Milly Mossop

Three Tuns Brewery, Bishop's Castle, Clun Valley, Shropshire

Cast your mind back if you will, to the Easter weekend, on the evening of Saturday 7th April... where were you?...

Naturally I don't give a badger's bum where you were, what's important here is that I was in the Three Tuns Brewery in one of the best bits of England I know; the Clun Valley in Shropshire. I don't even know it that well yet, having only been driven though it at speed on previous occasions, but on this one Mr & Mrs Mozz had kindly offered to babysit Oz so the other children could go out for a meal and beer.

The Three Tuns is deservedly famous for its on site brewery (I think in the past it's been renowned for its food as well but presumably not currently, going by our somewhat Harvesteresque experience) - anyway, here's what it says on the beer mat I nicked:

The Three Tuns Brewery is in the small market town of Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. The first recorded licence to brew dates back to 1642, with the present imposing Victorian tower brewhouse built around 1880. The famous John Roberts bitters XXX, Three8 and Clerics Cure are brewed throughout the year. Seasonal beers compliment the range such as the old classic barley wine 'Old Scrooge'.

I mean, if you're within a 50 mile radius of the place it would be a sin not to look it up. The pub itself is quite delightful; a few modern bits tacked on here and there that don't really do much, but enough old bits to make up for that, and of course the old bits would be too crowded without the new bits. Especially on the first weekend of the smoking ban in Wales, bringing all the smokers over the border.

Which is why Farmer Oscar and several of his friends were there; I always think that hanging out with a local in a local pub is akin to hanging out with Nicole Kidman or George Clooney in Hollywood, and doubtless a lot more fun (ok, maybe not more fun than George, but you get the drift) so this made our night complete.

Full of Clerics Cure and happy we drove slowly (because of Farmer Oscar's crazyarse directions not because Mozz was over the limit) back to the Sarn Inn for a few more bevvies and games of pool (our boys got fleeced by the locals, bad for their egos, good for diplomatic relations).

The Anchor Inn, Anchor, on the Shropshire-Wales border

I'm going to celebrate my first comment from a real reader by introducing a pub that I believe might end up being a contender for the Perfect Pub. Although if my exhausting 20 minute romp through Google to find a reference to it is anything to go by, nobody with internet access knows it exists, or if they do they don't think it's worth mentioning.

I'm clinging to the former, because The Anchor is so remote, so eerily shrouded in the elements (a snow storm when we were there) and just so not on the way to anywhere else, that I can well believe it hasn't seen anyone new for at least two centuries.

Indeed we only found it because's Mozz's folks, who live 3 miles and 2 centuries away, were adamant we drive "over the ridge" on our way back to London this time, rather than the boring, gritted-roads-you-can-see way. So being dutiful children we took precise instructions (and Tom Tom lady, who I'm slowly warming to) and of course as soon as we pulled out of the farmyard, the darkness and a fleece of snow fell simultaneously.

We eventually found The Anchor (the ridge was a moot point by now since we couldn't see beyond the car bonnet) and were overcome with a mixed sensation of excitement, wonderment, and apprehension. Or at least I was, Mozz was more overcome by the fact that the 4x4 in front of us had sped into the distance and snow had already covered its tyre tracks, leaving his little sporty Z3 number feeling rather alone.

Anyway, for fairly obvious reasons (we were cacking our pants about the weather, lack of phone signal and spare tyre) we didn't stop off for a pint this time but have promised we will when we return at Easter.

Incidentally the remainder of that drive out of Wales and through the Clun Valley of Shropshire yielded a few more promising pubs, so an extended visit to the area might be in order...

(Ok, I wrote that for Mozz's benefit, hoping he'll read it and take the hint. I know I'm doing well to get  a pint in The Anchor though so I'll shush and go to bed.)