Coalbrookdale Inn

19/10/2026

🍻 OVER A GRAND FOR CHARITY. BAMBI IN THE RAFFLE. AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR DEXTER. 🥩🐶

What a weekend at the Dale.

🌻 FOOD, MUSIC & GIVING — YOU RAISED JUST OVER £1,000! 🌻

An absolutely stunning amount for Lingen Davies. Thank you to everyone who came along, gave generously and helped make it such a brilliant evening.

This community never fails to deliver. Give you a good cause, some live music and access to a donation bucket, and you’re a remarkably dangerous bunch. 💛🪣

👏 Huge thanks to George, Beth and especially Tracie for all your hard work keeping the evening moving.

👏 To our Graham, and Jo and Stuart from the Hundred House, for driving this excellent cause and evening forward — and providing some outstanding food.

🎶 And massive thanks to Minor Glance, who delivered another cracking set, got the crowd up and even broke into some impromptu B*Witched especially for Bev. 💃🍀

Ryan looked a little less certain about proceedings. By that stage, his relationship with gravity was already under considerable strain. 🥴📉

📸 The photos don’t quite do the evening justice, but what a night. Thank you, all of you.

🥩 SUNDAY: SO MUCH FOR A QUIET ONE… 🥩

After Saturday, I thought Sunday’s meat raffle might be a slightly gentler affair.

A little breathing space. A steady evening. Perhaps even a visible patch of tile.

How wrong can one landlord be? 🙃

Packed out again for another magnificent selection from Anthony’s of Wellington, including some lovely venison.

Oh deer. 🦌

There were plenty of other cuts, but I’m fairly sure we gave away most of Bambi. Childhood memories, now conveniently portioned for the freezer. 🧊

🏆 The end of the bar was among the winners, Graham bagged a double, and even the mighty Glyn returned to the prizes.

🐶 Sadly — and I know you’ll all be absolutely devastated — Dexter won nothing.

Nothing.
Zip.
Not so much as a consolation sausage. 🌭🚫

A difficult evening for the canine meat monopoly. Please keep him in your thoughts while you’re enjoying the dinner he didn’t win. 😌🍽️

🎤 AND INSIDE THE BOX… 🎤

A small but powerful karaoke machine, complete with microphones.

Because apparently the one thing missing from people’s homes was the ability to ruin My Way loudly enough to affect neighbouring house prices. 🏠📉

The prize went to Mr Damian, recently single and ready to mingle. 🕺

Picture the scene…

🕯️ Candles lit.
💡 Lights down low.
🥂 A lucky lady anticipating an evening of romance.
🎤 Damian reaching for the microphone.

She thought he said he’d take her breath away.

Unfortunately, he meant Berlin. At full volume. In his front room. 🎶😬

Still, there are two microphones. If she can’t escape, she can at least call for help. 🎤📣

📅 AND WE’RE NOT FINISHED YET…

Business very much as usual as we head towards the end of October:

🧠 QUIZ NIGHT — Wednesday 28 October, 8pm

Another opportunity to discover that the loudest person on your team knows remarkably little. 📵🍷

🎃 HALLOWEEN PARTY — Saturday 31 October, from 7pm

🎬📺 FILM & TV — DEAD OR ALIVE

With DJ Ryan of Spectrum Entertainment smashing out the haunted tunes. 👻🎧

Heroes, villains, sitcom casualties and familiar faces in varying states of decomposition. Fancy dress strongly encouraged; looking dreadful through ordinary lifestyle choices will not automatically qualify you for the prize. 🧟🏆

Over £1,000 raised. A pub full of people. And the meat briefly returned to human ownership.

Not a bad weekend’s work, Dale. 🍻❤️

Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

15/10/2026

🌻 GOOD MUSIC. GOOD FOOD. GIVING BACK. 🌻

THIS SATURDAY AT THE COALBROOKDALE INN — LET’S DO SOMETHING RATHER WONDERFUL.

A gentle reminder that this Saturday we’re getting together for something a little bigger than our usual nonsense.

And before anyone panics, yes, there will still be b**r.

Now, we have to say something.

You lot are genuinely remarkable.

Whether it’s supporting local events, helping the church, buying raffle tickets, putting your hands in your pockets or simply turning up when someone needs a hand, this little community gives an extraordinary amount to good causes.

And we’re asking you to do it again.

Only this time, we’re asking you to dig particularly deep.

🌻 We’re raising money for the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund’s Sunflower Appeal.

