Boozin' and Cruisin' through the East Midlands (Part 6)

 Day 11 - Tuesday

We're on the final leg of our little tour of the Midlands and now moving away from the hub of Life After Football country!

The journey from Atherstone takes us through Hartshill (nice pub, the Anchor, but I haven't been for several years...bad timing!) and through Nuneaton heading for our lunchtime destination of The Greyhound at Hawkesbury Junction.

The gazebo/tent for outdoor service has gone and the pub is almost back to normal...except that it was table service via an app (which actually worked well!). This meant that for today's Bass porn you don't get to see the hand pump...just an 'interracial' threesome on a bar room table!

I've already played this game on Twitter - guess which is my pint!

Following a very pleasant lunchtime session we set off for a rare trip into Coventry - UK City of Culture 2021. The final 5-mile stretch of the Coventry Canal has become increasingly more pleasant over the past few years as decaying industry and derelict factories get turned into residential complexes. The canal basin at the terminus is still a lovely little haven, although mooring was at a premium as certain places had to be booked in advance because of Coventry's new-found status. We just managed to squeeze Peggy Ellen into a (semi) legal mooring spot.

And so, into Coventry we ventured! In the past we've struggled to find decent pubs in the city, but with the help of Retired Martin we headed for this gem!

Without Martin's excellent blog (and Google Maps) we would never have discovered this lovely pub...the Town Wall Tavern...a proper local in the city centre!

After a couple of pints we moved on in search of food - a lovely Italian - through the rain which always seems to accompany our jaunts into Coventry city centre (whether forecast or not!). Then it was onward to our final pub of the evening.

Yes, The Flying Standard is a Wetherspoon's, but it was now after 10pm and not much else was open! The rain finally eased and, after a couple of pints, we strolled back to Coventry Canal Basin and our slightly dodgy mooring!

Day 12 - Wednesday

 

In the morning we retraced our route out of Coventry to Hawkesbury Junction where we joined the (North) Oxford Canal. It was way too early to stop at The Greyhound again, so we pushed on to Ansty.

It is a good many years since I've been to the Rose & Castle and it has undergone a complete external transformation (#035 UPDATE). Inside, however, was pretty much as I remembered it. In reality the Rose & Castle is no longer a pub (and hasn't been for many years), but it was almost full on this Wednesday lunchtime so you can't really argue with their model! The food was good, the beer satisfied, so what's not to like!

The afternoon's cruising took us to Rugby with a brief stop for a pump-out at Rose Narrowboats. It was my intention to take my shipmates to some of the fine pubs we visited on our Proper Day Out to Rugby in 2019. As our mooring was well over a mile away from the town centre, we called a cab, first stop The Seven Stars.

My travelling companions were as impressed as I'd hoped, but we had to go after one pint as there were other pubs to see! Next stop the Alexandra Arms...except it only opens on Thursdays to Sundays (and it is now the Alexandra Tavern!)

 

So, it was back to an old favourite - The Squirrel.

Unfortunatey, for us, it was 'Open Mic' night so the place was packed, but we managed to get seats...without a table! It obviously works well for the pub, but not really our thing. We scurried out after a pint, had a Chinese meal across the road and finished off in The Rupert Brooke.

Yes, I know it's the town Wetherspoon's (two nights running!), but both the Victoria Inn and Merchant's Stores were in the wrong direction for us!

 

Day 13 - Thursday

 

Next morning gave us a pleasant session of Hillmorton Locks which can, sometimes, take ages to get through, but with the help of the Canal & River Trust volunteers, we traversed the three locks without delay. This meant a relatively early lunch stop at a pub that I'd visited on my first ever canal trip in 1980 (and moored in the exact same spot!).

Back then it was a proper country pub called The Old Royal Oak, now it is a Greene King Pub & Carvery called The Waterside.

Despite the fact it was Thursday lunchtime, carvery was the only menu choice (or hot roast baps!). Not ideal, but we coped...as usual!

 

Our afternoon was taken up with the relatively short stretch to Braunston where our first pub of the trip became our last pub as well.

Our final evening of the trip, back in The Boat House, which was as pleasant and satisfying as ever.

 

Day 14 - Friday

 

This just left us the 90 - 110 minute journey back to Wigrams Turn Marina. We'd agreed on a breakfast free, early start, but a mis-communication between the Captain and his crew saw us get underway at the ungodly remarkably early time of 7:10 am! The crew had been expecting an 8:00 am start (after the Captain's morning walk, which never happened!) and were somewhat startled as the engine started up just after 7 am! 

