Some planning had gone into a marathon weekend session which included my birthday and the final day of the Premier League. Avril and I had decided that we would go with Richard to Shrewsbury to sample some completely different pubs in what would also be an historic Tudor town centre. Richard made his way to Banbury and I drove into town where I met him in the Great Western as he was finishing off a swift pint. A brief stop via Marks and Spencer to return some unwanted clothes then justified a quick half in JT's in Banbury. This seemed to have changed for the better since my last visit, and we had some nice seats and I had a half of Oxford Gold. Things seem to have changed even more for the better since our visit and the pub's name has changed to the Beer Tree, no doubt because it wanted in no way to be associated with a rat faced Chelsea defender.

Collecting Avril at home we left and our first stop was about 100m up the road in the Bell at Great Bourton. For such a small pub it does a good range of beer, with Old Hooky, Hooky and Hooky Gold. I decided to just have a half as about an hour of driving was ahead of me. A wise call, as it took us over an hour to reach the Fountain at Clent which we had identified as being a good pub. Indeed it was, and very busy on a Spring Saturday lunchtime, and we had to sit outside. It did however have quite a foody atmosphere to it, the sort of places where families might go for a real pub experience, which I suppose is no bad thing, but it does make it busy at the bar. Beer selection was good - Hydes 1863, Deuchars, Seafarers, Marstons - and tasted fine too. I opted for a half again, and just as well for it was about another hour to the next pub, the Woodbridge at Coalport. This was not such a nice pub, despite being in a prime riverside location and accessed via a narrow bridge. In all honesty we had been forced there as there was a chance that another nearby pub would close for lunch. It was rather scruffy on the outside and unkempt inside, with a few locals supping uninspired pints, however a recent web search reveals that it has been given a makeover - good news! I opted for a half of Bombardier and we all made short work of our beverages.

Finally we arrived at Shrewsbury, where we had rooms at the Lion and Pheasant hotel booked. The hotel had a pretty good looking bar, with big windows and a view over the street, and we decided to make a start there. It was a bit expensive and they served up a quick plate of chips with silver service, but nevertheless they did have some good beer on: Woods Up Town, Shropshire Gold, Three Tuns Bitter and Cloud 9. Just over the road was the more authentic Nags Head which was very popular and had a good selection of beer: Station Bitter, Three Tuns Mild, Deuchars, Salopian Gold and Landlord. For some reason I missed the Mild. Quite a basic interior with a front room with a bar and a passageway leading to a back room and garden. Pretty basic with no frills, the sort of place where one can happily get on with the serious business of drinking.

The Loggerheads is down a side road and is a rather cramped pub, but also a pub of exceptional interest. In terms of beer, they were offering Merrie Monk, Oxford Gold, Snecklifter, Banks Bitter and Tom Fool. There were a number of nice rooms and we managed to get into a very old fashioned one with fantastic cosy tables, wooden panelling, green leather bench seats and a fireplace. There was also a more rough and ready room to the side which had been gents only until 1975. An unfortunate element of modern day Fascism however could be detected - a sign put up by the council banning outside drinking. We ignored it for a bit, then came in to enjoy the interior.

One of the main draws of Shrewsbury are the Tudor streets and we managed to work our way through some of these to the Three Fishes which was housed in a fine Tudor House. Strangely enough, the interior didn't appear quite as museum piece as the exterior, which was actually quite good as it was made all the more welcoming for it. The crowd was quite varied, some young drinkers, others more hardened souls intent on cider. The range was good - Lemon Dream, Arran Dark, Doom Bar, Landlord, Stonehouse Station, Salop Oracle, Salop Golden Thread and of course several ciders. I took the opportunity to bring my notes up to scratch, whilst sat at a rather pleasant table near the door. A short walk followed to the Old Post Office. This was not such a nice pub with quite a chavvy feel, although the range of beers did include Pedigree, Hobgoblin, Banks Bitter and EPA so was not that bad at all. The layout was one of these sprawling coaching inns with carpets and an emphasis on food. It was pretty quiet until a hen party walked in, so we drank up and left.

