December 22nd – Last Thursday, I recorded the former Shoulder of Mutton pub, lathery a restaurant, as being boarded up and derelict. Things seem to move fast in these parts, as today when I passed, the pub wasn’t open, but the boards had been removed and lights were on.

Anyone have a clue whats going on?

Reader Andy Colman said in response to the original post:

I was just thinking that my abiding memory of this pub is the smell riding past it on club runs and then you stated the same thing. Maybe if we’d popped in from time to time ?

Andy, you’re probably right. The trouble I have is that often, I pass establishments like this, and The Trooper et al, and wonder if they’re still really pubs, and would they welcome a cyclist? It’s a bit of a vicious circle, I guess.

December 19th – I see the Italian restaurant the the former Shoulder of Mutton had brome on the outskirts of Lichfield has closed. I noted this with some surprise, as I thought this was a popular, decent place to eat. I seem to recall the signs outside proclaiming awards for quality. It always smelled delicious when I passed, too.

Sadly, now it’s just another empty, boarded up pub. Hope someone can rescue it. Tragic.