Pub with rooms in Bromfield, Shropshire
Curator's notes:
Rooms from
18 doubles/twin; 1 family suite: £100
Good to know
All credit cards taken
Disabled access
Alfresco & private dining
Parking
No dogs overnight
Ludlow farm shop
Located behind the Clive Arms, the Ludlow Farm Shop offers a unique food shopping experience where farming, food production and retailing come together under one roof. Buy beef, lamb, Old Spot pork and game reared on the estate, and vegetables from the walled garden, as well as produce from local artisan producers.
A touch of culture
A vivid introduction to traditional rural life can be seen at the Acton Scott Working Farm Museum, with plenty of rare breeds, and crops cultivated using old rotation methods; all the work is done by hand or horse power, with period farm machinery. Craft demonstrations too.
Behind the inn and well away from the A49, a group of barns set around a courtyard has been converted into fifteen stylish yet uncluttered bedrooms.
All have beams and are simply furnished in modern country style - think, rich fabrics, quirky wallpaper, comfortable Hypnos beds with handmade headboards, woollen throws and scatter cushions, upholstered easy chairs, Roberts radios, and decent beverage trays with local Trumpers teas, fresh coffee and homemade biscuits from the Farm Shop.
The ground floor rooms have pale wooden floors and overlook the courtyard, while the thickly carpeted rooms on the first floor have skylights in the roof, so the only thing missing is a view. Three new rooms above the inn offer more space and comfort - huge beds, Smart TVs, desk space and big bathrooms with roll-top tubs and walk-in showers, and posh 100 Acres toiletries.
Provenance really matters to the kitchen team at the Clive - the 3-mile suppliers map on the menu champions the estate reared and grown produce and the local artisan producers.
All the beef, lamb, venison and organic pork comes from the estate farms, Oakly Park, which surrounds the inn, provides all the autumnal game, and Lady Plymouth's walled garden, just 1/2 mile away, supplies seasonal herbs, fruit and vegtables. Bread, cheese, jams and pickles are handmade at the Ludlow Farmshop and meat is prepared by the onsite butchery team.
The cooking is a well priced and the crowd-pleasing menus provide a good mix of British pub staples and interesting Mediterranean-inspired dishes. In the bar, typically tuck into Ludlow Gold battered haddock, bouillabaisse, pork belly with cider sauce, or a decent ham hock and piccalilli sandwich at lunchtime.
In the evening everything cranks up a notch in the dining room - beef fillet with black truffle and Madeira jus - and there's always a roast on Sunday. Quaff cracking Ludlow Brewery beers, gin cocktails and decent wines (20 by the glass) from an eclectic, well-chosen list.
Created during the recent refurbishment, the Plassey Room is a stylish private dining room with blue-painted panelled walls, colourful vintage prints and local artwork, and classically upholstered chairs at a splendid oak table. The room accommodates up to 12 guests on one long table or 20 guests for a standing reception.
