Famous guests at The Lion

If hotels are judged on their guest list then The Lion in Shrewsbury has to be up with the best in Britain.

Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Disraeli, Nicolo Paganini, author Thomas de Quincey, ‘Swedish Nightingale’ singer Jenny Lind, ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton, Shrewsbury’s eccentric MP; and King William IV are a few of the many names in the past who have stayed here.

And, in more recent times the list of VIPs is enormous.

From the world of pop The Beatles, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Lulu, Adam Faith, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, Frankie Vaughan, Helen Shapiro, Jools Holland and American jazz vocalist Curtis Stigers are some of the celebrities who have visited the hotel.

TV stars at The Lion include: from Coronation Street Pat Phoenix, alias Elsie Tanner, and  Peter Adamson, who was Len Fairclough;  Morecambe and Wise; comedian Tony Hancock, Hughie Green and Monica Rose, stars of the ITV show Double Your Money; and TV personality and Jim’ll fix it presenter Jimmy Savile.

Actors and actresses who have stayed there while playing in Shrewsbury are Hattie Jacques; Martin Shaw, who was Ray Doyle in The Professionals; Gemma Craven;  Emmerdale star Matt Healy and John Inman, best known for his role as Mr Humphries in the TV comedy Are you Being Served?

From the sporting world have come golfer Ian Woosnam; the “Crafty Cockney” and world darts champion Eric Bristow, world snooker champion Ray Reardon; and racing driver Stirling Moss plus flamboyant football manager, Malcolm Allison, and his Manchester City team who were beaten 2-0 by Shrewsbury Town in the 1979 FA Cup.

Other personalities were radio DJ Diddy Dave Hamilton who “loved staying in the Dickens suite” (pictured below by Richard Bishop), author, broadcaster and former MP Gyles Brandreth, and controversial politician Enoch Powell, who spoke in the Ballroom.

Throughout its 400-year history The Lion has attracted the big names of each generation.

As the Shrewsbury Chronicle said in its May 14 edition of 1817 when The Lion was put up for sale: “No house upon any of the great  roads between Holyhead, Bath, Cheltenham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, North and South Wales stands in higher estimation (than The Lion) having a constant influx of the first families in the kingdom.”

That is still true nearly 200 years later.

Have you met anyone famous at The Lion? If you have I would love to hear from you. Please email me on John@jbutterworth.plus.com