20 years of The Salopian: Time to raise a glass as landlord looks back on floods, fun and famous faces at Shrewsbury pub

In that time he has seen highs and lows including major expansions, more than 60 floods including four that have cascaded over Smithfield Road and into the bar, visits from famous faces including A-list Hollywood superstars and huge financial challenges introduced by successive governments.

But despite the tough times, things are “very much on the up”, according to Ollie, fresh from a record-breaking Saturday which saw 2,500 punters in for a drink.

Under Ollie’s stewardship it was initially a bistro “with no customers”, before becoming a multi award-winning real ale pub.

Now, with co-owner Kev Rippard on board who joined during the Covid pandemic to help expand it to five times the size, it has become the place to be for young people in Shrewsbury.

“It’s mad how we’ve become a destination venue,” Ollie said.

It’s a far cry from its origins in 1861, when the pub was first opened as The Globe near the Smithfield cattle market.

It was later renamed The Smithfield and then The Proud Salopian, which was busy and had a reputation as a biker’s pub, before becoming The Soho Bar.

It was when it was The Soho Bar that the opportunity to take over presented itself to Ollie.

“I grew up in Shrewsbury, and I always wanted to get into hospitality,” he said. “I was in hospitality from the age of around 14 doing various club promoting events around Britain.

“I came in one night and got chatting to the landlord and he made it clear he wanted out. He was struggling to make it a success. So I took on the lease for £1 and spent about £10,000 on the fixtures and fittings.”

He renamed it The Salopian Bar and turned it into a bistro.

“It was paying homage to its previous heyday,” Ollie said. The venue now seems to be experiencing a new heyday in this era.

However back then, the bistro struggled to make much money, so Ollie ditched food and focused on real ale - a move which resulted in profits quadrupling and the pub winning a clutch of awards.

It won several Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) awards including Shrewsbury Pub of the Year, Cider Pub of the Year and the Popular Vote.

Famous faces

Over the years several celebrities have poked their head in the door for a drink, including Hollywood A-lister Sienna Miller, who was in town partying with Shropshire huntmaster Otis Ferry in March 2007.

Many footballers and rugby players have also been in for a pint, as well as singers when they have been performing in the Quarry or at Theatre Severn.

Boy George, Adam Ant and Suggs from Madness are among those to make The Salopian’s wall of fame.

“I did like Suggs,” said Ollie. “I can’t remember what he drank, but he was a very down to earth guy. He made a point of coming in again when he came back to Shrewsbury.”

He added: “Newton Faulkner came in and tried all of the real ales, and then he was like ‘I’ve got to go to work’. He said he was working at the theatre and he was singing. I didn’t realise who he was until I Googled him after.”

Even housewives favourite Chico from the X Factor has been in.

"The whole building shook": Memories of the Shrewsbury gas explosion in 2010

Five years after Ollie took over The Salopian came one of the most shocking days - the gas explosion just up the road at Bridge Street, next to the Shrewsbury Hotel.

There were 12 people injured - six seriously, including panto actor Kiley McDonnell, who was paralysed from the waist down. He had been performing at Theatre Severn that winter.

It was around 11.30am when the explosion happened and Ollie was in his pub, getting ready to start trading.

Ollie recalled: “The whole building shook. It broke the bolts on the doors. I thought it must have been an earthquake. 

“I went outside to see what had happened and there was like a plume of smoke. People were running away but I ran towards it. I carried two girls out in my arms.”

He won a bravery award for his heroics in the aftermath of the terrifying incident.

Flooding woes and Covid, but a silver lining...

That moment was some departure from the typical day-to-day life of a pub landlord, and between then and February 2020, Ollie continued at The Salopian as he had been - trading successfully and winning awards.

However, then the town was hit with a double flooding disaster - including the second worst recorded flood in Shrewsbury’s history.

“We had a massive flood in February 2020 that came across Smithfield Road and took out everything," he said. "It completely washed the pub out.”

That was quickly followed by the Covid pandemic and lockdowns that put the pub trade out of action for months and months.

But, given what had happened with the floods and what was to happen next with Kev coming on board, it proved to be a “silver lining” for The Salopian.

“The Covid pandemic turned out to be good luck for us,” Ollie said. “The hospitality industry shut down for 12-15 months and during that time the buildings next door to us became vacant.

“We managed to expand into those buildings, so when the industry reopened, we were four times the size.”