Cancer has touched far too many lives, families and friendships. It’s one of those things that needs no introduction, and unfortunately, very few of us are strangers to it.

So this Saturday, we’re bringing together three things we do rather well at the Dale: good people, good music and a very good reason to have another pint.

🍽️ 6:30pm — Food courtesy of the Hundred House, who are very kindly helping us make the evening something special.

🎸 8pm — Live music from Minor Glance, providing the soundtrack to what promises to be a cracking evening.

🌻 FREE ENTRY — DONATIONS VERY MUCH ENCOURAGED.

There’ll be collection buckets, and we’d dearly love to see them overflowing.

No pressure, no guilt trips, no clipboard-wielding charity assassins lurking by the toilets.

Just a simple request.

If you can afford to give generously, please do.

You’ve already shown time and again what this community is capable of. This Saturday, we’d love to show it once more.

Bring your friends, bring your family, bring your dancing shoes and, most importantly, bring a few quid for a cause that genuinely matters.

Let’s make it a night worth remembering, for a cause worth supporting. ❤️

Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

A traditional victorian inn located in the heart of the ironbridge gorge and world heritage site.

13/10/2026

🧠🍺 QUIZ NIGHT AT THE DALE — TOMORROW, 8PM! 🍺🧠

A wonderful opportunity to discover just how little you know, surrounded by people who know even less.

Yes, tomorrow evening we’re back with another glorious celebration of ignorance, misplaced confidence and the catastrophic failure of the British education system.

A lovely evening of intellectual stimulation, public humiliation and the gradual realisation that the person you’ve been sharing a bed with for twenty years is, in fact, an idiot.

And all for just £1.

📜 THE HOUSE RULES — READ CAREFULLY, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES.

📵 NO PHONES. Absolutely none. If you need Google to answer a question, you don’t know the answer. Your ancestors survived wars, plagues and outdoor toilets. You can survive two hours without Wikipedia.

✏️ FIRST TEAM TO GET A LINE: Wins half the prize pot AND the dubious honour of setting the next quiz. Congratulations, you’ve won yourself homework.

🏆 HIGHEST SCORE: Takes the other half of the pot AND a bottle of w**e. Because nothing rewards intellectual superiority quite like subsidised alcoholism.

💷 ENTRY: £1 PER PERSON. Less than the price of a packet of crisps, with considerably more opportunities to destroy a friendship.

📅 WEDNESDAY 14TH OCTOBER
🕗 8PM START
📍 THE COALBROOKDALE INN

Come for the quiz. Stay for the b**r. Leave questioning the entire education system.

Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

11/10/2026

🥩 THE MEAT RAFFLE AFTERMATH — THE RESULTS ARE IN! 🥩

THE DOG WAS AWAY. THE PEOPLE HAD THEIR DAY. AND GRAHAM DISCOVERED THE TRUE COST OF MARRIAGE. 🍖

Well, it was pretty clear to everyone that that bloody dog Dexter was away this week, because for once it felt like absolutely everyone was in the prizes. The meat was flowing, fortunes were changing, and for one glorious Sunday evening, the human race regained control of the raffle.

Normal service will undoubtedly resume next week.

🥩 GLYN — THE GREAT FA**OT ROBBERY

Glyn returned to heroic form, triumphantly winning himself some lovely faggots. Sadly, his victory was short-lived when fellow winner Buster liberated him of his prize in exchange for some rather splendid chicken and sage wrapped in bacon.

Like some sort of Dick Turpin of the meat counter, Buster rode off into the sunset with his ill-gotten faggots, leaving Glyn clutching his poultry and questioning the entire concept of fair trade.

🏆 CLARE, BEV, RYAN AND THE REST OF THE CRIMINAL FRATERNITY

Clare was back on magnificent form with a double win, while Bev and Ryan also got themselves amongst the prizes.

Ray took home the prosecco! 🍾

Yes, Tarnya, best you hear it here first. We can’t confirm whether the bottle actually made it home, but we can confirm it left the premises in Ray’s possession. Whether you ever see it is another matter entirely.

Meanwhile, Porky continued his remarkable winning streak, despite putting in what can only be described as the absolute minimum amount of effort. A man proving once again that hard work is entirely optional when you’ve got the luck of the devil.

🎁 AND THEN THERE WAS THE BOX…

Huge congratulations to Graham and Sarah — TRIPLE WINNERS! 🏆🏆🏆

An extraordinary performance, culminating in the opportunity to walk away with a gloriously oversized steak and kidney pie. A magnificent specimen. A pie of such proportions it could comfortably have fed a small family through a particularly harsh winter.

