Mention breweries and pop works in Wellington and almost everyone will remember the Murphy family who owned the Wrekin Brewery and O.D. Murphy's Wrekin Mineral Water Works for some 50 years. But that's only half the story. With a full account from medieval times until brewing and bottling ceased in 1969, this book explores the business successes and failures of The Shropshire, The Mill Field, The Red Lion, The Union, The Botanical, and the Wrekin Brewery. The origins and subsequent fortunes of small bottling firms are covered along with the various mineral-water manufacturers who struggled to survive until, as with the breweries, the Murphy family quashed all competition. Lavishly illustrated with plans, memorabilia, and many previously unpublished photographs, this is the definitive history of brewing and bottling in the historic medieval market town of Wellington in Shropshire.

Allan Frost is a well-known local historian and author and has published sixteen books, the most recent being The Wrekin Hill. He is a prominent figure at the Wellington Literary Festival and lives in Telford.