We visited a pub on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border which has built its own community and become a place for celebrations and events

The A454 road out of Wolverhampton heading towards Bridgnorth takes you out of the urban sprawl and into rolling hills and countryside as you head through Staffordshire into Shropshire.

The view is a lovely one, full of green fields, farms and small communities and which also has a pub which has made use of its relative isolation, sitting halfway between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth, and become its own community and a place to go to enjoy quality food and drink.

The Inn at Shipley is in an original Georgian building which dates from 1771 and was formerly the Thornescroft Restaurant before it was acquired by Brunning & Price in 2013. 

The Grade II-listed house has lost most of its original windows and external doors but still looks as it did in 1771 and retains its original floor plan and also has a high proportion of its original doors and fittings. 

It is a prominent sight on the A454 from either direction and has been managed by landlady Kayleigh Blake and her team since 2022, with Ms Blake saying it had been a place she had always wanted to manage and which still carried a high standing in her family.

She said: "I do know that my nan still won't come here because she remembers the Thornescroft and considers it to be too posh, having been a restaurant which was very much white table cloths and silver service.

"I started working here in 2017 on the lower level of management as an assistant manager and worked my way up through the company, working at other pubs in the chain, then I took a little break, but found I was missing it far too much.

"I'd been eyeing up this role for a few years and, in March 2022, I was offered the chance to run this pub, which I gladly accepted as I've always love the place, I love the building and I feel a real sort of affiliation with my regulars, so it just felt like the right time to make the step up."

After taking over, Ms Blake said she had worked to build the team she wanted to run the pub and also begin to work to build the community at the pub, noting that the location meant it was better to create their own community than trying to wiggle into other communities.

She said: "We decided that we wanted to build our own community through knowing people's names and faces, getting those orders and supporting our customers and guests.

"That includes being with them through big celebrations and their day to day visits and that has felt right to us as I've got regulars who have come in and had weddings, christenings and funerals with us.

"We've learned a lot about people, even when we're just behind the bar, and it's been quite nice, so we've really focussed on going back to basics and being a place where people feel really comfortable to come and get to know us as we get to know them."

The Inn at Shipley is primarily food-led, providing a menu which Ms Blake said was based around good food and good beer and features staples like fish and chips, burgers, crispy salads and sizzling steaks, as well as a seasonal menu and a selection of light bites, which could be combined together as tapas.

Ms Blake also said that she and two of the other managers has also taken additional qualifications around wine and spirits, which enabled them to give a more considered opinion about what of the 50 wines they stocked would pair well with the fish and chips or with a chicken dish.

Drinks-wise, the Inn at Shipley focusses on local beers, with hand pull ales including beers from Hobson's, Holden's, Wye Valley and Rowton and changed regularly to ensure variety, as well as premium lagers like San Miguel, Asahi and Peroni and Aspall Cider, which Ms Blake said was a popular move within the pub.

The Inn at Shipley is a pub which looks to make people welcome and provide a comfortable and cosy experience and Ms Blake said it was all about giving people the best experience.

She said: "It's my whole life and my husband will probably argue that it takes a more solid stance in our home than he does, but I love it and I think that because I've been here for so long, I've grown up with this pub and really been able to put a stamp on it.

"As far as I'm concerned, when I'm welcoming guests in, I'm not just bringing them into my business and I don't just see pound signs above their heads because these are people who I get to look after.

"The pleasure in my job comes from being that host that is able to read the needs of my guests and have them leave having had a really lovely experience, and that's my raison d'etre."