 

Our Captain (and proprietor) was under the impression that this was normal procedure for the final morning trip back to the marina, but I do believe that he had mistaken us for a different crew that he also journeys along the waterways with! No real hardship and we were back at the marina and on the road home by about 10:00 am at the end of another thoroughly enjoyable trip aboard Peggy Ellen!

 

THE END

Canal Cruising in a COVID World (Part 3)

 We resume our journey heading away from Birmingham via Farmer's Bridge and Aston Locks, hoping to reach the safety of Curdworth by nightfall.

Just as we were mooring up at lunchtime we were amazed to see NB Calypso and the bloke who'd stolen our lock at Lapworth (I only saw him after he'd passed by!). He'd obviously done a rapid circuit via Knowle and the Grand Union Canal and I'm glad I didn't actually see him!

Our lunchtime destination was The Bull in Birmingham's Gun Quarter which was under new ownership (but still had the hundreds of jugs hanging from the ceiling!)

The first thing I noticed was a shiny new pumpclip for Oakham Citra (my new first choice tipple) and then I realised there was no Carling pump (Pravha being the recommended swilling lager!).

Following the shutdown they hadn't restarted doing food so it was a lunchtime of crisps, nuts and scratchings. This got us into conversation with the new owner who said that trade had been too slow to warrant putting on food, but that it was beginning to pick up so they might start again fairly soon.

The other interesting part of the conversation was that The Bull is his fourth Birmingham pub...the others being; The Wellington, Post Office Vaults and The Woodman...all venues on our more recent Proper Days Out in Brum. He is a fan of Citra (apparently The Wellington sell more pints of Citra than any other pub in the country!) and he's also proud of the fact that someone once told him that he "couldn't run a pub in Birmingham that didn't sell Carling!" He now has four!

Back to the boat and the slog along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal to Curdworth taking in Aston (11) and Minworth Locks (3). Our evening meal was in the socially distanced, table service only White Horse in Curdworth...very civilised, but an early closing (which we were well informed about!).

Next day was another long session consisting of the eleven Curdworth Locks and the five mile cruise into Fazeley.

The Fazeley Inn was fairly quiet, but there was a Scottish couple checking in to the hotel (unfortunately we never found out what tourist attractions they'd come for!). For us, the Carling was cold and the cling film wrapped rolls/baps/cobs/insert regional name here made for the perfect lunch.

We moved on to see whether the classic boozer the Three Horseshoes had survived. After seeing no mobility scooter outside, our fears were assuaged when we saw the open door!

As it is only a small pub, they've implemented social distancing by means of improvised perspex screens, strategically placed along the bench seating which works well (in conjunction with a garden out the back of the pub!). I can report (for the benefit of LifeAfterFootball) that Bass was being served...but I stuck with Carling!

Our next destination was Polesworth and the worst example of social distancing seen on our trip. Our first pint was in the Royal Oak. All of the signs were in place (as was the hand sanitiser), but many of the locals chose to ignore it all and shake hands with each other (and there was hugging!) This doesn't really bother me and it felt like a proper pub, but it was our first experience of this type of behaviour!

We wandered round to The Yard (formerly Foster's Yard) which was very quiet for a Friday evening so there were no problems with social distancing! Then we moved on to Little India, the restaurant above the Bull's Head for our evening repast.

Atherstone was our next intended stopping point with only the eleven slooow filling locks to delay us. We made it, but failed to get a pub lunch (Tesco Express to the rescue for a sandwich!) We did manage to get our drink quota in a couple of pubs we've visited before.

The White Horse is a proper small town boozer, but no food, sadly!

This was only our second ever visit to The Old Swan and despite signs saying to the contrary, food wasn't available.

After lunch we journeyed on, through Nuneaton, to our ultimate destination Hawkesbury Junction, home of one of the best canalside pubs in the country, The Greyhound. We were late, but got there just before the 8pm food cut-off. Quite frankly, we knew it was fully booked and expected to have to catch a cab into Coventry...but our expectations were surpassed! They were taking in 'Walk-Ups' and so they took us in, asked us to order quickly and everything would be fine. We were seated in the new plastic and aluminium gazebo by the canalside. The food arrived, the drinks arrived as did a massive thunderstorm which would have soaked us, but the gazebo did it's job.

As the pub began to thin out, we managed to get seats inside where social distancing was achieved by means of the (ubiquitous) black and yellow tape being applied to the edge of each table facing away from the bench seating. At first sight, this appears to halve the capacity, but in normal circumstances the bench seats are always occupied and the stools less so.

