00:02Yeah, my name is Sam Middleton and I'm the manager of the Old Castle.
00:06Brilliant. How long have you been based in Bridge North?
00:08Eight years, from Telford originally.
00:11But my Nan and Grandad with Bridge North and my godmother, who I call my auntie, she lives in Bridge North.
00:19So I moved here eight years ago and love it.
00:22How long have you been a manager at this Telford?
00:24Eight years.
00:25I started part-time, but I've worked in other pubs and managed pubs.
00:30I got a full-time job and then I got offered the full-time position here.
00:35I've been here ever since.
00:37Perfect. What would you like about Bridge North?
00:40There's lots of things. It's a very pretty town. It's got a lot of history, dating back to the medieval times.
00:49We've got the Southern Valley Railway, which is a fantastic steam railway.
00:53You've got lovely walks along the River Severn. Lots and lots of pubs.
00:58Yes.
00:59So that's always a bonus.
01:00Yeah, brilliant. Why should more people come out and visit Bridge North?
01:04Going back to the last question, it's a beautiful town. It's steeped in history.
01:10You've got the Funicular Railway. You've got the Southern Valley Railway. You've got lots of beautiful pubs.
01:16Ranging from food pubs to drinking pubs, family friendly. So yeah, there's lots of different options.
01:23You've got Castle Grounds just down the road as well, which is beautiful.
01:26Yeah.
01:27Two big main churches, St. Leonard's and St. Mary's.
01:30Brilliant. What do you guys offer here at this point?
01:33We're more of a food family club. Proper pub grub. Very large portions.
01:39Great chicken. Our famous steak and el pies, the plowmans. Yeah, good old fashioned pub.
01:46Pub grub.
01:47Yeah. And you also have a beer garden as well.
01:48Yeah, we do. We have a beautiful beer garden. One of the best in towns.
01:51Yeah. I'm biased.
01:52Yes, yeah. What do you have on draft?
01:54We've got real ales. So we've got Hereford Pale Ale at the back of the town of the fire.
01:59And then we've got Get's Ale at the moment, which is Enville.
02:02And then we've got four floggers, four ciders on the draft. Lots of bottle greens as well.
02:09And a good selection of wines that you get from Tanners and Addison's.
02:15Perfect. Thank you. That's brilliant.
02:18Perfect. Do you mind just introducing yourself first?
02:20Yeah. I'm Dean Lewis. I've lived in Bridging North for 20 years now.
02:24Yeah.
02:25I'm Trevor Truman. I've lived in Telford for 30 plus years.
02:29Perfect. You said that you're a martial arts teacher?
02:32Yeah.
02:33Is that correct?
02:34Yeah.
02:35What business do you own?
02:36It's a company called LMA Martial Arts.
02:37Yeah. Perfect. And that's based in Telford?
02:39Telford and Technowulfampton as well.
02:41Perfect. Brilliant. So what do you like about Bridging North if you've been here for 20 years?
02:46I like the tourist side. It feels like you're coming away for a little vacation on the weekends.
02:52Skied up for that.
02:53The castle, the park, the flowers, the way it's looked after and the high street's nice.
02:57You know, it's got lots of local shops, independent, lots of coffee places and things like that.
03:01Lots of nice places to eat.
03:02Yeah. Perfect. What do you like about visiting Bridging North?
03:05We come together usually once a week or a couple of times a week.
03:09We'll do a breakfast. We'll have a wander through the park and stuff.
03:12And it's just a chill, really nice environment. So yeah, it's good.
03:16Perfect. Why should more people come out to Bridging North?
03:19I think with a lot of the urban areas around, especially the West Midlands, getting out for the day every week,
03:24just away from the hustle and bustle, I think there's one set of traffic lights in the whole of Town.
03:28So you get away from that kind of little bit of busyness that's seen that you get in the urban places.
03:33You do feel like you're on the drive here. You'll see there's lots of greenery on the way into it, the river, castle, the bridge.
03:38It's got lots of nice little quaint places like that, but it's not far away from like most of those locations to drive.
03:44Yeah. Perfect. Are there any businesses you'd recommend people to come try here? Any pubs or cafes people should try?
03:50Yeah, I like polluches in towns. It's like a closed shop, but in the back they've got a nice cafe.
03:57The coffee's nice, really good staff, really friendly, and they remember your name.
04:02Yeah. That kind of place. That's the kind of thing I like about town. They get to, that personal touch is still here, I think.
04:07Yeah. Is there any place you'd recommend?
04:09We've had a few meals down at the Blue Ginger Indian. That's nice. Yeah. Good courier studies on the island.
04:14Yeah. It's good down there. Yeah. Perfect. Anything else you'd like to mention about Bridging North?
04:18Yeah, it's got a lot of pubs. From the history of the RAF base that used to be, I think the legacy of lots of drinking.
04:23It used to be a training post. So there's lots of pubs that serve food, serve alcohol, serve soft drinks, have music.
04:29So you can get a bit of a weekend holiday vibe here, which is nice if you want to engage, you know, go to socialise.
04:35And lots of outdoor places to sit and have a drink and just chill. Yeah. Perfect. Brilliant. Thank you. Perfect.
04:41Do you mind just introducing yourself again? I'm Tom Burgoyne. I'm a driver on Cliff Railway.
04:50Yeah. Perfect. How long have you been at Bridging North?
04:53Just over 20 years. Brilliant. Yeah. When did you move from?
04:58Glasgow. Yeah. Wonderful. What attracted you to Bridging North when you first moved?
05:03Well, it was a job. They brought me down here at First in the Ellium. I never found it. But I'd seen it was a nice place to live. So when I got the chance, I moved here.
05:15Perfect. Yeah. Brilliant. What do you like about Bridging North?
05:19It's very rural. It's very friendly. Yeah. And as I said, a nice place to live. Yeah. Perfect. And why should more people come out to Bridging North?
05:30There's a lot to see. It's a nice little town. And there's things to do here as well. Things to see. Yeah. A lot of scenery and a lot of history. Yeah.
05:42Is there any businesses or places you'd recommend people to come and try and get while they're here?
05:47Yeah. Food-wise, probably the old castle. Yes. I tell people that. There's a lot of little shops where you can buy goods, local goods, depicting the town.
06:03There's places like that. You can see a lot of history in the High Street. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you. Anything else you'd like to mention about Bridging North?
06:12It's a good place to live. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you.
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