Seeking Beer Festival Salvation in Shrewsbury

Attending beer festivals seems to have become a quarterly occupation for Nick and myself in 2023, in that we haven't done very many and those we did sample have been well spaced out across the year. To Burton in February and Stratford in June we can now add Shrewsbury in September - here's what we got up to...

- St Mary's Church -

It's Friday 29th September 2023 as His Majesty and I join forces once more aboard the 10:15 train from Wolverhampton, all bound for lovely Shropshire. Our initial conversation covers the concluding of another cricket season (we were in Balsall Heath a couple of days earlier after watching some of Warwickshire versus Somerset), and there is discussion about Porthcawl Elvis gatherings too. Shrewsbury seems as delightful as ever bathed in welcome autumnal sunshine, the Tudor-inspired frontage of the railway station looking especially spectacular when facing out along Castle Foregate. Ascending the hill via Castle Gates, we soon target another impressive building in the form of St Mary's Church, today's beer festival venue. 

- Braced for Beer Festival Action -

The largest church in Shrewsbury, St Mary the Virgin was declared redundant in 1987 and is no longer used for active worship although it has been retained as a visitor attraction under the stewardship of the Churches Conservation Trust. As beer festival settings go, this has to be one of the most memorable we've ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and we eagerly hand over the £9 admission money to obtain our programmes, tokens and commemorative glassware. Some of those tokens are immediately spent in obtaining Kent Extra Stout and Magic Dragon's Blackberry Porter, both of us predictably starting on the darker stuff.

- The Jesse Window -

St Mary's is particularly highly regarded for its stained glass, including the 14th century Jesse Window which depicts a whole host of Old Testament saints and prophets. We pull up a pew in the chancel and admire other stunning architectural details, such as the carved oak ceiling in the nave and a multitude of monuments. The beer isn't bad either, enticing us into samples of North Riding's Choc Fudge Porter, Beowulf's Dark Raven Mild and Big Hand's Lost Abbey Coffee Stout. Not all of our picks are stouts and porters though, hence I'm rather taken with the fruity mellowness of Beowulf's Mango Sypian Pale Ale. 

- An Intellectual Irish Stout? -

Chickpea curries with pakora and samosa sides resolve a bout of peckishness as we top up our tokens and continue to proceed through the tempting menu of brews. Clun's Dark Horse is billed as a red ale and proves very tasty whereas Nick declares a liking for Atom's Lighthouse Effect Irish Stout - this beer demanded close examination, hence the rare sighting of HRH wearing his reading glasses! An informative panel lists the church's incumbent deans and ministers from the 12th century onwards, featuring illustrious and noble names such as William le Strange, Horatio Henry Follis and Horace Edward Samuel Sneede Lambart - one can only speculate as to what Walter de Wetwang would make of all the festival happenings!

- View from Porthill Bridge -

With our tokens spent out, we take our leave from St Mary's making sure to thank the CAMRA volunteers for all their organising efforts. A swift half somewhere close to the church would be nice and we could hardly get any nearer than the Yorkshire House, a heavy rock-themed pub which soon declares its fondness for Led Zeppelin, Kiss and the like - even the barmaid bears a resemblance to Morticia Adamms! A gentle wander should then make the most of the blue skies so we stroll along Shoplatch and St John's Hill to reach Quarry Park by the distinctively-rounded St Chad's Church. Passing a swimming and fitness centre, we can cross the River Severn courtesy of the elegant Porthill Bridge, a pedestrian suspension link which was built in 1922. The bridge has a certain vibration to it, making you feel like you are bouncing along when walking across it, but this all adds to its undoubted charm. 

- The Bricklayers Arms -

Over on the Frankwell side of the river, Pengwern Road can lead us to an intriguing Joules hostelry on Copthorne Road. The Bricklayers Arms is the pub in question, refurbished to the brewery's usual impeccable standards with lots of woodwork and mock-vintage enamel signs (not perhaps wholly authentic but it works for me). A slurp of Slumbering Monk ensures Nick stays awake to learn about brick courses, one of the walls helping us to tell our English Bond from our Rat Trap - every day is an education! Frankwell's wider mix of bicycle showrooms and timber-framed frontages then escorts us along to Welsh Bridge, one of Shrewsbury's two major river crossings (the other being English Bridge on the Abbey Foregate side of town).

- Draught Bass in the Kings Head -

Keeping the 18:30 train in mind for our critical homeward connection, we finish off with a couple of somewhat contrasting halves in the vicinity of Victoria Quay and Mardol. First up is The Armoury, a riverside restaurant-bar which concentrates primarily on refined dining but nevertheless has a six-strong cask lineup from which we partake of the Ludlow Black Knight Stout (always a firm favourite of ours). Draught Bass brings the curtain down in the double- jettied embrace of the Kings Head, watched over by a portrait of Henry VII; the interior here doesn't quite match the medieval charm of the bulging facade but there is a section of C15th wall painting which is well worth seeing so history fans won't be disappointed. Nor are we for that matter, Shrewsbury having delivered a top day out as expected. Cheers!