Next Saturday Hereford FC travel to AFC Wulfrunians and Carnybull suggests calling into Bridgnorth en route.
Via BRIDGNORTH (10 miles from the ground)
By ROAD: A49 to Ludlow then A4117 for 1 mile then B4364 to Bridgnorth
then A454 to left turn by Mermaid Inn on to Castlecroft and ground.
WARNING: The B4364 twists and turns for 19 miles - deceptively faster than Mesut Ozil - so be careful! Alternative is to carry on north up the A49 and take the much easier but slightly longer B4365 then B4368 via Shipton and A458 to Bridgnorth.
RAIL: Either Wolverhampton then No. 3 bus to ground (20 mins) or for the full- on Bridgnorth drinking experience suggest:
0840 from Hereford to Kidderminster arriving 1006 (change at Bromsgrove)
Then 1030 Severn Valley Railway steam train to Bridgnorth arriving 1136
Delivers you (bar on board) straight to the Railwaymans’ Arms – shock-a-block with all manner of wondrous beverages!
CARNYBULL’S GUIDE TO BRIDGNORTH
A small market town with ancient timbered buildings in the High Street, comprised of Low Town and High Town, separated by the Severn River, with High Town perched 110ft up on a sandstone rock. If you park behind the Falcon Inn in Low Town, you can walk across the bridge and access High Town via the funicular railway or one of several flights of steps.
Beseiged by Cromwell for three months, cannonball holes are still visible in the rock as you drive up from the bridge. Once the Roundheads broke through, the Royalists fled - not before burning down 300 dwellings and no doubt endearing themselves to the remaining townsfolk.
If you plan to stay on Friday night, there is a Motown disco in the Falcon Inn presently the most popular nightspot (until 4 a.m.)
I’d recommend starting at the Railwaymans’ Arms (parking available) - where you may spot local dignatories enjoying the shunting whilst waving to passengers - then heading uphill via the Town Park and East Castle Street to sample Bridgnorth’s other real ale hostelries.
Nearly all carry HPA and other Wye Valley brews.
Black Boy on Cartway – many CAMRA awards. Cartway once led down to Bridgnorth’s dock and was full of pubs in the days when the (now silted-up) Severn could accommodate cargo boats and the street swarmed with drunken sailors. The only reminder of those wicked times on the Cartway, so they say, is Bridgnorth’s sole remaining house of ill-repute.
White Lion in West Castle Street (Nearly captures the legendary Barrels atmos)
High Street – Spoons, The Crown, The Bear.
Low Town – Falcon Inn
Eating: Tapas Bar on High St, Crown, Spoons, the King’s Head or Baileys
BUS TO WULFRUNIANS
890 bus leaves the Harp Inn in High Town at 1353 and from Fosters Arms in Low Town (over the bridge) at 1357, gets to the Mermaid Inn around 1425 (short walk to ground).