Joule’s take back the reigns of Cock Hotel, Wellington a historic original Joule’s Taphouse from the 1970s

The pub, also known as the old ‘Wrekin Tap’, was acquired by Joule’s Brewery in the 19th Century, only to fall into the hands of local rival Bass in 1974 after a bitter and hostile takeover. Joule’s has now agreed to buy it for a second time following its return to independence in 2010 and the opening of the new Brewery in Market Drayton.

The Cock was put up for sale after Landlord Peter and Liz Arden decided to retire after 10 years of running the pub and winning multiple awards. Peter comments, ‘We are delighted to have agreed on the sale of the Cock back to Joule’s, it’s a great story to turn the clock back and let the pub go back to where it all started. The icing on the cake is it’s a Shropshire pub and a Shropshire Brewery, the Brewery is just a few miles away – that’s great.’

Liz, adds ‘Many of my locals still remember the days when this was a grand old Joule’s house, so it’s a great fit, we have sold Joule’s here, and lots of folks remember the Joule’s days.’

Joule’s has been eager to return to Wellington and most especially to this unique pub for several years. Steve Nuttall Joule’s Director explains,

‘Peter has known for many years that we would like to buy the Cock Hotel so it could be a Joule’s Taphouse again, we have been keen to have a pub in Telford for years, and Wellington was always our first choice. For one reason or another, it just was not the right time for us both, now it is. We are thrilled and very proud to take the reins of this historic pub once again. The pub has always had something extraordinary about it; it has a unique warm atmosphere, which comes from such a long history. The pub is an ancient listed building, over half our pubs are listed buildings, so we understand what’s required in managing buildings with such important heritage and which need lots of TLC.’

Steve continues, ‘We intend to get to know the pub from the inside now, Peter and Liz are leaving us a proper pub, and firstly we want to get to know everyone and find out what people think. We would like to restore the pub to how it was when it was first a Joule’s Taphouse. We have a good relationship with Shropshire Council and the development team. We will talk to the conservation team about the pub over the coming year, any proposals will be shown first to the locals who have supported the pub, and it will be a conversation.’

Peter and Liz will be on hand to help the transition, especially in the first few weeks, once they have settled.

The Branch Chair for the local Telford and East Shropshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, Adrian Zawierka comments, ‘ We are pleased that the multi-award winning Cock Hotel has been acquired by a local Shropshire based brewery and are very excited to follow its progress. We wish Joule’s Brewery every success in taking the pub forward and building on its illustrious history of serving good quality real ale.’

In the near future, a team of dedicated Joule’s Craftsmen will be carefully restoring the ‘Cock Hotel’ to encapsulate everything that is great about the English pub. Joule’s commissioned a beautiful array of traditional stained-glass windows for the Cock Hotel. These bespoke stained-glass panels are created by Paul Georgiou whose work is in many Joule’s Pubs, signed off by his mark of the honey bee depicting the pub as the honeypot of the community.

Marie Poole, Joule’s Property Manager comments, ‘This is such an exciting project. We have admired the Cock Hotel for many years, and as it was an original Joule’s Pub, we are very proud to restore it to a Joule’s Taphouse once again. We have many local Craftsmen who contribute to all our Taps and have such joy in their work. Our philosophy is to allow our whole team a great deal of latitude in how they interpret our ideas. Our projects are very much a team effort, we don’t have any designers, each of our Tradesmen put their ideas into the work, and I hope people will see the care and research that has gone into the restoration of the Cock Hotel’.

Andy newly appointed Manager and long-standing member of staff at the Cock continues ‘We run a proper pub with a friendly atmosphere and some decent banter, the type of place where everybody is welcome, and everybody feels safe. On top of this, we are very locally minded and look to use as many local suppliers as possible. We are very excited to start the journey with Joule’s Brewery and begin a new chapter of the Cock Hotel.’

The sympathetic restoration will be focused on enhancing the cosy snugs and corners and creating a great pub for the community and people visiting the town of Wellington and of course celebrating the rich heritage of the Pub. The Cock Hotel will form a part of an inspiring local Brewery Taphouse estate across the Joule’s heartland of Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.