A brisk walk along College Hill past a pointless cafe style pub brought us to the Admiral Benbow. This place didn't look particularly special on the outside, but a sign indicating that it was a pub for Over 30's only convinced us that it was to be a good place to drink. It turned out that we made a wise choice - the beer selection was excellent, with Cloud 9, Ironbridge Gold, Monty's Stout, HPA, Supper, Titanic Mild, Gold, and five ciders. The interior was cosy and homely, if not of outstanding architectural merit. All in all we had a nice time in there and could have stayed longer. Before we reached our next pub, Richard required homage of 23A Swan Hill, brought to fame by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople and so a photograph was duly taken. After the rock nostalgia was completed, we moved a few yards into the Coach and Horses, a very good backstreet local. We sat in the quainter from bar and marvelled at our wood panelled surroundings, but a quick trip to the toilets revealed that the pub is actually much bigger than it looks, although these areas are not so interesting. Having said that, there was one splendid snug to the side of the pub which would be well worth a visit in the future. The beer selection was also excellent, with Oracle, Slaters Monkey Magic, Shropshire Gold, Stonehouse Station and Bishop's Castle Ow Do.

We then went for a short stroll through a park by the river, and eventually found ourselves at the Armoury. This was a massive, very busy pub where we decided food would be taken alongside hundreds of other likeminded individuals. Although it was a bit loud and trendy with people on a 'big night out', like an upmarket Wetherspoons, the beer selection was actually quite good, with Woods Shropshire Lad, 3 Tun IPA, Shropshire Gold, Ludlow Best, Shropshire Pride, Twisted Spire, Hobsons, Bronning and Price Original. We managed to get more than one in, which allowed some sampling, although we were pleased to go as it was really quite busy. Normal service was then resumed at a real 'drinkers'' pub, the Salopian. This was a basic, no nonsense establishment with a couple of well oiled dubious characters here and there, but still a good place for a few. The range was superb, with Oracle, Holden Joshua Tree, Station Bitter, Fyne Jarl, Higsons Mild, Blue Monkey Infinity, Dark Side of the Moose, Oakham Inferno, and Welsh beer which had a very Welsh looking name. There were also some interesting Belgian beers and ciders too.

Despite enjoying our stay at the Salopian it was time to move onto the Shrewsbury Hotel, which was a rather sprawling and tatty Wetherspoons filled with youngsters drinking too many alcopops. Some super hero themed pub crawl called in while we were there. Despite the awfulness of the clientele, the beer was OK - Abbot, Frome !, May Bee Mild, Ruddles and Shropshire Lad. We thought that we might get better surroundings up the road at the Yorkshire House, but alas no. This place was jam packed with drunk students and had little beer, just Abbot and IPA, although the atmosphere seemed actually a little more friendly, and there were some stereotypically interesting looking Goths to break the monotony of the typically chavvy looking people at the previous place. We did however end up having to drink outside, so made our stay brief.

Mad Jack's is one of Shrewsbury's trendy bars. Perhaps Shrewsbury's only trendy bar. But it was a decent enough place to spend a round or two, perched on a high, but comfortable, stool with a back taking in our surroundings, and it wasn't packed either. Service was efficient over the smart looking bar and prices were reasonable too, and a beer was on in the shape of Oracle. Not a proper pub, but pleasant enough. A change in pace was then required and the Wheatsheaf on the High Street provided it perfectly as it was running down to closing time. Very traditional and cosy looking interior if I remember correctly. The beer selection was good too - Titanic English Glory, Banks Bitter, Old Hooky, Jennings Dark Mild, Seafarers and Deuchars. We still had a little thirst left after closing time, so tried the Nags Head for one on the way back to the hotel. A nice idea but absolutely packed and we had to stand up squashed between other people - should have gone back to the hotel bar instead.

The following day, galvanised by a fine fry up (vegetarian for Richard) we headed back to Banbury, deciding to make a couple of stops on the way. The first of these was the Wheatsheaf at Whitbourne, a roadside pub with an obvious group of locals who seemed to know an unhealthy lot about each other, but four beers including a mild were available, and service was fine so it was pretty OK really. After going to the wrong one of two pubs named 'Live and Let Live' at Whitbourne (not Bringsty Common), we took Richard to the world renowned Fleece at Bretforton which we have visited on several occasions before. Once again the surroundings were superb as was the beer quality which included a mild, Uley Pigs Ear and four others. The Cromwell dinner service is always worth a look and fortunately it's not too twee despite being an obvious tourist trap. It was here that the Premier League events had begun to unfold and just before we got in the car I was informed that QPR were drawing at Man City, and Stoke were keeping Bolton at bay. By the time we were on the move again, both situations had deteriorated, so the radio was switched of and the passengers dozed along the M40 whilst I fretted until the Banbury junction whence Richard fired up the app on his phone, only to reveal that the situation had improbably improved once more, despite intervention from Joey Barton.