But no.

They gambled.

And swapped the pie for TEQUILA. 🇲🇽

Sarah was absolutely delighted.

Graham looked like a man who’d just watched his Sunday dinner disappear across the Mexican border.

Somewhere in the distance, a mariachi band began to play.

Sarah had won the box. Graham had lost the will to live.

Viva la raffle. 🇲🇽

A huge thank you as always to Anthony’s of Wellington for another fantastic selection of meaty magnificence, congratulations to all our other winners and heartfelt commiserations to this week’s losers.

⚠️ A WARNING FOR NEXT SUNDAY…

DEXTER IS BACK.

The brief period of democracy is over. The St Bernard returns, and with him the very real possibility that the rest of you are simply funding his weekly shopping.

And we’ve got another magnificent mystery box prize lined up.

What could possibly go wrong?

🎶 AND BEFORE YOU DISAPPEAR — THIS SATURDAY! 🎶

A gentle reminder that we’re hosting our FOOD, MUSIC & GIVING charity evening in support of the wonderful Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal, helping people affected by cancer across Shropshire.

🍽️ Food from 6:30pm, courtesy of Stuart and the team at The Hundred House.

🎸 Live music from 8pm with the phenomenally popular Minor Glance.

❤️ FREE ENTRY — DONATIONS VERY WELCOME!

A fantastic evening of food, live music and raising money for a genuinely worthwhile cause.

Come down, bring your friends, bring a few quid for the collection buckets and help us make a difference.

Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

10/10/2026

🍎 APPLE DAY DONE. NEXT UP… THE MIGHTY MEAT RAFFLE! 🥩🎟️

Well, another successful Apple Day has come and gone, and by all accounts it was a cracking day down at the Community Centre!

Food sold out, plenty of happy faces and a wonderful turnout. Always a good sign when there’s nothing left to eat. Either the food was excellent or the village has collectively forgotten how to cook.

👏 Huge congratulations to everyone involved in making it such a success!

Anyway, enough wholesome community spirit. Back to the nonsense.

🥩 TOMORROW — SUNDAY — 7PM!

The mighty Coalbrookdale Inn Meat Raffle returns, courtesy of the wonderful Anthony’s of Wellington, who once again provide a magnificent selection of meat for us to distribute through a process that can only loosely be described as fair.

🎟️ £1 a ticket or £5 a strip. Tickets available in advance, so you can secure your disappointment nice and early.

Prepare yourselves for the highs, the lows, the questionable decisions and the meat-flavoured rollercoaster of almost non-stop excitement.

Well, until Dexter wins again, obviously. 🐶

🎁 AND THEN THERE’S THE BOX.

We promise, hand on heart, there will be NO artistic masterpieces lurking inside this week’s box. After last week’s cultural contribution, we feel the art world has suffered quite enough.

We are, however, making absolutely no promises regarding Pot Noodles.

Or anything else, for that matter.

And finally, if you’ve been reading our increasingly ridiculous Sunday night post-match reports and wondering whether any of this actually happens…

It does. Every bloody week.

So if you’ve been wavering about coming down, come and witness it for yourself.

The tension. The triumph. The heartbreak. The occasional dog walking away with more meat than a family of six.

It’s a genuinely wonderful community occasion, bringing people together every Sunday to celebrate friendship, generosity and the crushing disappointment of watching someone else win your dinner.

It’s beautifully pointless. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. ❤️

📍 The Coalbrookdale Inn
🕖 Sunday, 7pm — tickets available beforehand!

Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

04/10/2026

🌰🥩 WHAT. A. DAY.

Drama. Hi-jinks. Allegations of cheating. Brother turned against brother. Porky nearly losing an eye. Public booing. Questionable gambling decisions. Fine art.

And, inevitably… that bloody dog.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Tracey, George, Nat, Porky and of course Clare for all their help with the Conker Contest and Meat Raffle.

Genuinely couldn’t have done it without you all. ❤️

Right. Enough warmth. Let’s discuss the violence.

🌰 THE GREAT COALBROOKDALE CONKER CONTEST

Clare had spent weeks disappearing into bushes and hedgerows gathering this year’s finest specimens.

Nat drilled them.

Señor Porque — Porky to those who’ve seen his passport — was ready.

And the people of Coalbrookdale arrived for a pleasant little charity conker competition.

It deteriorated almost immediately.

There were allegations of cheating, questionable technique, brothers fighting for family honour and one contest that went on for so long we nearly had to carry it over to next year’s tournament.