Next morning we left the Coventry Canal and entered the Oxford Canal via Sutton Stop Lock. William steered the boat through the junction and past the pub (above) whilst I had the tough job of operating the six inches deep lock...all by myself! (My dodgy back held up under the strain...I may be able to do a couple more on our next journey!)

Next stop, the Barley Mow at Newbold-on-Avon.

Social distancing worked quite well here and Sunday 'lunch' (Roast Pork Rolls with Roast Potatoes and Apple Sauce) was served in polystyrene takeaway trays (first time since the Blue Lias on Day 1!). The Carling was nice and cold!

We were almost on the final leg of our journey. Just the three Hillmorton Locks to negotiate and miles of lock free cruising to Braunston for the evening. After a bit of a delay at the locks we made good progress especially after a boat full of students (a dozen on one boat!) let us past after we'd caught them up. (Normally, it's the other way round as we get caught by 'speeding kids'!)

We made it to Braunston, just in time to get a meal at The Boat House.

Although we'd still got 5 miles to go this was to be our last drinking session of the trip...and it finished with some more minor entertainment!

Shortly after we'd got settled in, the boat load of twelve students arrived! Firstly they had to sit on two separate table (even though they'd been sharing a narrowboat for the weekend!). The two table were adjacent and not far from us, from where we could casually observe what turned out to be an epic drinking session (for them, not us!). Not all of them had food, but they all had shots, pints, cocktails, Jager Bombs and spirits...and not just one round...the drinks kept coming, wave after wave!

At times they got quite loud, but if you don't like the sound of young folk having a great night out then you probably shouldn't be going to the pub any more! At the end, a couple of the young women came over to apologise to us for the noise. To which I said, "It's fine! It's just over 40 years ago that I was in this very pub on my first canal trip (well the old version!) and we had an equally good time!"

The final test came with the bill. Like seasoned eavesdropping professionals that we are, we ascertained that their whole bill was £494! No-one batted an eyelid, no-one tried to do a runner, they paid up and left a substantial tip for the staff (acccording to the gaffer, who'd just seen his profits skyrocket in one night!)

And the moral of the tale...the future of pubs and drinking is safe in the hands of young folk like that...long may it continue!

Canal Pub Crawling - Part 3

We pick up our journey having spent an evening in Curdworth at The Beehive and White Horse, neither of which are canalside pubs.

DAY 5

BIRMINGHAM & FAZELEY CANAL - Curdworth to Fazeley Junction

COVENTRY CANAL - Fazeley Junction to Atherstone (above lock 6)

Again, we set out at about 09:30 with the aim of descending Curdworth Locks and having a lunchtime stop at Fazeley.

The first pub we passed was the Dog & Doublet, Bodymoor Heath B76 9JD at 11:30, but it was too early to think about stopping. We have visited there in the past and it is a great little pub.

Also, there were still a few more locks to be negotiated and we finally moored up at Fazeley Junction at 13:10. The pub we selected for our first pint wasn't, technically on our route (we were turning right at the junction and this pub is 100 yards to the left!) but we still went to the Three Tuns Inn, Fazeley B78 3QS.

This view from the A5 doesn't give the impression of a canalside boozer, but the garden at the back leads all the way down to the canal. It is under relatively new management and they don't do food anymore, but it is still a proper boozer. So, we had a pint and moved on to the Fazeley Victory (for Lunch) and the Three Horseshoes (still a great little pub).

So, it was back to the canal and onwards onto the Coventry Canal. It wasn't long before we were passing another watering hole.

The Gate Inn, Amington B77 3BY was the next canalside boozer we passed by at 16:25. Although the picture doesn't show it, the garden was very busy on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. This is a pub we've stopped at previously, but not very often as it is only 90 minutes away from Fazeley, our preferred stopping place.

We continued our journey, passing another place we've never stopped at (16:55).

The Samuel Barlow, Alvecote B78 1AS is part of Alvecote Marina and is a relatively new addition to the canalside hostelries club having been built in 2003.

Again, it was way too early to stop as we pushed on to Atherstone. We passed through Polesworth which has several pubs, but none of them are overtly canalside. Having been caught in a late deluge, we moored up halfway up the Atherstone flight of locks just after 20:00. As we headed into town I took this picture of another pub we weren't going into today!

The King's Head, Atherstone CV9 2PA is another pub that we've occasionally visited, but when there are so many other pubs to choose from in the town, it tends to lose out! Today was no different and we walked into Atherstone for several pints and a curry.

