The Ragleth Hill Walker is Rewarded with Bass

Walking The Strettons
Day three on our Ludlow trip found us travelling 17-miles into the Shropshire Hills to the touristic town of Church Stretton.
The plan for the day was to walk for a couple of hours over the ridge of Ragleth Hill, then visit a pub each in Little, Church and All Stretton.  Apologies to All Stretton who I've cut off the route map...

We could have failed at the first hurdle if we'd have gotten soaked to the bone by a wickedly heavy rainstorm.  Luckily we were sheltered in town throughout this, donning the waterproofs as it eased to a drizzle, stripping out of the waterproofs ten minutes later as we began to climb a hill and broke out in a sweat.
Our route took us through the steep residential roads at the edge of town, then into woodland with some carpets of bluebells.

As the trees thinned, we emerged into open grassy hillside, striding on to reach the peak where views opened up in all directions.

Wonderful. 

After a wind-blown but thoroughly enjoyable stroll along the ridge, we reached the marker for the highest point at 398 meters.  Then it was steeply downhill to the village of Little Stretton.  My beer-sensors could even pick out the pub from the high vantage point.

We made it down, waited for a gap in the traffic to cross the busy Shrewsbury-Ludlow dual carriageway, took the old bridge over the railway lines, then walked straight down the lanes to the village pub.
Did I curse those customers who pulled up just as we rounded the corner and parked their car right in front of the pub instead of in the car park all of 20-meters away?
Hell, yes I did.

Green Dragon (Ludlow Road, Little Stretton, SY6 6RE)
I missed the boot rack in the porch.  They even had a box of plastic shoe covers if you didn't want to display your socks to the world, the Green Dragon certainly not wanting muddy boots traipsing through their rooms.  Fortunately my boots look scruffy but were relatively clean on a mud-free day.

Perhaps quite predictably, I was at the bar in a shot asking for a pint of Bass.
Other options were the Wye Valley big twosome of Butty and HPA, and the local Ludlow 'Gold'.  The Bass was on fine form in this GBG pub.

It's a place that has certainly been given a smart makeover at some point and is geared towards food with two distinct dining areas either direction from the bar. Maybe not a rustic village local then, although tables in front of the bar were occupied by a few folks just popping in for refreshments.
No mild smut in the gents, but you do get a bit of Jack Nicholson on the back of the door...

Our onward path took us up lanes to a caravan park flanked by steep hills, one of which our path took us partway up.  We then traversed the slopes on a route through fields of grazing sheep, eventually emerging at the HF hotel and residential streets of western Church Stretton.
Joules had served us well in Ludlow and the Kings Arms seemed to be the most picturesque pub option in town.

King's Arms (53 High Street, Church Stretton, SY6 6BY)
The Grade-II listed building dates back to the late 16th or early 17th century and was first recorded as being a pub in 1840, although probably operated as such prior to that.
It's full of olde-worlde charm when you step through the door - chucky stone walls, wooden beams, and red-brick floor.  The best seats in the house were to the side of the bar by a wood burner, occupied by a large group of walking types on this occasion, chatting about how many years they'd been coming here.
As you head further back into this Tardis-like inn, it becomes a bit more Joules-y.

 

Big tables, wooden barrels, old signs as decoration.
The ale choice was an identical one to that which we'd found at the Rose and Crown a couple of days earlier: 'Slumbering Monk', 'Pale', 'Citra', plus two seasonals.  I opted for the  'Batch Beer American Pale Ale', 4.1%, brewed with the triple C's of tropical, piney hoppiness that is Citra, Chinook and Cascade.  Not bad at all.
Pity there were no decent tables to take it to, the large back section being set up for the imminent arrival of an afternoon coffee booking.  The garden's very nice though...

It's just over a mile further along the valley to All Stretton which has a 2026 Good Beer Guide entry that I figured we should poke our heads into whilst in this neck of the woods.

The Yew Tree Inn (Shrewsbury Road, All Stretton, SY6 6HG)
In the middle of the afternoon the lounge, with some nice exposed wooden beams, was set ready for diners later in the day, whilst the drinkers bar in the corner had a bit of an unwelcoming feel to it.  Service without much of a smile and a handful of locals getting in the way by standing at the bar.
Peering around them, I could see the now common sight of Ludlow 'Gold' and Wye Valley 'Butty Bach', plus (my pick) the more unusual Green Duck 'Little Green Men'.
A decent fruity pale ale from the Stourbridge brewery, taken outside into the sunshine on the patio.

Leaving the Strettons, there was another Beer Guide pub that we could call into on the way back to Ludlow.

The Apple Tree (Onibury, SY7 9AW)
This red brick building has gone through a few incarnations over the years.  It was originally built as a pub called The Raven at the end of the 19th century.  Since then it has served as bakery, butchers, village store and Post Office, the front windows looking very shop-like.
It transitioned back into a pub in 1998, the new name giving a nod to the local orchards and cider-making country.  There is an apple variety called the Onibury Pippin.
Perhaps I should have had a cider (fizzy keg only, sadly) rather than a Wye Valley 'HPA' (other options being 'Butty Bach' (again!) or Ludlow 'Stairway').

We sat at a chunky table in the corner of the bar, which felt more like a micro than a pub room, albeit one in a characterful village setting rather than in a parade of bland shops in Solihull.
It was doing a good trade with the locals who must have clocked-off early on a Friday afternoon.  A handful of old boys giving us a friendly welcome, the younger generation 'blokes of Onibury' getting well into a session on Carling and tequila shots.

Great to see the pub being so well used - I just wish I hadn't arrived right at the beginning of a round being brought - "Who haven't we done?  Go and ask Gav if he wants a Carling.  Nah we've done Stu - whose is that one on the bar?" - all whilst the cheery staff member totted them up on a bit of paper and calculator in the seeming absence of a cash register.  

We'd done four very different pubs and a cracking short walk in the Shropshire Hills.
Right ⮚ Back to Ludlow and the Blood Bay to see if the Bass had come on.
Yes it had and it was gorgeous.
🔺🍻