Then Porky nearly lost an eye.

Fortunately he remains binocular, although for a brief moment Señor Porque came dangerously close to becoming Señor Pirata.

Eventually, after a mere three hours, civilisation returned and we had a winner.

Last year’s champion Young Phoenix was finally toppled as Joe Cooper defeated Dean in the final to become:

🏆 THE 2026 COALBROOKDALE CONKER CHAMPION.

Phoenix handed over the trophy with the warmth of a deposed dictator being asked to vacate the palace.

Congratulations Joe, commiserations Dean and a huge well done to everyone who entered.

Because beneath all the nonsense was something genuinely worthwhile — with a little extra from behind the bar, we raised a fantastic £70 for Holy Trinity Church. ❤️

Three hours of grown adults smashing each other’s nuts together… for the church.

There are sentences you can only write in Coalbrookdale.

Then came a brief period of peace.

And at 7pm, we lowered the tone again.

🥩 THE MIGHTY MEAT RAFFLE.

Another cracking selection from Anthony’s of Wellington, another packed pub and another evening proving nothing brings a community together quite like the possibility of taking home an unexpected joint.

Bev & Ryan absolutely romped home with a TRIPLE WIN.

By that stage it was becoming less good fortune and more a redistribution of Anthony’s stock.

Jo & Stuart also got amongst the winners, before Ned committed the far more serious offence of winning in public.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Instantaneous. No organisation. No ringleader.

Just an entire room discovering independently that Ned’s happiness was unacceptable.

People worry Britain has lost its sense of community.

It hasn’t. It’s just waiting for Ned to win something.

But all of this was merely the undercard.

Because sitting quietly in the background was…

📦 THE BOX.

And this week we’d gone too far.

No Oxo cube. No Pot Noodles. No Fray Bentos lurking beneath a thin veneer of hope.

This was culture.

Eventually James & Liz took the gamble.

The box opened.

And Coalbrookdale entered a new cultural age.

🎨 COALBROOKDALE GOTHIC.

Glyn. Dexter. Together.

A piece nobody commissioned.

Nobody requested. Nobody realised British art was missing.

Yet somehow, the moment you saw it, everything made sense.

James & Liz very generously donated it straight back to the pub.

An incredibly kind gesture.

Although there was a definite air of “we’re not taking that bloody thing home” about the speed of proceedings.

Either way, it now belongs exactly where it should.

At the Dale. Coalbrookdale gave the world iron.

Industry. The Iron Bridge.

And now we’ve given it Glyn standing next to a St Bernard.

Some will point to Turner.

But Turner never painted a St Bernard alongside Glyn, so frankly he never really tested himself.

And you’d think being immortalised in a major work of art would be enough attention for one dog.

You haven’t met Dexter.

🐶 THE BLOODY DOG WON TWICE.

Again.

This is a dog who has previously managed to win our Meat Raffle without even being in the building.

This week he actually bothered turning up.

And won twice.

The “cheers” came. Dexter remained unmoved.

Just sat there with the serene confidence of a St Bernard who knows the humans still haven’t worked out how he’s doing it.

So there we have it.

A new Conker Champion. £70 for Holy Trinity. Bev & Ryan annexing a significant proportion of Wellington’s meat supply. Jo & Stuart heading home happy. Ned discovering exactly how conditional our love really is. Glyn accidentally entering the British artistic canon.

And Dexter continuing his hostile takeover of Sunday evenings.

A perfectly normal day in Coalbrookdale.

And if you think its calming down after that…

Absolutely not.

🍎 SATURDAY 10TH OCTOBER — APPLE DAY — 12–4PM

Before anyone arrives at the Dale carrying a Bramley and looking confused:

📍 THIS ONE IS AT COALBROOKDALE COMMUNITY CENTRE — NOT THE PUB.

A proper community afternoon with food, drink, music, crafts, apple pressing, orchard walks, apple pie competition and c***r drinking.

Essentially, Coalbrookdale has looked at the humble apple and decided eating it normally shows a complete lack of ambition.

Family friendly, loads going on and well worth supporting.

Then the following Saturday, we have one that really matters.

❤️🌻 SATURDAY 17TH OCTOBER — FOOD, MUSIC & GIVING

We’re bringing together three things the Dale does rather well:

Good food. Good music. Good people.

And using them to raise money for the Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal, supporting people affected by cancer across Shropshire.

🍴FROM 6:30PM

Our Stuart from The Hundred House Hotel will be serving pulled BBQ brisket, Texan wedges and salad, with vegetarian options available.

