I’m sure that many readers will remember Duncan Borrowman and Grace Goodlad from their award-winning days at the Orpington Liberal Club. I am pleased to say that the pub which they now run, the Bailey Head in Oswestry, Shropshire, has been voted CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year. We send them our warmest congratulations.

But where did it all start? Before moving to Shropshire, Duncan worked for a local council and Grace worked as a press officer. Despite their full time jobs, both were involved with both beer and the Liberal Party. Among Duncan’s responsibilities was the Orpington Liberal Club while Grace was chair of CAMRA’s Bromley branch. The Orpington Liberal Club is an icon in CAMRA circles. It has won the Greater London Club of the Year award six times, several times under Duncan’s leadership. Although Duncan left London in 2016 the tradition of serving good cask beers which he established has been maintained and the club continues to win awards, including the Greater London Club of the Year again in 2024.
So why did the pair up sticks and move from Greater London to Shropshire? They were keen to move into the pub trade and, when Duncan received a legacy from his father, the necessary funds became available. Duncan explained, “We were looking for a real ale pub but we didn’t have much of a budget. We put ourselves on a pub estate agent’s list and said we would look at a pub anywhere.” They did have one narrow escape, “We put in one offer for a pub in Cumbria. We were gazumped but the pub was flooded six months afterwards.”
The Castle on Bailey Head in Oswestry came onto the market and Duncan and Grace put in an offer, sight unseen. This wasn’t quite as risky as it sounds because the agreement made allowed them to pull out if necessary. Also, Grace’s parents, who once ran a pub in the Midlands, visited the pub early in the negotiations to check it out. Although Grace’s parents described the pub as a bit rough, it had a number of factors going for it. It sold cask beer, was in a smallish town and had four bedrooms. It was owned by Marston’s, who were offering the freehold for sale. Duncan added, “It was at the top end of what we could afford but it was less than a studio flat in London. It also helped that we could pay cash.”
It is believed to have been a pub since 1769 although part of the building dates from the C17th and Historic England has dated another part to 1845. Like most pubs of that time, it was multi-roomed but, in the 1980s, Marston’s ‘refurbished’ the pub, removing the inner walls, moving the stairs and adding a flat roof extension to the rear. Despite this, the building is Grade II listed. It also has an Asset of Community Value listing (see note).
The pub has had a number of names over the years, including the Eagle and the Castle Tavern; a reference to the nearby Castle Mound. Duncan said, “When we knew we were likely to take on the pub we contacted the local CAMRA branch and asked them not to contest the purchase, which they might have done due to the ACV on it. We wanted to give the pub a fresh start and encourage new clientele so we changed its name to the Bailey Head. We put up new signs and redecorated (everything was grey) and got rid of some old stock e.g. Wicked ‘alcopops’ that was not in keeping with what we wanted to promote.” Bailey Head is the name of the street in which the pub stands. It is in effect the market square and is opposite the Guildhall.

Money was tight and they moved in with just a week’s worth of supplies. Things did not go to plan when, the week before they were due to open, very sadly, Grace’s mother passed away. This meant they had to close for half a day for the funeral their first week. They did have some luck however. When they went to collect the glasses they had ordered, they met the local mayor who offered to open the pub for them.
“This got us into the local press,” said Duncan. “The other thing we did right was to have our website and social media accounts all sorted before we opened.” They made contact with the local CAMRA branch (Shrewsbury & West Shropshire) which also helped, with many CAMRA members coming over from Shrewsbury for the launch.
To start with, there were just the two of them running it, working seven days a week to keep the pub going. They decided not to do food. Duncan explained, “The kitchen was small and we didn’t have the resources to run the bar and a kitchen. We allow people to bring in their own food from local restaurants or food stalls on market days. The pub being on the road where the weekly market takes place has helped raise our profile”.
Like many other pubs, the Bailey Head faced challenges during Covid and they had to think creatively. When allowed, they sold beer through a window. “It was cold,” said Grace, “But we had long, long queues.” Duncan also ran a home delivery service, sometimes travelling many miles to collect beer from small independent breweries.
Their continual commitment to both cask ale and their customers has led to the pub being a regular entry in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and to their gaining numerous awards, starting with the local CAMRA Market Town Pub of the Year in 2017. They were CAMRA’s West Midlands Pub of the Year and West Midlands Cider Pub of the Year in 2024 and have now gone on to win the biggest prize of all, CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year 2025.
Duncan and Grace run a lovely pub and, to quote Duncan, “It’s been an incredibly hard journey but it’s been worth it.”
Christine Cryne
Notes: for more information on Assets of Community Value, see https://mycommunity.org.uk/what-are-assets-of-community-value-acv.
Oswestry is a historic market town and the third largest in Shropshire. It no longer has a functioning railway station (closed 1966). The nearest station is Gobowen (two miles to the north). There are bus services provided by Arriva Midlands and Arriva Wales from Ellesmere and Shrewsbury but please check the times carefully.