in the 50+ range. Consequently, Mrs B. felt a little out of place, so it may not be to everyone’s taste.
On 17th September 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1950 recommendations about 1863 pubs]