Then…

🎶 MINOR GLANCE — LIVE FROM 8PM

If you caught them last time, you’ll know.

If you didn’t… correct that administrative error.

The evening is completely free to attend.
No ticket. No entry fee.

Just come down, eat, drink, enjoy the music and bring that dollar because donation buckets will be around the pub throughout the evening.

We’ve deliberately made the night free because we’d much rather see that money going into the buckets.

No gimmicks. No complicated fundraising.

Just a full pub having a brilliant night and doing some good while we’re at it.

If a group of adults hitting horse chestnuts together can raise £70 for Holy Trinity, I’d like to see what this lot can do with brisket, b**r and a band.

❤️ Let’s make this one count.

And somewhere amongst all of that, Sunday will roll around again…

🥩 The meat will arrive.

📦 The box will return.

🐶 And Dexter will presumably continue whatever criminal enterprise he’s currently operating.

October at the Dale.

Quiet little month, really.

🍺 Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

04/10/2026

Gentle Reminder; 🥜
The Annual Coalbrookdale Conker Competition is TODAY at 3pm — contestants in for 2:30pm. £2 entry, all for Holy Trinity, with a seasonal autumn buffet available. 🍂
Senor Porque is back on drilling duty, Phoenix may rise again, Nat may arrive in footwear requiring planning permission, and ideally nobody ends the afternoon at A&E.
Then at 7pm — THE MIGHTY MEAT RAFFLE 🥩
Quality cuts courtesy of Anthony’s of Wellington… and quite possibly the greatest box prize we’ve ever had.
No Oxo cube. No Pot Noodle. No disappointment.
You really don’t want to miss this one.
Real flavour. Real people. Right here at the Dale.

30/09/2026

OCTOBER AT THE DALE — APPARENTLY WE’VE DECIDED REST IS FOR OTHER PUBS. 🍺
Another stupidly busy month ahead, and we’re kicking it off properly THIS SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER with the return of:
🌰 THE GREAT COALBROOKDALE CONKER CONTEST
Sign up from 2:30pm | Battle commences 3pm | £2 entry
Holy Trinity needs your nuts.
Señor Porqué is back on conker-drilling duty, which feels like a sentence that should probably concern several authorities.
The lovely Clare has once again been disappearing into bushes and hedgerows collecting this year’s finest specimens — all completely above board, we assume.
Will the Amazing Phoenix rise again and crush the opposition?
Will Nat return in the enormous stomping heels?
Will somebody require medical attention again?
The tension is palpable. The risk assessment less so.
And once Coalbrookdale’s finest have finished smashing horse chestnuts at one another…
🥩 THE MIGHTY MEAT RAFFLE — 7PM
Lovely cuts from Anthony’s of Wellington and, more importantly, this week’s Box is an absolute belter.
Dexter is presumably already arranging an alibi.
🍎 SATURDAY 10TH — APPLE DAY | 12–4PM
The hugely successful Family Apple Day returns with food, drink, music, crafts, apple pressing, orchard walks, apple pie competition and, naturally, c***r drinking.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: THIS ONE IS NOT AT THE DALE.
It’s at Coalbrookdale Community Centre.
We’d rather mention that now than have 40 people arrive here demanding an orchard.
🌻 SATURDAY 17TH — FOOD, MUSIC & GIVING
A cracking evening in aid of the Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal, helping make a difference to people impacted by cancer across Shropshire.
🍴 Food from Stuart at the Hundred House — 6:30pm
🎶 Minor Glance — from 8pm
Great food, the phenomenally popular Minor Glance and a genuinely brilliant cause.
Bring a few quid. Bring a few more if you’ve got them.
For once, we’re encouraging you to leave with less money than you arrived with for entirely respectable reasons.
🧠 QUIZ NIGHTS — WEDNESDAY 14TH & 28TH | 8PM
£1 entry. No phones. Questionable knowledge encouraged. Confidence wildly disproportionate to ability remains completely free.
🎃 SATURDAY 31ST — HALLOWEEN PARTY | 7PM
FILM & TV — DEAD OR ALIVE
Come as anyone who’s ever appeared on a screen. Hero, villain, monster, presenter, soap legend or someone the BBC has quietly stopped calling for some minor reason.
🏆 Prize for Best Fancy Dress
Zombie Mr Blobby has already set an unsettlingly low bar.
Conkers. Meat. Apples. Charity. Music. Quizzes. Halloween.
October at the Dale.
Because apparently simply opening the pub wasn’t enough.