Wellington - Booted Off the Top of the Table

🕔Five pm in Telford.
I'd dropped my bags at my hotel, visited four Good Beer Guide regulars in Oakengates and Madeley, done the suburban tour on Arriva buses, and was all set to head in the direction of that evening's football match.
Top of the table (well, they were at 19:45 that evening...) Oxford City were taking on AFC Telford under the floodlights on a Tuesday evening in a National League North clash.

AFC Telford play their games at the New Bucks Head ground in Wellington.
Eight minutes by train, thirty minutes by bus for a skinflint like me determined to make the most of that day pass.
Wetherspoon's backs onto the bus station which was handy for a teatime arrival.

The William Withering (43-45 New Street, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1LU)
This sits on the site of one-time coaching inn The Duke of Wellington, so I'm surprised that the JDW naming committee didn't opt to revitalise that name, instead of picking a local physician and botanist.
The pub was demolished in the 1970's making way for a very dull two-storey chunk of concrete which housed Fine Fare supermarket.  The William Withering Wetherspoon's opened in 2011 looking pretty much exactly like you'd expect it to look within.
The sculpture is something a little bit different, though - I completely forgot to look what it represents. 

There was a quartet of guest cask ales available alongside the regular Spoons beers: Ludlow 'Blonde' or 'Stairway', Exmoor 'Gold' or Titanic 'Plum Porter'.
Ludlow's 'Stairway' for me, the West Shropshire brewers' 5% golden ale, alongside a 'gourmet' (the word used in the loosest sense) jacket potato. 

A short stroll along the pedestrianised streets of the centre took me to Good Beer Guide micro pub. 

The Boot Micropub (2 Market Square, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1BP)
The Boot opened in 2022, run by the same folks as the Coracle micro in Ironbridge.
I instantly quite liked the place.  Making the suspended ceiling black is a good move.  There's a DJ station decorated with 7" singles in the corner,  beers displayed on a TV screen, proper seating, a beer barrel perch, and a barman with the best jumper of the day.

And a cracking beer range.
Plenty of interest on keg, plus the unusual sight of Gueze Boon Lambik on cask.  Other hand pulled options were Glasshouse 'Bringing Seshy Back', Salopian 'Hop Twister' and Burton Bridge 'Cherry Orchard'.

Looking back I wish I'd had the lambik, but on the evening the cherry beer seemed a good idea - the one that would make Mrs PropUptheBar jealous back at home.
I was quite content sat in the corner of the Boot, Argent's 1973 LP 'In Deep' playing in full to entertain me.  A great micro that really seems to put the effort in for craft beers and vinyl.

Just down the road is the one pub in Wellington that I've visited previously...

The Pheasant Inn (54 Market Street, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1DT)
The Pheasant Inn was originally part of the Wrekin Brewery estate. Their brewhouse stood across the other side of Market Street until being demolished in 1975, production having shifted to Wem under the control of Greenall Whitley.  Then in 2014 Ironbridge Brewery took over the Pheasant and reincarnated Wrekin in the building to the side of the pub.  The founder moved away from the area in 2018 and Rowton arrived to make the outbuilding a second site for concocting their beers.

 

Of the three Rowton beers available, I picked 'Area 51', a fine crisp and bitter 5.1% pale ale. The first recorded metal meteorite landed in the vicinity in 1876, hence several space-themed beer names from the brewery.
Glassworks, Everards, and Green Duck and Weekend Project provided ample alternative cask options.

The Pheasant is a nice pub, the busiest place I'd visit in Wellington, the downside being that this relegated me to an uncomfortable high table in the centre of the room.

The third Good Beer Guide pub in the town wasn't on the way to the football ground, but I figured I could make a loop which incorporated it.

Wrekin Inn (26 Wrekin Road, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1RH)
So, what do you get in the Wrekin Inn?
From my experience: eclectic music, another great beer selection, and an "extra large WC"! 

There were three Rowton Brewery beers on offer here ('Meteorite', 'Area 51', 'Full Moon') plus a North Riding pale ale or Blue Bee five hop pale.
I stuck local with another Rowton ale - 'Full Moon' a 6.2% dark mild brewed with 6 different malts.  Lovely, if a little dangerous at that strength.

The Wrekin featured some odd blue lighting in the side room and a rockin' playlist.

I arrived to 'Rock 'n' Roll All Night' by Kiss; supped my dark mild to the Black Keys; raised an eyebrow at the heavy turn taken with Disturbed's 'Down With Sickness'; then tapped my foot along to Dexys 'C'mon Eileen', which met with the approval of the bar staff who turned the volume up a notch.    

I would happily have stayed longer but I was clock-watching - still one mile from the ground at 7pm.  A brisk walk down the Ropeway and Holyhead Road took me close to the New Bucks Head, where the Cock, Swan and Railway Inn present a trio of pubs for pre-match beers.
Let's do the Joule's...

Cock Hotel (148 Holyhead Road, Wellington, Telford, TF1 2DL)
The stand-out building on a road junction that we see today was an 1896 rebuild of a much older coaching inn.  It was run by the original Joule's brewery for a large part of the 20th century, then brought back by their modern incarnation in 2018.
It's a rather magnificent multi-roomed pub that I really didn't manage to explore properly on a short visit.
There was a familiar line-up of Joule's staples...

I took a half of the 'Blonde' - on decent form - into the front corner room which was busy with a fair few football fans.
After the music in the Wrekin, I felt that Natalie Imbruglia and Sinead O'Connor were a bit of a let down.

Then, as the tables of Telford fans drank up and left I figured I'd better get my skates on and find my way into the football ground.
The New Bucks Head is an impressive stadium for this level, three-sides of which wouldn't be out of place in the football league.
'Semi-segregation' was in place this evening, so entry was via turnstiles either side of the home terrace, then you were free to wander, although the far block of seating on the 'T' of Telford was officially set aside for away supporters.

'Free to wander' meant I got to explore a bit as the game kicked off, taking my time before joining the travelling support and boosting the away numbers into double figures.
Here's the view of the home terrace, where the fans made a fair bit of noise once they realised their team were completely outplaying the top-of-the-league (♪♪  "..you're 'aving a laugh") team.

It really wasn't Oxford City's night.
Ninety-nine percent of the 1,028 crowd went home happy after a 1-0 win that could easily have been more had Jonny Maxted not pulled off several decent saves.

Ah well...can't win 'em all.
The football hadn't provided much to cheer about, but my pre-match travels around greater Telford had made for a great day out.
Time to go for a a nightcap in the "town centre and the grubby Spoons".   Martin's description, not mine😉.