Blood Bay, Ludlow

Accredited for beer quality 2022

Possibly one of the town’s most intact late-19th century retail properties, with original exposed late Victorian features.

A 9 month conservation project formed the backdrop for period glazed mahogany room-divide screens - creating three defined drinking spaces: a public bar on entering from High Street, a tiny snug to the right, and a back bar - accessed from the public bar or from Market Street.

A Victorian curved mahogany bar, complemented by a back bar serving hatch, brass-mounted cut-glass ceiling lights, period seating with drinking ledges, and authentic inset lignum vitae beer engines enable customers to experience what it may have been like to drink in one of the many long-gone Victorian pubs of Ludlow. The bar and beer engines were salvaged from a pub that was being demolished in Islington, north London.

The pub sign, painted by local artist, Jonathan Adams, is in the style of eminent mid-19th century racehorse and pub-sign painter John Frederick Herring Snr, depicting the 1932 Grand National winner ‘Forbra’ - owned by the then-Ludlow mayor, William Parsonage - with the locally-owned blood bay horse and jockey Tim Hamey (wearing Parsonage’s winning colours of blue, white, grey and red) on Whitcliffe looking over Ludlow and Clee Hill.

Note that under-16s are not permitted, neither is smoking anywhere in the vicinity of the pub (including e-cigs). In keeping with the ambience, mobile phones are also prohibited from being used on the premises. Dogs on leads welcome (on ground floor only). Toilets are located on the first floor.

Closed following lockdown. Re-opened in June 2022 under new ownership.

The pub offers three cask beers, one cider, red wine, white wine and one flavour of crisps.