#080 Red Lion, Hopwas, Staffs : 1986 to 2011

There are two pubs by the Coventry Canal in Hopwas, the Tame Otter (formerly The Chequers - #037 in this series) and the Red Lion. We've rarely stopped in Hopwas even though we pass through it very frequently. This is usually because we're there at the wrong time of day or there are no mooring spaces.

Our first visit was on the evening of Tuesday 29th July 1986 on the way back to our moorings towards the end of a two week trip that had taken us to Leicester and Nottingham.

As I recall it was a fairly basic Ind Coope village pub. (Before I zoomed in on the photo I'd have guessed it was an Ansell's pub, but they were part of the same company - Allied Breweries.)

We didn't stop in Hopwas again for many years until the lunchtime of Wednesday 18th September 2002. Again near the end of a journey that had taken us along the Caldon Canal. After 16 years you would hope to see some changes.

And so it proved. Now it had been re-badged as an Ansell's pub and had been completely refurbished inside as well. It had become (or had tried) a more upmarket food and drinking establishment, no doubt to compete with the now revamped Tame Otter across the canal.

Our most recent visit to Hopwas came on the lunchtime of Sunday 28th August 2011, this time at the early stages of our journey to the Caldon Canal. We didn't actually go into the Red Lion this time, but I took a photo just so that I'd have a record of any changes that had taken place in the intervening 9 years.

The only discernible change I can make out is the disappearance of Ansell's from the signage (and the temporary banner sign), but apart from that it is almost the same as 9 years earlier. Judging from the Red Lion website, this isn't too surprising as it would appear that 2002 was the current owners first year! 

#037 Tame Otter, Hopwas, Staffs : 1986 to 2011

The first time I visited The Chequers (as it was known in those days) was by car in the early 1980's. Our first canal stop was on Thursday 11th August 1983 and I seem to remember us making a dash to get there before the shops closed for the night.

Next time we visited was on the evening of Tuesday 29th July 1986. I remember it as a fairly basic local with a nice lounge, but don't recall too much else. It was one of the few non Ansells, non M&B pubs aroound in the Midlands!

On our subsequent canal trips we passed through Hopwas many times, but we didn't stop there again until 2002...and what a change! It was no longer a village local, but it had been converted into a 'Vintage Inn' which is part of the M&B group. It had also been renamed the Tame Otter.

 This was a lunchtime stop on Thursday 19th July 2002. Outside, the pub was pretty much the same apart from the new signage, but inside it was totally different. The pub had become a restaurant where you could get a pint.

Again, in the intervening years, we passed through Hopwas without stopping several times (often because the moorings outside the pub were full) until lunchtime on Sunday 28th August 2011.

Inside it is a typical Vintage Inn and was very busy. I'm not keen on the Vintage Inn brand, but it does seem to be popular and the food is generally good...although the sandwich selection isn't great. Here is the website for the Tame Otter. (Interestingly, the website refers to the canal as the Birmingham & Fazeley whereas it is, in fact, the Coventry Canal. They are not completely wrong as this stretch of canal was actually built by the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal Company along the proposed route of the Coventry Canal. The Coventry Canal Company subsequently bought this section of the canal.)