DAY 6

COVENTRY CANAL - Atherstone (above Lock 6) to Hawkesbury Junction

OXFORD CANAL - Hawkesbury Junction to Newbold-on-Avon

We started off in drizzle and rain which didn't really abate much until our lunchtime stop, but we did pass another pub that we've visited in the past.

It was 11:05 and as tepmting a proposition as it was, it was still too early to stop at The Anchor Inn, Hartshill CV10 0RT. It looks as though it has been refurbished since our last visit, but being about 90 minutes 'sailing' time away from Atherstone it is generally a place we pass by.

After another couple of hours, passing through Nuneaton (no canalside boozers!) and close to Bedworth (and the now defunct Navigation which is a rather large private residence [that is up for sale]) we arrived at Hawkesbury Junction and a pub that it would be a crime to pass by.

The Greyhound Inn, Longford CV6 6DF is a proper 'old school' canalside pub that also does great food. There have been times when it has been so full that we've caught a taxi into Coventry! Being a cool, grey Monday, I was half expecting it to be closed, but it wasn't and we had our obligatory three lunchtime pints and some lovely food.

Now we were on the homeward stretch of the journey as we joined the Oxford Canal by passing through Sutton Stop Lock. The rest of the afternoon was grey and drizzly and we passed no canalside pubs before our evening stop. The Elephant & Castle closed many years ago (and we'd never visited it as it was only 20 minutes away from The Greyhound!) and I'm not counting the Rose & Castle in Ansty. Althoiugh the garden runs down to the canal, there's nowhere to moor and access is always via the road!

So, the next pub we came to was the Barley Mow, Newbold-on-Avon CV21 1HW, by which time it was 19:50.

Back in the day, this used to be two pubs actually next-door to each other! Now they've been combined to provide a pub and hotel. There were plenty of locals in the bar and there is a restaurant section, but we preferred to eat in the bar where there was some atmosphere...it was a fairly quiet Monday night!.

DAY 7
OXFORD CANAL - Newbold-on-Avon to Braunston Turn
GRAND UNION/OXFORD CANAL - Braunston Turn to Wigram's Turn Marina

This was the final leg of our journey and, as we both had to dash off to prior engagements as soon as we got back to base...we didn't stop for lunch!

After Newbold you get to Rugby quite quickly and we passed by a pub that we used a few times when it was first built, but it is now a Harvester which seems to have turned its back on the canal.

It was only 09:45 when we passed the Bell & Barge, Rugby CV21 1RG, so we wouldn't have stopped anyway, but you can see how the mooring has become so overgrown.

The next, and final pub we passed was something of a surprise.

It was 11:45 when we passed The Waterside, Hillmorton CV21 4PW and, on another day, we may well have stopped for an early lunch...but not today! However, that wasn't the surprise. The penultimate time we'd passed this way, we did stop at the Old Royal Oak which had been the name of this pub since my first visit on my first canal trip in 1980. Indeed, it was still the Old Royal Oak in September 2018 when we last passed this way, but (from what I can glean from TripAdvisor) it changed from a Hungry Horse into a Pub & Carvery in October/November 2018.

We pushed on, past Braunston (not passing any more canalside pubs) and on to Wigram's Turn.

So, on this leg of the trip we passed 10 canalside pubs and went into just three, which is the best percentage of the whole trip.

In conclusion, in seven days we passed 34 canalside pubs and actually went into just 8 of them. Of those 34 pubs, we have never been in 5 of them! (The trip was 104 miles, passing through 120 locks and took 50 hours 5 minutes)

Had we stopped at every pub, we would never have completed the journey in 7 days, but if time was not part of the equation, you could probably do it in about a fortnight without any stress.

What has really surprised me is that, before we did this, I'd have estimated that we stop at about 50% of the canalside pubs, whereas the reality is 23.5%. (Although, over the years, we have been in 85% of them).

#203 The Old Windmill, Coventry, West Midlands : 2000 to 2015

We are occasional visitors to the centre of Coventry by canal as it is a 5 mile stretch of canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Coventry Canal Basin which is the terminus of the Coventry Canal. So, if we have time in the schedule we sometimes make the trip into the city to see how it has changed.

The Old Windmill is situated in Medieval Spon Street which is one of the few parts of the old city to have survived the blitz. It is quite a walk from the canal which is probably why we'd not been there before the evening of Tuesday 30th May 2000.

