Tuesday 26 May 2015

Hare and Hounds

A short stroll away from Shrewsbury is The Hare and Hounds. The remote pub seemingly suffered an arson attack in 2011, but was apparently already derelict. I don't know when or why it closed, but there are reviews online from 2008 talking about how great it was.Back nin the 1950s it was nicknamed The Morgue, due to it being so cold.
Of course, I knew nothing about the fire until after. On the day I was simply intrigued by the thought of exploring a derelict pub. My condolences to the last landlord, who everyone spoke highly of, and the people who loved this place in its glory days. If any of you are reading this, I imagine it will be quite surreal to see the familiar place as it is now. Kinda like Camelot theme park, although this place was probably a lot more homely.



I'll make a point of saying, I do not force entry, disclose means of access, steal, vandalize, and I especially do not condone this one- buildings that have suffered fire damage are weak, and more dangerous than your typical abandoned building. I was taking a huge risk going in.

The pub itself had a lovely fireplace in the function room, with a curious archway design. I could actually walk all around the entire thing and photograph each arched corner. In one wall was a curious blocked doorway at a ninety degree angle with the fireplace, possibly an old cleanout door.Apparently in the 1950s this part of the pub was used as a brewing area.






More of the public areas of the building. Apparently this place held some amazing parties and many people have fond memories.







Names in chalk on the scoreboard where the dartboard used to be.



























Wallpaper depicting hunting.





One thing I couldn't help but be concerned about was the fact that my adventure might be considerably shorter than I'd like, because the upstairs areas didn't seem to have a floor.




I reached my phone up through the rafters to snap a wheelbarrow in an upstairs room.


As expected, there was an area with raised platforms for barrel storage. This was above ground level though.



Further away from the function room, things were a lot more intact, albeit cluttered, and with a ceiling ready to collapse. Here I found a small storeroom down a few steps.








Nearby there was a kitchen, which still had a lot of leftover cups and saucers and other little tidbits stuck to the walls, such as the cleaning schedule, and various food hygiene signs.














Ultimately there came a question of how little regard for my own safety I was going to have, when I discovered the stairs.


But life is far too important to be taken seriously! Up the stairs I went!


Needless to say, I took very careful steps. The floorboards that remained were weak. However, they were also a lot stronger than the flooring at the Cherry Tree Hotel.



Making ones way around the floorboardless areas was considerably difficult.








Some interesting wall art.



(Still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs in Shrewsbury)





 I did find that wheel barrow in the end!


Outside behind the pub there was a random room full of smashed dishes, guarded by a rusty oven.








And one of the other outer buildings was used as a changing area for Cruckton FC, who used to play on a nearby pitch. Due to its separation from the main building, it's actually in much better condition.








That concludes the Hare and Hounds. It looks like it would have been a lovely place to visit back in the day. If anyone has any stories or information, please get in touch. The same applies for any other location I've blogged about. Feel free to follow me- urbexshropshire on Twitter and shrewsburyfromwhereyouarenot on Instagram. And of course, www.facebook.com/shrewsburyfromwhereyouarenot

Thank you for reading the blog. Stay awesome. The best is yet to be.

3 comments:

  1. i had lunch here once when i was a pupil at cruckton hall school,so sad to see it in this state.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What became of it now in 2018? Many thanks for the upload.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now houses mostly complete 1x 4 bed, 3x 3bed I believe £550k for the largest.

    B4386
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/LrAdSvKvijVUY7Bx5

    ReplyDelete