More Canal Cruising in a COVID World (Part 1)

 It truly is a remarkable time as we embarked on another canal trip just a month after the previous cruise. This time the pubs felt a bit more relaxed (or maybe I'm getting used to them!) and our major delays were not caused by COVID related issues.

Our first stop was The Boat at Stockton, a pub we hadn't visited for many years.

It was 'fully booked' but they managed to find us a table. This was one of those one of those pubs which takes the COVID-19 threat very seriously and have taken some decisions that might not work in the long run. Nevertheless, we had a pleasant lunch.

Further along the Grand Union it was good to see that the Two Boats in Long Itchington was now open and seemingly doing well with plenty of people sitting outside in the late summer sunshine.

Our ultimate destination for the evening was Leamington Spa, also somewhere we hadn't visited for a few years. Leamington has never been a particularly happy hunting ground for pubs...and little has changed. We managed to squeeze into The Old Library, which has gone under different names in the past and I remember it as the Jug & Jester from last time.

This is a large, rambling pub that operates a table service only policy, but they didn't really have enough staff on to cope with the demand. After eating at the Leamington branch of Piccolino's (very good Italian) we ended up in The Pig & Fiddle, a proper back-street boozer!

Social distancing here was easy as we were the only people in the pub! Apparently, they'd been busy (too busy?) earlier with a young crowd and when we arrived the staff were busy pulling down blinds to make it look closed so the hordes didn't return and they could get back home on time!

Next day our cruising got back onto schedule with another lunchtime visit to Hatton Arms (excellent and slightly more relaxed than a month earlier!) and finished off with an evening in the Navigation Inn at Lapworth (also as excellent as ever).

So, we were back on schedule, which lasted for about an hour and then this happened at the lock above us on the Lapworth flight.

Yes, those two boats are tightly wedged with no movement possible backwards or forwards, up or down! From my original vantage point (50 - 60 yards away) it was obvious that both boats should back up and start again. The woman, climbing off her boat, said, "Weve tried that!"...so that was me all out of ideas! Two minutes later an officious, 'know-it-all' type appeared from one of the locks above and made the same suggestion, but he wasn't happy till thay'd actually tried it. Result? No change! (Where do these people come from? You always find at least one in any such crisis situation...and they're almost always useless!)

I retired back to our boat in the expectation that only a crane could resolve the situation...and that would take at least 24 hours! However, someone with experience of similar situations appeared and with the judicious use of a stiff metal pole he managed to lever the two boats apart! I didn't see it, but we were moving again after only an hour's delay!

Now the lock flight was full of boats, so for the next few locks we had to pass the boats coming down and not end up in a similar state. The key is for both boats to keep moving, one goes left, the other right and a delicate pirouette is performed resulting in both boats entering their respective locks gracefully and easily. After passing the big boat that had been stuck, the next one was 'Mr Know-it-all'...only he didn't! (He exited his lock slowly and just as I was about to move into the space he was leaving he put it in reverse! As I'd already moved to the left and wasn't in his way I could compensate, but it took a bit of persuasion to get him moving in the right direction!) 

We successfully negotiated the rest of the locks, but it meant that we didn't get as far as the Blue Bell Cider House, but ended up at the Wharf Tavern in Hockley Heath for the first time in a few years!

We'd phoned ahead for a booking and fortunately it wasn't too busy for a Monday lunchtime with the Eat Out to Help Out being in full swing by then. Here they had the right balance between observing the COVID requirements and running a pub.

As we were an hour behind schedule it was a long afternoon session to get us to Alvechurch for the evening. Luckily the weather was good so it should have been a pleasant afternoon...and it was...until we were pelted with stones from the canalside as we approached Bridge 6. This resulted in a broken window and our steerer, Andrew, narrowly escaping being hit! It is many years since this has happened to us in Birmingham and it was usually on the Grand Union Canal, never the Stratford. Fortunately the window was double glazed and only the outer pane was smashed.

We soldiered on and on the way we passed Calypso at it's home mooring...this being the boat that stole the lock from us on our last holiday!

We made it to Alvechurch just as the light was failing and also got to the Red Lion (a Vintage Inn) in time for food.

All in all, an eventful day, but we reached our destination safely (just!) and lived to fight another day. 

Stay tuned for more adventures on board the narrowboat Peggy Ellen on the Midlands Waterways!

Canal Pub Crawling - Part 2

Last time you left us at the Navigation Inn, Lapworth at the end of our second day of boating in our week-long trip around the Midlands.

DAY 3

STRATFORD CANAL - Lapworth (Lock 14) to Kings Norton Junction

WORCS & B'HAM CANAL - Kings Norton Junction to Worcester Bar

BCN MAIN LINE - Worcester Bar to Old Turn Junction

B'HAM & FAZELEY CANAL - Old Turn Junction to Saturday Bridge

 The day started off cloudy and dry, but this soon turned to persistent rain and by the time we'd passed through 13 locks and two lift bridges we were ready for a drink and some sustenance...but not here!

