Pub forced to reduce hours with customers refusing to walk down dangerous road
A couple have had to reduce their pub's trading hours as it is becoming difficult for customers to visit safely.
Kay Gibbons and Gary Goodlad say that their premises, the Swan Inn on the Severn near Bridgnorth, sits on a dangerous bend with a short, narrow and overgrown footpath.
The location of the pub on the B4555 means they have met several problems in the last few months with the narrow footpath only going a short distance towards Eardington and nothing in the opposite direction towards Bridgnorth. This, and the lack of street lighting, means pedestrians are reluctant to walk to and from the pub.
The pub sits in a 40mph speed limit, but as both Gary and Kay explained, vehicles are rarely doing that speed when they make the turn downhill.
"They come tearing down the hill. Customers say it is like Wacky Races out there," Gary explained.
"We have customers sitting in the dining room for breakfast and you can hear the traffic and feel the vibrations as vehicles go past.
"They are always going way over the speed limit."
Kay added that even locals who stay relatively close to the Swan don't want to make the journey.
She said: "Gary and I were at a local event in Eardington last Sunday afternoon. They do not come here either and say that we are cut off from them because they cannot walk here, and cannot justify ordering a taxi for such a short journey.
"On Saturday we had a couple from the south of France who were attending a family party in Eardington but did not want to risk walking there even when it was light and so had to arrange a lift."
The problem for potential customers, and so Gary and Kay's business, is made worse by a short supply of taxi drivers in town.
Gary added: "We had a customer staying here for three nights over the weekend. Each night he went into town and struggled to get back.
"We've heard that so many times, it is always a struggle to get a taxi out here. It just seems that in Bridgnorth there is a real lack of taxis."
So with no real footpath to speak of, a lack of lighting and taxis and the speeding traffic, customers are choosing not to visit the Swan in the numbers they used to. Gary and Kay have had to reduce their trading hours as it just not viable to be open seven days a week.
"We are still open all week to guests, but as for the bar we are only able to open at weekends now," Gary said.
The Shropshire Star understands that Shropshire Council's traffic engineering team are looking into the issues at the Swan Inn, but work to assess it is unlikely to begin until next week at the earliest.
