Oswestry & the Pub of the Year

An excursion to the Shropshire border to visit the current reigning CAMRA Pub of the Year, the Bailey Head in Oswestry.
I do like the POTY competition and had been following the shortlisting from 17 regional nominees to 4 finalists, determined I'd visit the eventual winner.
Of course, it'd be a little bit handier for me if The Bell in Aldworth just won every year, but I relished this chance to visit somewhere new.

From my Shrewsbury base I hopped aboard the 11am X5 bus, scheduled to arrive just in time for the pub doors  opening.
Straight to the square, guild hall on one side, pub on t'other.

 
And I'm going in...

Bailey Head (Oswestry, SY11 1PZ)
The Bailey Head is an open-plan pub with several distinct cosy areas, nicely decorated with a lived-in feel.
Ales on the bar came from Brew York, Ossett, Two By Two, Big Trip and local brewer Stonehouse.  That's a pretty hip and crafty cask selection, although I went for the most pedestrian of the lot with the local 'Station Bitter'.
It's probably for the best that I didn't spot the cider list before sitting down with my pint. Oh, and plenty of appealing keg options too.

 

Being here early doors meant I got to have a good nosey around whilst it was quiet - just a couple of locals with shopping bags, a dog walker, and a few punters on the benches out front in the fine weather.
So, what makes it pub of the year.
Pump clips stuck on the ceiling and old AC/DC posters, of course.

It really is a super welcoming and friendly pub to settle in - and I wish it was just around the corner from my house.

I perhaps should have spent the afternoon in one place. But I'm not very good at that.
Oswestry looked fine in the sunshine, 'bustling' on this Friday afternoon. It's home to around 17,500 folks and an impressive roster of associated famous people, including Ian's Woosman and Hunter, of golfing success and Mott the Hoople respectively.
And this English town is home to regular Welsh football league title winners and Champions League contenders The New Saints, meaning there should really have been a better collection of obscure stickers on lampposts and pub cisterns that there actually was.
 
I don't like missing a Wetherspoon's, even if this one wasn't one of the prettiest in the chain.
So that's where I headed next...

The Wilfred Owen (17 Willow Street, Oswestry, SY11 1AF)
The building was originally a Royal Mail sorting office, prior to regenerating into Spoons in 2003.
It's named after famous war poet Wilfred Owen, who was born just outside Oswestry in 1893 and almost certainly hoped that his poetry would remind all of the realities of war and that we'd be able to get a pizza and pint deal in a pub named after him.

This was very much of the 'haven't I been here before' Spoons variety. The one-long-room type with regimented tables, bar along one side, toilets upstairs through a succession of doors, and an industrial ceiling.

But it did everything I wanted it to do, providing some food and a Swannay 'Chance Your Arm' guest ale, on good form.
My dilemma next was whether to visit one of the town's previous beer guide entries, or the one that looked most likely to join the Bailey Head in the guide next year, or somewhere with one of those little heritage symbols.

Oak Inn (47 Church Street, Oswestry, SY11 2SZ)
The heritage option won - the Oak Inn being an early 18th century building that was formerly  the coach house of the hotel next door.
Look!...Heritage gaming...

There was a pick of four ales, two from Castle Rock, 'Butty Bach' or Weetwood.  I ordered the Weetwood 'Best' from neighbouring Cheshire, a decent brown bitter.
The Oak Inn has separate front and back rooms connected by a short passage beside the bar. Basic in the front, with leather cushioned bench seating; a bit plusher and redder in the back room, where the TV screen dominated and most of the local crowd had gravitated.
I settled in the front, the chaps to the side discussing who was on holiday where and what vacation horrors had befallen them.

Moving on from the town centre I wanted to make it out to the village of Weston on the southern fringe of Oswestry.  Being a fool I only looked at the road route that Google was directing me on, whereas a glimpse at the Ordnance Survey would have shown me I could follow the Wat's Dyke Way.

I'm really quite bitter about not checking - the trek for a mile-and-a-bit along a busy road through an industrial estate was one for the crap walks to pubs collection.

The final 5-minutes was along a lane with no footpath, until crossing a railway bridge and being welcomed by a brewery sign.
So was it worth it?
Well, as far as beer gardens go, this is a bit of winner...

Stonehouse Brewery and Distillery (Weston Road, Weston, SY10 9ES)
Stonehouse were established in 2007, developing a 22-barrel plant and opening the visitor bar in 2013. It's a thoroughly modern shed, with several seating areas and lots of reserved signs on the tables.
From the three cask ales available I picked the 'Aoraki', Nelson Sauvin hopped pale in the breweries NZ hop series.

I stayed inside to drink this until the predominance of shorts reminded me the weather was lovely and I should really be in outside.

So I took a half of the 'Dark Force' keg porter to a picnic bench amongst the cider apple orchard.
Stopping en-route to get April's shiny brewing equipment picture...

Still ignorant of the footpath route I retraced my steps on a long trudge back to Oswestry, checked the bus times and figured I could probably squeeze a half pint in back at the Bailey Head.

And this time I didn't miss the cider list, procuring a potent Rosies Triple-D 'Wicked Wasp', concocted not too far away in Llandegla, just outside Wrexham.

So, that's Pub of the Year done.  What about the Club of the Year?