Arriving back in Great Bourton, Richard and I ordered a taxi for Banbury and whilst waiting for it learnt that Bolton had drawn and Man City had scored, then hearing on our taxi ride that they had scored again to win the lot. A pub with a TV and pleasing beer (to celebrate the Hoops' survival) was called for and the White Horse at Banbury Cross fitted the bill perfectly with a big TV, about 8 well kept beers, and loads of room, and a nice beer garden too. This has greatly improved since its previous incarnation and is well worth another visit. Pleasant though this was, there were still a number of pubs to visit and so we walked the short way around the corner to the Old Auctioneer, which was quite a large, spacious and slightly trendy pub with comfortable furnishings, not at all unpleasant. A bit of beer was available too in the shape of Abbot and their own ale. At the time of writing, this pub seems to be shut which is a shame. A pub that will never close that is a few doors down the road is our old favourite the Old Reindeer. An extremely traditional and pleasant pub with four Hook Norton beers and as per usual I plumped for the Hooky Dark. The Globe Room at the back is worth a look, as is the passageway that leads to it. This place is often closed on Sunday afternoons so we were quite lucky.

Yet another pub on Parsons Street is the Wine Vaults. Richard quite liked this pub from a previous visit, and on our visit it hit those high standards again. A nice beer garden too, and a couple of real ales on tap though nothing that special. One noteworthy point was that Richard's attempt to pay with a five pound note was thwarted because the barman said it was an old version, no longer legal tender. A need to get shot of it now arose and an opportunity presented itself across the road at Also Known As - the opportunity was taken too and Richard boldly managed to pay for our beers with the elderly currency at this uber trendy establishment. The fact that there was actually no beer to speak of to drink didn't even matter given our sleight of hand!

Passing the thankfully closed Unicorn, we worked our way round to the Banbury Cross. This was a somewhat rough and ready pub and I'm sure that there was a Chelsea connection of some sort. Despite this, they did have some beer in the shape of Bombardier so not all was bad. Nevertheless, the whole place had a feel of 'white van man' about it. A complete contrast was met a few doors down at the Coach and Horses, a rather upmarket pub from the Hook Norton stable with three beers available, and perhaps not quite in keeping with their usual clientele, but a pleasant enough pub nonetheless, especially for those seeing solids. Back to the lower echelons of society about 20 minutes later at the Exchange in Banbury, a Wetherspoons establishment with the usual fixtures, fittings and punters, and with about eight cheap beers, but little of interest.

Via the Tesco Metro and to the Wheatsheaf, a pub which has been aspiring to take over the Unicorn's mantle of chavness. They do have beer - Abbot and Greene King IPA - so we grabbed our pints and got out of the front bar and sat in the laughably named 'conservatory' which is basically some old deep sofas by a big window on the way to the bogs. Not a particularly nice place to drink, so we moved onto another Wetherspoons emporium, the Fleur de Lys. The drinkers here seemed a cut above those at the Exchange although it was still an unmistakably Wetherspoons venue. As I recall the beer selection was little more visionary than their other branch too and was pleasant enough to linger in. With time running out and Richard needing to head for his train, a final pub was decided upon and the most sensible thing to do was to pay a visit to the Blarney Stone. On a Sunday night, we feared for its future as a poor beer selection coupled with only a couple of other customers gave the impression of a pub 'dying on its arse'. However, Sunday night is never a good barometer and the place has looked quite lively during the evenings when I have subsequently passed. On that Sunday night, even though it was deathly quiet, it was the ideal place to have a bit of a warm down in calm and comfortable surroundings, and for Richard to contemplate his train ride home, whilst I contemplated what delights I would pick up curry-wise from the Jaipur.