#152 The Pheasant, Worcester : 1999 to 2013

Worcester is a place we visit infrequently on our canal trips and, because there are a lot of pubs we don't get too many repeats (often because we can't remember where the pubs are!!).

Our first visit to The Pheasant was on the evening of Monday 31st May 1999.

It is on the same street as The Swan with Two Nicks (#146) and so we generally go there in preference. On this occasion, we decided to go into The Pheasant, but I don't really remember what it was like! It is a very attractive building, I assume it is listed as it doesn't seem to change.

We were in Worcester on Saturday 11th May 2013 in the evening and we walked past The Pheasant having already been to The Swan with Two Nicks!

Seemingly little has changed on the outside, but I'm sure they must have redecorated at least once in the intervening 14 years.

It seems as though The Pheasant has now been refurbished and 're-booted' as a burger establishment (and still a pub!) with good reviews on TripAdvisor. The pub website is here.

#146 The Swan with Two Nicks, Worcester : 1987 to 2013

My first experience of The Swan with Two Nicks was a lunchtime visit on Monday 6th July 1987 near the beginning of a two week trip on board Emma Jane. This was the first trip where we'd taken the boat on a trip without Andrew in the crew and we were a bit anxious as it was his family's boat at that time!

As I recall, we'd been there in 1984 (at the start of a journey, but before I'd started taking photos of every pub we visited). It was a traditional old pub with beams and a low ceiling and we spent the whole lunchtime there before heading off upstream on the River Severn.

It was a long time before we revisited The Swan with Two Nicks because Emma Jane was moored first 'Up North' and then 'Down South' until returning to the Midlands in late 1996. However, even though we visited Worcester again, we didn't actually manage to find the pub again until the evening of Monday 31st May 1999.

A complete overhaul of the outside of the pub had taken place in the intervening 12 years, but inside it was exactly as we remembered.

The next visit was another 9 years later on the evening of Tuesday 27th May 2008 and the outside had again been redecorated.

Inside was still in the traditional style, pretty much as we remembered it.

Five years later saw a much less drastic redecoration (and different smokers outside!) when we popped in on the evening of Saturday 11th May 2013.

Inside it was still the same, but this time it contained a large contingent of Royalist soldiers in period costume, presumably rehydrating after a long day's battle re-enactment!

The Swan with Two Nicks is still well worth a visit if you happen to find yourself in Worcester and a fairly detailed history of the pub (and before) can be found here.

The pub name is NOT a misprint and, although there are probably more pubs named the Swan with Two NECKS, the name originates from the practice of marking swans by making a 'nick' on the swan's bill - a full explanation can be found here.