The Shropshire pub that's been owned by the same family for almost 100 years

Fast forward to today and the pub is currently under the ownership of the same family for almost 100 years.

Jane Hughes is the fourth generation of her family that has owned the establishment, and runs it with her husband Peter, and Sarah who is the manager.

According to Jane her family came to the Windmill around the late 1920s and it has been passed down the family ever since

It has an incredible history, and to go through almost a century of family ownership is a rarity when it comes to pubs these days. However, it's something that makes the Windmill that extra bit special for Jane as she is able to carry on the tradition, despite it nearly being sold in 2010.

She says: "My mother ran the pub for 60 years!

"So I have always been involved in it all my life, but I was a solicitor in Shrewsbury for 40 years, and retired from that around 18 months ago.

"Around 2010 we came to a crunch point where my brother was planning to sell it but I could not bare that thought and so we took it over, myself and my husband.

"It is an incredibly story, one family owning a pub for such a long time, it is highly unusual these days and so I had to continue that tradition.

"It is amazing as all of my family have been involved in running it, and there are many old photographs throughout the pub with memories and special moments."

The couple also run a farm as well as the pub, and Jane explains they try to integrate both businesses together by using some of the produce from the farm at the pub such as their lamb, chutneys, pickles, and even flowers that are grown on the farm are displayed around the pub.

As Jane has always been involved with the pub and worked there in some capacity all her life, there was no period of time when she took ownership where she would have to get to know the customers, locals or regulars.

This helped the process and of course, she has continued on maintaining those relationships and building new ones with their customers.

Jane also says that during her time she has been at the pub it is not only her family that have had multiple generations frequent it. She has seen families that have been customers for decades, and she has seen many generations come through its doors, and now serves grandchildren of people she saw years ago, which emphasises just how much family tradition, and the community feel the establishment has.

Located on Halfway House, Rowton, Shrewsbury, it is set among the Shropshire hills, the pub offers stunning views which can be taken in via the outdoor terrace and seating area.

As with most hospitality businesses though, the Windmill Inn was affected by the Covid pandemic and now the cost of living crisis, and Jane said there was a struggle but she has soldiered on.

She added: "It has been a difficult period since owning the business with Covid and now the rising cost of living.

"I found that it was very stop-start during Covid and it was very difficult, but we have soldiered on.

"We are lucky because not only do we get the locals and people from the area that visit the pub, but we are on the way to the Mid-Wales border and so we get a lot of tourists that are either travelling to or from that area.

"We tend to get a lot of customers from the West Midlands, as they are visiting Shropshire or to Mid Wales.

"When I was growing up people tended to travel through Shropshire to get to Wales for tourism, but now far more people holiday here, and because we have a lot of accommodation around us, we get a lot of people coming in who are holidaying here."

The pub serves traditional pub food, including Sunday roasts which they are famous for, and one dish in particular that is popular is their ham and eggs, something that Jane's grandmother used to sell and it still continues to be a popular item that people like to consume.

She added: "Everything we cook is cooked here and from scratch, and we use local produce which helps everyone all round, and we like to cater for everyone, so we offer vegetarian and vegan dishes.

"For drinks, we serve local real ales and ciders which are really popular with our customers, who are so very supportive.

"We receive lots of support from our customers and locals.

"The pub is a one-off pub. It is unique."