'A temple of beer!' - All hail real ale pub voted best in the county
A pub has been branded "a temple of beer" after winning a top regional award.
The Bailey Head in Oswestry has been voted Pub of the Year by the Shrewsbury and West Shropshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).
The pub was bought from Marstons in 2016 by licensees Grace Goodlad and Duncan Borrowman and has previously won the Camra branch's Pub of the Year in 2019 and Market Town Pub of the Year every year since 2018.
Norrie Porter, regional Camra branch secretary, said: "The thing about The Bailey Head was the depth of knowledge shown by the staff. That was what separated them from the other pubs that also served great beer.
"We felt it was a 'temple of beer' that came with the reverence for the beer we would expect."
He added: "The best of our pubs are doing really well. The quality of the beer is as high as it ever was. But it's a bit different for pubs in unfashionable locations and those tied to a brewery that provides beer that doesn't necessarily have people beating a path to your door."
Runners-up in the category was The Prince of Wales, which was voted the Shrewsbury town Pub of the Year for the local branch, and The White Horse in Clun, which was voted the branch's Rural Pub of the Year.
Two sports and social clubs - Bicton Village Hall and Social Club near Shrewsbury and Bagley Sports and Social Club in Shrewsbury - were also recognised for their contribution to social life and community cohesion.
The west Shropshire area has 244 pubs and clubs selling real ale. In the first stage of the Pub of the Year competition, Branch members visit pubs and score the beer quality. This produced a long-list of 47 pubs with beer judged as very good or excellent.
Members then vote on the overall experience in these pubs to reduce the long-list to a shortlist of nine pubs – three in Shrewsbury, three in West Shropshire market towns and three from rural West Shropshire.
Shortlisted pubs are visited anonymously by experienced surveyors who mark the pub on quality and knowledge of beer, welcome, atmosphere, décor and cleanliness, commitment to the community and value for money, using a nationally agreed scheme. This year’s competition was particularly finely balanced, with all three finalists within only a few marks of each other.