Initially they turned the warehouse next door into a garden bar, endearingly dubbed “a Deano paradise” by social media pub critics, The Shropshire Swillers. With its Instagrammable decor and house music pumping, it has proven a hugely popular staple on a Shrewsbury night out for the younger generation. It also fills up when there are big football, rugby and boxing matches on.

Ollie said that given the social distancing rules when the industry tentatively reopened, the expansion was the “only option” to stop the venue going out of business.

“With a capacity of 20 would have gone bust in two weeks,” he said. “Expanding made it so the capacity was 112 with Covid restrictions and 400 when they were lifted.

“While other pubs were closing down, we were expanding.”

In 2022, Ollie and Kev bought the venue freehold and extended it further by turning the old Wenlock Edge Farm shop into a back bar and beer garden downstairs.

The Loft area upstairs opened the following year,  including pool tables and seating areas, increasing the venue’s capacity to around 500. The pub is now five times its original size.

"Putin drinks in The Salopian!"

The Salopian Bar may be almost unrecognisable from 20 years ago, with many more younger people coming in at the weekend to drink and party.

But its roots have not been forgotten. When the Shropshire Star popped in for a lunchtime pint, we met a few gents who have even more decades there than Ollie under their belts.

We met “Roy” and his friend “Putin”, a gentleman who was endearingly nicknamed for his perceived resemblance to the warmongering Russian dictator.

“There’s your headline,” joked Roy. “Putin drinks in The Salopian.” 

Roy said he had been drinking in the pub for about 40 years. 

“It used to be a biker’s pub back then,” he said. “Now it’s moved with the times. It’s got good beers and caters for all ages.”

“Putin” is glad that Ollie has taken the pub in the direction he has - away from food and more about beers.

“There are too many doing food now,” he said. “We don’t need it.”

"Soaring costs, but we're grafters."

Despite its recent success, however, the pub’s running costs will have increased by around £185,000 in 12 months come April 2026 due to business rates, National Insurance and minimum wage increases.

“It’s very hard for a pub, bar, cafe or restaurant, said Ollie. “This Labour government is exactly the same as the previous governments. The Conservatives were just as bad.

“In their promises they said they would revamp the system with business rates but they haven’t. If they would listen to our moans and groans and actually revamp it, it would help us and every pub in Britain.

“This is our 21st year we’re going into and we’ve never had a year down on the previous year. But times are getting harder in the hospitality industry. The budget in March probably cost us the best part of £85,000 with minimum wage going up and employers National Insurance.

“This latest budget is going to cost us the best part of £100,000 plus because business rates have gone up four-fold for us. We’ve found out ours have gone up more than any other premises in Shrewsbury. I think you get hammered for being successful.

“Last April we did have to put our prices up and for the first time in our 20 years no-one moaned about it.

“This was the biggest one we’d done and no-one bat an eyelid because they watched the news. They know what’s happening. They know there’s a cost of living crisis.

“I’m sure it’ll be the same come April. We’ll have to put our prices up again. We can’t absorb that £100,000. That’d be ridiculous.

“But we’ll get through it. We’ve got through 60 floods, a recession, and business rates increases before. It won’t be easy. It’ll be hard work. But we’re grafters, so we’ll graft.”

Kev added: “We get great support from our customers as well. We have regulars from 18 to 80 and they support the pub. We keep putting things on for them. We’re setting our stall out so they have a great time when they come here.

“We want to be the best we can be and the best in the area.”

They may be facing challenges, but Ollie and Kev believe there is plenty to be enthusiastic about.

“I think Shrewsbury is probably bucking the nightlife trend in this country,” Ollie said. “Saturdays are the busiest I’ve ever seen them. Town is buzzing.

“The midweek trade may be a little quieter because of the cost of living and people can’t afford to come out two, three or four nights a week. But people seem to be saving it for Saturday now. New places are opening.

“It’s not just people from Shrewsbury. People are coming from Telford, Wolverhampton, Whitchurch and elsewhere.

“We’ve had some great bands over the years and darts exhibition nights. We’ve had massive sporting events on like the Rugby World Cup, England and Wales games and boxing matches.

“We’re looking forward to the (football) World Cup in 2026. If the Euros last year is anything to go by it should be really good.”

So here’s to another 20 years of one of Shrewsbury’s most popular pubs. Cheers!