Shropshire micro-brewery and pub on the market
The owners of an historic landmark pub with its own micro-brewery in Shropshire have put it up for sale, it was revealed today.
Nev and Sue Richards, of The Six Bells Brewery and Inn in Bishop's Castle, said they had other interests to pursue.
The couple, who said they would be staying in the area, have put the business on the market for £295,000 with agents Chrstie and Co in Birmingham.
Mrs and Mrs Richards took over the pub in Church Street in 1998.
Mr Richards, who hails originally from Churchstoke and is the fourth generation of his family to be a brewer, said: "I think everyone's sales have been hit in recent times but that's got nothing to do with us selling up.
"We've just got things to get on and do.
"We will be staying in Bishop's Castle and I think whoever buys the place will keep it as a pub."
The Six Bells, which takes its name from the six bells of St John the Baptist Church on the opposite side of Kerry Lane, stands on the site of a farmhouse built in 1670.
The building was extended in 1750 to become The Six Bells Pub, probably to offer lodgings and a secure livestock paddock to drovers moving their sheep from the Welsh hills to London.
Bishop's Castle at the time was one of the famous rotten boroughs and it could well be that corrupt prospective MPs walked among the drinkers of the Six Bells offering bribes for votes.
One such man was Clive of India who was MP for Bishop's Castle soon after the Six Bells opened in the 1760s.
The pub has been licensed continuously from 1750 to the present day and remains one of the foremost pubs in south Shropshire.
The Paddock is now long gone and the out-buildings are home of the Six Bells Micro-Brewery which opened in 1997.
The Good Pub Guide gives the Six Bells three out of a possible five stars.
One attraction Mr Richard laid on was to provide tours of the brewery.