The Wharf Tavern, Hockley Heath B94 6QT is a place we've stopped at on many previous occasions, but it was only 12:05 and we still had a long journey into Brum. So we sailed on by.

The next pub along is also one we've stopped at on many occasions.

The Blue Bell Cider House, Earlswood B94 6BP was perfectly placed as it was now 13:15 and we were a few miles closer to our intended evening destination. Since our last visit the pub had been redecorated and had less of a 'tired' feel and the food was very good - still proper straightforward pub grub.

After the refreshment we were back on the water for the long afternoon's journey to Birmingham which necessitated passing more watering holes! First up was Lady Lane Wharf, Earlswood B94 6AH (at 16:05) which is a place we've never visited.

It gets good reviews for its food and beer (it has been, maybe still is, in the Good Beer Guide) but because of its position (relative to our other regular stopping places) and the lack of nearby moorings we are unlikely to break our duck any time soon.

A bit further on (16:55) is a place that we've stopped at on many occasions, usually when we're heading away from Brum, but not today.

The Drawbridge Inn, Shirley B90 1DD is situated next to an electrically operated lift bridge which is on a very busy cut-through so we tend to encouter quite a few impatient drivers as we operate the bridge. Today it was rush-hour on a Friday, so it was even busier than normal!

Further along towards Birmingham is another pub that we've stopped at on previous occasions, but nowadays there is nowhere to moor up as the banks have become overgrown.

The Horseshoe, Kings Heath B14 5EL is an old school boozer on the Alcester Road, not far from the Maypole (for those who know Brum). It was now 17:50 and it was still a couple more hours before we reached Central Birmingham for a safe place to moor.

Further on we come to Kings Norton Junction where we turn right and head in towards Birmingham on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. There are no canalside pubs along this stretch as the canal and railway line (Cross City) keep each other company all the way to Five Ways.

Once we hit the city centre there is a 90° turn by The Cube where, somewhat inevitably, we meet one of the party boats heading out of town, but manage to avoid any collision.

As we pass through Gas Street Basin we successfully negotiate the Worcester Bar which leads us onto the BCN Main Line for a short stretch. We pass by the Tap & Spile B1 2JT (not pictured) and the Canal House B1 2JR which was formerly the James Brindley. It is now 20:10 and we're ready for a drink!

But we're still not quite there; we pass through Broad Street Tunnel and turn right at Old Turn Junction to enter the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal where we moor up by Saturday Bridge - it is now 20:20 and we'd passed The Malt House B1 2NX, again without entering!

After mooring up, it was straight out to The Shakespeare B3 1JJ and an Indian meal at the Raj Doot, neither of which can be considered as canalside venues.

Day 4

BIRMINGHAM & FAZELEY CANAL - Saturday Bridge to Curdworth

Saturday started out grey and drizzly as we set off down the Farmer's Bridge flight of locks that head north taking you down and under Birmingham. Before we've even passed through the first lock there's a canalside pub.

It is way too early for a drink (09:50) in The Flapper B1 2NU. I haven't been there for many years and it is likely to have been closed and replaced by flats by the time we pass this way again. When I was a student this was the Flapper & Firkin, but now it is a music venue and feels more like an estate pub. A brief summary of the situation is here.

We pass no more canalside pubs until later in the afternoon following lunch at The Bull B4 6JU and after descending the Aston Lock flight. Towards the edge of the city comes a pub that I've never been in and, when you see the canal frontage, you'll understand why.

I give you...Tyburn House, Castle Vale B35 6AA. From this view, if you didn't know there was a pub there, you'd be none the wiser. It was now 17:15 and we had no plans to stop! Britain Beermat has visited the Tyburn House and put his thoughts on his blog Life After Football.

We still had the three Minworth Locks to negotiate before we passed by a pub that we've visited on numerous occasions, but at 18:10, we still had a bit more travelling to do.

The Boat Inn, Minworth B76 9AE is another lovely little local boozer that also does food and, for us, is more suited to lunchtime stops.

We passed one more (that I failed to photograph, being otherwise engaged) which was the Cuttle Bridge Inn, Minworth B76 9DP. This is a place we've frequented both in it's present guise and in it's previous incarnations as The Kingsley, but our destination of Curdworth was just along the cut, so we didn't stop.

So, two more days into the journey and we've passed by another dozen canalside pubs, but this time we only went into one of them! That is a pretty poor return. If we had stopped, and had a pint in each one, the trip would have taken three times as long.

However you dress it up, these statistics are a definite surprise to me!

