The Cross Foxes

The Cross Foxes, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY3 7DE

A traditional pub in the mixed residential area of Coleham just across the river from the town centre. The interior is “a symphony in brown”, basically consisting of one L-shaped room with beams, brasses and button-backed banquette seating. No food is served, and it seems to appeal mostly to the classic older male clientele. Draught Bass is the favoured real ale, with a couple of others including on my visit Salopian Shropshire Gold and Worthington Best Bitter.

(photo courtesy of Duncan Mackay aka Pubmeister)

The Loggerheads

The Loggerheads, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1UG

Originally called the Shrewsbury Arms, this is a remarkable survivor of the old-school, unassuming town pubs of a bygone age, tucked away just off the town centre on a narrow cobbled street running between two churches. Inside there are four small rooms – a lounge on the right with a parquet floor, a small front bar, a rear snug rather lacking in natural lighting, and best of all the room on the left separated from the corridor by wooden screens and featuring ancient scrubbed-top tables. This was men-only until the mid-1970s.

A Bass pub in the 1970s, it was later taken over by Banks’s who then metamorphosed into Marston’s. For a long time Draught Bass continued to be sold, which always seemed particularly appropriate for this pub, but the beer range is now limited to five or six from the Marston’s stable. The current licensees offer a speciality sausage menu, but it’s basically a drink and chat pub rather than an eaterie. The pub’s website can be seen here.