As I recall it was a proper pub and quite a pleasant experience. From the signage, it was still a Mann's pub back then.

Although we'd been back to Coventry a couple of times after this, we didn't venture to The Old Windmill again until the evening of Monday 6th October 2014.

On this occasion we'd moored at Hawkesbury Junction, but we'd been unable to get any food at The Greyhound (#167) as it was full. This necessitated a taxi ride into Coventry and our driver dropped us off by The Old Windmill so that we could eat at Turmeric Gold on the opposite side of the road (his recommendation!).

The signage had completely changed and it was no longer a Mann's pub, but little else had changed - apart from the tables and chairs outside the front of the pub! (Café society comes to Coventry!) Inside it was still a proper pub.

We returned almost a year later; this time we'd moored at Coventry Canal Basin to re-explore the city on the evening of Tuesday 1st September 2015. Unfortunately, as we were having a pint in the Wetherspoons the heavens opened, thus curtailing any further exploration, but we still got a bit damp on the walk over to Medieval Spon Street!

It was still chucking it down when we left The Old Windmill after a pint before venturing across the road to Turmeric Gold for our evening meal. There were few discernible changes to the pub (new hanging baskets), but what price 'café society' now?! To see more about the 2015 CAMRA Coventry Pub of the Year have a look at their Facebook page

Whilst The Old Windmill dates from the 16th Century and claims to be one of the oldest pubs in Coventry, somehow I don't think that Turmeric Gold has quite such a long history. The food was good on both occasions we visited. 

#035 UPDATE Rose & Castle, Ansty, Warwickshire : 2000 to 2015

When I reviewed our canal trips and my photos I was amazed to find that the first time we ever stopped at Ansty was in 2000, on a week long trip that took us to Coventry. We'd passed by many times but lunchtime on Tuesday 30th May 2000 was the first time we set foot in the Rose & Castle.

As I recall, it was a pub that served very good food, but beyond that I don't remember much else.

Our next visit was another lunchtime stop on Friday 27th August 2004. Again we visited Coventry, but this trip also took us along the Ashby Canal for only our second time.

Now the Rose & Castle was under new management. The exterior had been completely redecorated and, as I recall, inside it had become a bit more 'restauranty', but again the food was good and not expensive.

We were back again on Tuesday 29th May 2007 for another lunchtime treat.

The hanging sign above the front door had disappeared, but a canopy over the outdoor seating at the side of the pub had been installed.

Two years passed and we returned on Monday 25th May 2009 this time for an evening visit!

No apparent changes, but the canopy was extended, no doubt for the smokers.

It was another two years before our next lunchtime stop on Tuesday 31st May 2011.

The only change I could discern was the reappearance of the 'new' hanging sign above the door that first appeared in 2004.

And finally...to our most recent visit at lunchtime (no real surprise there) on Tuesday 1st September 2015.

Minimal changes, although the external lighting appears to be different, the canopy seems to be broken, there's less seating for the smokers and the hanging sign above the front door has redisappeared!

#164 Wharf Inn, Hinckley, Leicestershire : 1995 to 2014

Our first ever trip along the Ashby Canal wasn't originally planned. We were moving our boat from Winkwell near Berkhamsted on the Grand Union Canal to Lapworth on the Stratford Canal. Once we reached Hawkesbury Junction on the Coventry Canal we realised that we'd got a couple of days in hand, so off we went along the Ashby Canal.

We didn't stop at Hinckley on the way up, but made sure we had an evening stop on the way back down so that we could have a bit of a pub crawl!

This was taken on the evening of Sunday 3rd September 1995. Back in those days this was the nearest pub to the canal and was our first stop before we ventured into town. Beyond that I have little memory except that we did end up having a curry in the Indian restaurant next door.

As the Ashby Canal doesn't link to any other waterways, we didn't venture that way again for a number of years.

This picture of the Wharf Inn was taken on the evening of Sunday 29th August 2004. It had undergone a fairly extensive external refurbishment to bring it into line with the Marston's pub branding. Again it was our first port of call and again we ended up next door for a curry!

Our most recent visit was on Tuesday 7th October 2014, again an evening stop. The Wharf Inn is no longer the closest pub to the canal as there is now a Chef & Brewer as part of the Trinity Marina development. However, the Wharf Inn was our first port of call again.

In the intervening ten years the Wharf Inn has undergone another complete external refurbishment which has included the transformation of the front car park into a beer garden, but it is still a Marston's pub (and the curry house is still next door, although we didn't partake this time!)