TO BE CONTINUED.....

#083 Wharf Tavern, Hockley Heath, Warks : 1986 to 2011

The Wharf Tavern in Hockley Heath has been a regular watering hole on our canal trips ever since the first time Emma Jane was moored in the Midlands. Our first visit was in August 1981 and we were there again in August 1984, but I don't have the photographic evidence as it wasn't until 1986 that I started to take a picture of every pub we visited on our canal trips.

I took this photo of the Wharf Tavern, from the canal, on our next visit on Friday 18th July 1986 at the start of a trip that took us to Leicester and Nottingham.

In those days it was a Chef & Brewer, so we knew that we could get food which was a relative rarity 26 years ago.

In 1987 we visited the Wharf Tavern both on the way out and on the way back from our trip that took us along the River Severn from Worcester and then up the Shropshire Union Canal and back to the mooring at Lapworth vis the Trent & Mersey Canal. This photo was taken on our last night on that trip on Friday 17th July 1987.

Still a Chef & Brewer pub and still pink!

Over the next few years Emma Jane was based near Wigan and I was living in Melbourne, but on my first trip on my return to 'Blighty' we again stopped at the Wharf Tavern.

This was on Friday 2nd August 1991 towards the end of the first leg of the trip that took Emma Jane from Wigan to her new mooring at Cowley Peachey near Uxbridge. Still no apparent change to the pub.

We didn't stop at the Wharf for another eight years...and we visited twice! The first visit was on Saturday 29th May 1999 for a lunchtime stop.

Now it had become (returned to?) a proper pub (and no longer pink!), but the good news was that they still did food. We visited again on Saturday 28th August 1999, but I don't have a photo from that visit (presumably I didn't bother as I'd already taken one earlier in the year!).

We were back again at lunchtime on Saturday 26th August 2000 at the start of a trip to Manchester.

A slightly damp start to our journey!

Our next visit was on Saturday 29th May 2004 (lunchtime) at the start of a one week trip spent pottering around the Birmingham Canal network.

This s the view from the canalside and is a repeat of the original 1986 photo.

Our next time was on Friday 24th August 2007 at the start of our trip to Llangollen and Chester.

  The exterior signage had been changed and the pub completely repainted, but inside it was essentially unchanged.

Our most recent visit was on Friday 4th November 2011 at lunchtime (again!). This was before we'd even started our journey that was to become our last ever trip on Emma Jane. We'd tried both the Tom 'o' the Wood at Rowington and The Peacock at Lapworth only to find expensive 'messed up' food, so we went to the Wharf as we knew that we could get good, simple lunchtime food (Hot Pork or Beef baguettes!)

Even though it had been four years the Wharf Tavern was unchanged. They are part of the Spirit Group and their website is here. 

#071 Blue Bell Cider House, Hockley Heath, Warks : 1996 to 2011

The Blue Bell Cider House has long been well known around these parts as a good place to visit in the summer for a trip out into the countryside, just a short drive outside of Birmingham. I'm convinced that I'd been there before 1996, but it must have been by car as our first canal visit was on Saturday 25th May 1996.

We actually visited again on Friday 6th September 1996 on our way back from Llangollen and Chester, but I didn't take a picture! We'd moved our boat back to the Midlands in 1995 and so this became a more regular potential stop for us, especially as it has canalside moorings and does good pub food.

Our next visit was a on Saturday 24th May 1997.

The doors are now blue and the wall surrounding the large Blue Bell sign is white...and it was a much sunnier day!

Our next visit was on Saturday 10th August 2002 when we took a short break around the Midlands to do some much needed painting on Emma Jane.

It looks as though there's been a bit more painting done, but otherwise unchanged.

Saturday 26th August 2006 was our next visit at the start of a trip that took us to Northwich via the Anderton Boat Lift.

Again, largely unchanged, but the England flags were out, presumably left over following the World Cup. I also took a shot from the canal as you wouldn't know it was actually a canalside pub from the photos so far!

Next time it was Saturday 24th May 2008 at the start of a trip around the Midlands.

The doors are now Dark Blue and the large sign is on a Yellow background.

Our last visit to the Blue Bell was on Friday 26th August 2011 again at the start of a canal trip, this time to the Caldon Canal.

The pub itself was unchanged, inside or out, but the front had been tarmac-ed for car parking and the table had gone.

In all our years of visiting the Blue Bell it has hardly changed and is a good pub that does straightforward English food. There is now a website for the Blue Bell and it is well known for it's offerings of cider, which is a drink I've not drunk much of since I left school!

We only seem to visit the Blue Bell at the start of our trips because it is just the right distance away from our moorings, taking just under 3 hours to get there if things go well. If we get delayed, The Wharf at Hockley Heath offers an earlier stop off point for lunch.