#139 Ye Olde Talbot Hotel, Worcester : 1997 to 2013

As I was going through my photos I discovered another 'Ye Olde' pub, so I thought I'd run them all together! This week it's Ye Olde Talbot Hotel in Worcester which we first visited on the evening of Monday 26th May 1997.

We had navigated down the Worcester & Birmingham Canal and moored at Diglis Basin for the night. Normally, when in Worcester, we would take the opportunity to go for a bit of a pub crawl, but not this time! One of our regular crew, who likes his real ale, found the beer very much to his liking and was very reluctant to move on. Fortunately it was a welcoming, cosy place so it wasn't too much of a hardship to stay for most of the session.

In the intervening years we've been back to Worcester several times, but have not revisited Ye Olde Talbot Hotel. However, on our last visit we did walk by and I took this picture.

This was taken on the evening of Saturday 11th May 2013, shortly after witnessing Wigan's historic FA Cup triumph. We didn't go inside, but the place has obviously changed quite a bit in the past 16 years, as you would expect.

#138 Ye Olde Seven Stars, Kidderminster, Worcestershire : 2008 to 2013

As reported previously, we've only ever stopped in Kidderminster twice despite passing through on the canal on many occasions.

Our first stop was on the evening of Monday 26th May 2008 and Ye Olde Seven Stars was one of the pubs we visited on out pub crawl around the town.

As usual, I don't remember too much about the inside as we only had one pint there.

On our second visit to Kidderminster, at lunchtime on Thursday 16th May 2013, we only went in one pub, but we did stroll around the town centre so I could get pictures of how the pubs had changed.

Externally Ye Olde Seven Stars has had a complete makeover. 

In doing the background research for this post I've discovered that this is the oldest pub in Kidderminster and that I made a mistake in my blog entry about The Red Man (#127).

It was Ye Olde Seven Stars that allowed (in fact encouraged) people to eat their takeaway meals inside whilst enjoying their pint and, judging by the signage, they still do. The pub has its own website, but I'm not sure when it was last updated.

#137 Ye Olde No.3, Little Bollington, Cheshire : 1991 to 2013

Being based in the Midlands means that we didn't often get to navigate the canals 'oop north', but since we've been hiring boats we can now explore further afield.

Back in 1991 we embarked on a journey to take our boat Emma Jane from Adlington (near Wigan) to her ultimate destination of Cowley Peachey (near Uxbridge).

One of the pubs we stopped at was Ye Olde No. 3 at Little Bollington on the Bridgewater Canal.

This was the view from our mooring on the evening of Sunday 21st July 1991. I don't recall anything about that visit, but we did spend the whole evening there so food must have been available.

We have been past the pub in the intervening years on trips that took us to Manchester (and back to Lapworth) in 2000 and 2010. Both times we stopped at Lymm as it offers more pubs to choose from.

Our Easter trip in 2013 was from Preston Brook to Manchester (and back) which gave us the opportunity to revisit Ye Olde No. 3.

This was the view from our mooring at lunchtime on Saturday 30th March 2013. Fewer changes than you might expect in 22 years, but the electricity pylons are all still in place!

This is the view from the front of the pub. As we walked into the pub, suddenly it all came back and I recognised the place! It didn't seem to have changed in 22 years. It has a cosy interior with lots of canal memorabilia. The food was good and I was left wondering why we'd not stopped here in previous years!

#136 Hope & Anchor, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire - 1987 to 2013

The Hope & Anchor can be found slightly off the beaten track in Stourport. This is a great little document to help find this and many of the other pubs in the town. 

My first visit to Stourport was on the evening of Monday 6th July 1987 as documented elsewhere in this blog. We did quite a pub crawl around the town and this picture demonstrates the whole raison d'etre for taking these photos.

I have no recollection of what the pub was like and the only reason I know I went there is this photo!

We were back again on the evening of Tuesday 1st June 1999 and we did another pub crawl around the town.

From the outside there doesn't look to have been many changes and inside...? I still don't have any recollection from this visit, either!

So, we move onto the most recent visit.

This was on the evening of Thursday 16th May 2013 when our journey had come to a premature conclusion because the River Severn was closed to navigation. This left us with plenty of time for another pub crawl around Stourport. From the outside, it looks to be well decorated, but inside it wasn't good. The 'For Sale' sign should have been a clue and explains why the inside was in a state of general neglect.

I wouldn't be surprised, next time we're in Stourport, to find that the Hope & Anchor is no more, especially as the town has so many more appealing pubs in better locations. It is always sad (to me anyway!) when a pub closes down, but as neither me nor my travelling companion could remember whether we'd ever been there, it probably won't be a great loss.