Hub Marketing 2022: Shrewsbury

Among the underlying threads of Hub Marketing history is a liking for undertaking Shropshire sessions in the springtime. Market Drayton, Bridgnorth, Oswestry and Ellesmere have all graciously hosted us at this time of year during trips gone by and now it is time to put the county town itself firmly in the spotlight with a shuffle around the suburbs of Shrewsbury...

- Spotted at Shrewsbury Bus Station -

It's Friday 13th May 2022 and the weather is set fair as our intrepid adventurers board the 9:44 Holyhead train at Wolverhampton, the Chairman having successfully staged his statutory mad sprint along Railway Drive. Mr D9 just about gets his breath back by the time we arrive in Shrewsbury and marvel at the station's grand stone frontage, built in 1848 with an imitation Tudor style in mind. Raven Meadows Bus Station is nowhere near as spectacular but serves its function well enough with an initial bank of stands (A to M) plus some outlying shelters. Arriva are the main operator on show although we do see fleet representation from Lakeside of Ellesmere, Celtic Travel and Minsterley Motors, not forgetting a certain bald spot!

- Harlescott Level Crossing -

Our plan is to explore sections of the local town network, starting with the number 25 towards Harlescott Tesco. Arriva £4.50 DaySavers are duly purchased as we navigate Castlefields (New Park Road) and Ditherington (noting the Tasty Food takeaway and Mount Pleasant Road). The Harlescott end of the route comprises Gloucester Road past the boarded-up Anchor Inn, York Road and then the retail park off Brixton Way prior to the Tesco terminus. There seems to be rather a lot of traffic around, some of which must be due to the superstore but the Harlescott Lane level crossing might also be a factor. Trackside cottages with butterfly decorations catch our eye but we need to get a hurry on when the barriers start sounding because the Crewe train is about to come through.  

- Something Sheepish for the Secretary? -

Our immediate mission is to obtain some breakfast, in which case Rashers Cafe on Ennerdale Road comes up trumps with fortifying Full Englishes to set us up well for the rest of the day - Mr WME is particularly thrilled to get fried bread and black pudding. We last visited Harlescott nearly nine years ago and our abiding memory was of sheep sculptures that Mr D9 naturally tried to sit on. Happily the flock is still there, garishly coloured overlooking the Tesco car park but the Chairman's continued attempts to clamber on top still prove in vain - he simply can't get his leg over anymore! We likewise have to admit defeat when trying to claim the Harry Hotspur, a peculiarly pointy Banks's estate boozer named after a distinguished knight who was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 (and therefore nothing to do with the current England football captain). Alas the pub shows no sign of lunchtime life and is being engulfed by new housing developments - it might open later perhaps or has it stopped trading? 

- Harlescott Grange Community Hub -

We don't dwell on that Harry Hotspur disappointment for long though, not with other Harlescott discoveries waiting to be made. Leafields brings us into Harlescott Grange complete with its own community hub and neighbourhood park before Bainbridge Green offers access to the Grange Primary School. Retracing the 25 bus route on foot via Wendsley Road, we reach the Steam Wagon for our belated opening drink of the day - cue Purity's Mad Goose which we sup whilst gazing out towards the BBC Radio Shropshire studios. Further refreshments then come courtesy of the Heathgates, a prominent roadhouse guarding a notorious roundabout, and the Compasses Inn on Long Row. The former sees D9 Destroyer earning a narrow darts victory fuelled by Theakston's tarmac whereas the latter is a scruffily basic backstreet find that harks back to the heydays of domino leagues and brown upholstery. 

- Driver D9 poised on the 27 -

After a nod to the Coach (an old hostelry on the main road through Ditherington), we catch the 24 back into town and soon switch onto a Bayston Hill-bound 27, allowing Mr D9 to display his reversing prowess when exiting the bus station. The bus does well to nimbly extricate its way through mounting Friday afternoon gridlock by trundling down Wyle Cop and powering along Belle Vue Road. The route runs half-hourly via Meole Brace (Moneybrook Way) and a brief portion of the A49 Hereford Road, albeit we bail out well before that and the Bayston Hill terminal loop shall have to remain a mystery to us for the time being. 

- Bass at the double in the Belle Vue Tavern -

Indeed, it was the sight of the Belle Vue Tavern that prompted our decision to alight, lured in by the vintage Shropshire Ales signage and the promise of Draught Bass. The famous red triangle more than lived up to its billing in a very presentable establishment complete with sepia scenes of yore and cribbage tabletops - I can confirm that the Secretary did not drink both of the pints in the picture although he was sorely tempted to! Havelock Road has some genteel terraces climbing up and over the railway bridge, linking onto Montague Place where a swarm of bees have attached themselves to somebody's garden hedge. For once Mr D9's concerns about getting stung don't relate to any discount deviousness.

- Reabrook Precinct -

Our early evening target is the Reabrook Estate, a small self-contained residential area that nestles between Hazeldine Way and Sutton Farm. The main amenities here are clustered together in a distinctive Whitecroft Road precinct where each unit has rounded oval-shaped windows, very reminiscent of the late 1970s. A Sainsbury's store at one end is accompanied by a newsagents, a fish bar, an Indian spice restaurant and - crucially for us - the Saddler's pub which certainly meets the Chairman's brief for droolworthy architecture. Keg Tetley's Smoothpour won't trouble our 'Beer of the Day' rankings but it makes for reasonable enough quaffing as we prop up the bar awhile and keep abreast of the IPL cricket coverage. 

- Measuring up for a frantic finale -

From Reabrook we weave a merry trail into the town centre with the Chairman insisting that the pub accelerator be pressed firmly to the floor. Halves are essential if we're to squeeze every last drop out of the day, meaning that the Boars Head and the Bulls Head both receive flying visits for more Tetley's and Banks's Amber respectively. Honourable mention has to go to the Cross Foxes, one of the Secretary's all-time favourite Bass houses which is packed to the rafters and is the very definition of the word 'unspoiled'. The fun has to end somewhere and our final port of call becomes the Tap & Can, a craft bar literally next door to the station. Tumblers of Tiny Rebel's Press Start Mosaic & Mandarin Meringue make for a memorably murky conclusion, and the train ride home has us catching up on Popmaster. Cheers!