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

Boozin' & Cruisin' through the East Midlands (Part 1)

 It's been a while since my last post and a few weeks since we returned from our most recent canal trip, which compared to recent years, was relatively uneventful!

Day 1 - Saturday

We left Wigrams Turn Marina at Napton just before noon and arrived at our designated lunch stop, The Boathouse at Braunston in plenty of time.

It's a pub we've visited many times in the past and it is still a solid Marstons pub that majors on food. It delivered again!

The canal had been very busy on the trip to Braunston and we were unsure how long it would take us to negotiate the six locks that lead to the tunnel - especially as there is a hire base nearby!

We struck very lucky, two boats exited the bottom lock just as we were approaching and only one of the hire boats was ready to depart, so they shared the lock with us. There was little drama in ascending the lock flight and I even had time to take a photo of the Admiral Nelson which stands by the third lock up.

Sadly, there was no time for a pint, but in the past we've managed to squeeze in a swift half (or more) whilst queueing for this lock. So, it was onward and upwards through the rest of the locks and a busy Braunston Tunnel to our evening destination of the New Inn at Long Buckby.

It is a pub I've reported on before and, whilst it is a lovely pub it has been seriously let down by it's management in the past - #192 - again it didn't disappoint on that front. It was 6:45pm, the pub was virtually deserted and yet, they were fully booked for food! After a brief discussion, we called a cab and went into Daventry...for the first time in many years!

The taxi driver dropped us off in the town centre and we went into the first pub we found.

The Plume of Feathers was a lively proper town centre boozer that did have cask ale available. However, we were getting a bit peckish by now so strolled along the High Street until we found our saviour!

Where else is there to eat on a Saturday night in small town England apart from the local 'Spoons! The Saracen's Head was also quite busy and they were still operating table service for food.

After our sumptuous repast, we popped across the road to a pub that I did remember from a previous excursion to Daventry.

Last time we were here, the Dun Cow was a fairly standard boozer; a far cry from the modern day, upmarket gin palace that it has become! All too soon it was time to call the taxi firm again and return to the canal.

 

Day 2 - Sunday

 

Sundays are rapidly becoming the most difficult days on the canal for finding food and drink at civilised times!

 

Our first obstacle was Watford Locks which have restricted opening times and there was a queue. Fortunately, there was a full complement of volunteer lock keepers so the whole process flowed smoothly and efficiently. However, it still meant that we were quite late arriving at Crick, not getting to the pub until 1:45pm.

Fortunately, The Wheatsheaf was still serving food and a very pleasant Sunday roast it was too.

 

At this stage we knew that there would be no food available at our evening stop in North Kilworth so we acquired supplies from the village Co-op over the road from the pub.

 

It is quite a stroll to the pub in North Kilworth from the canal, but after our Chicken Carbonara we were ready for a few pints to wash away the taste it down and the pub website said that they were open until 11pm.

We arrived at the White Lion just after 8pm only to find that they were closing! They did serve us a pint each and after chatting to the bar staff we understood what had happened. Apparently, the gaffer had been making a really good go of it and the pub was doing very well. But the pandemic came along which knocked the stuffing out of him and he'd lost interest! (A not uncommon tale I suspect!) Hence the 'To Let' sign outside!

 After another pint and a vain attempt to get a taxi to anywhere nearby for less than £25, we bought some wine and beer to take out and shuffled back to the boat for a quiet night in!

 

After promising you that this trip was relatively uneventful, it was quite a 'difficult' first couple of evenings...it does get better!

 

(To Be Continued)

Canal Cruising in Continuing COVID Times (Part 1)

 For our first boating trip of 2021 we waited until indoor hospitality was open again, albeit under Summer 2020 rules. Our destination was Oxford on the basis that we hadn't been there (for a good session) in a long time.

Travelling from the boat's home marina at Napton-on-the-Hill presents a bit of a dilemma as the refreshment stops between there and Cropredy (9 hours cruising away) are limited. There is The Folly which is just half an hour from the marina and The Wharf at Fenny Compton which is about 4½ hours away, about which we had no information regarding it's status.

So, it was a lunch on board without stopping!

We arrived at Cropredy in plenty of time and it was a pleasant sunny evening. There are two pubs in the village; the Brasenose Arms which had been open (outdoors) for several weeks serving food to a massive garden.

Unfortunately for us, the chef has his day off on Tuesdays, so the pub building was closed and there was no food available...only drinks were being served in the garden.

We strolled round to the Red Lion only to find, unsurprisingly, that it was fully booked and we couldn't even get a drink! So, it was back to the Brasenose for a sumptuous fare of crisps, nuts, scratchings and not cold enough lager!

So, our first pint of 2021, inside a pub, was in Ye Olde Reine Deer in Banbury.

This time we found it without too much trouble and there was no problem finding a free table. It was disappointing that it wasn't busier, but it will take time to get back to some semblance of 'normal'. As many people are noting, the full range of (Hook Norton) beers wasn't available, but there was sufficient choice for us.

For the evening we'd already booked our table at the Great Western Arms at Aynho Wharf. Even before the pandemic, this had become an upmarket gastropub, but it was remarkably quite busy.

Our table was in the Lavender Garden which is a semi-outdoor area taking maximum advantage of existing outbuildings. All-in-all, a pleasant experience.

Our lunchtime stopping place for the next day was Lower Heyford. Unfortunately, The Bell doesn't open on Thursday lunchtimes and the Barley Mow was completely closed, awaiting new management. So, this was the venue for another sumptuous lunch!

A brief stop to stock up with essentials like cheese and corned beef for a beer and sandwiches lunch on board the good ship Peggy Ellen. Then we resumed our journey south - next stop Thrupp.

Along the way we passed by former "EastEnders" actor Phil Daniels and his boat Tuppence, moored in an attractive tree lined cutting, just before we came across the sad sight of the now closed Rock of Gibraltar pub.

It's a pub that I've never actually been into...and now never will!

After miles of canal where the pubs are half-a-day's cruising apart, you get to Thrupp where there are three pubs within a 15 minute walk of each other! There were no mooring spaces outside The Boat Inn, but plenty of room outside The Jolly Boatman!

This shows how close we were moored. It is a pleasantly run pub - they managed to find us a table, the food was good, the lager cold and they pre-warned us that closing time was dependent on how busy they were. In the event, it was around 10pm when they closed the bar allowing us a relaxed drinking up period. Luckily for us, the pub's one-way system led us out through the garden/smoking shelter, almost to our front door!

 

Next stop Oxford! It was another rainy day when we moored up in Jericho and strolled along the last few hundred yards of the canal and into the city. Dreaming spires, fantastic old and characterful pubs...you've guessed it though...Wetherspoon's Four Candles was our first stop!

Amazingly there was no queue, although there weren't many free tables. We were downstairs, so the technical glitch with their app didn't affect us as we got the table service, which worked very well. After a couple of pints and lunch we moved on in search of a pub that we'd been into in 1998, but remembered little else about apart from it's name - the Three Goats Heads.

What a fine pub it is and, unexpectedly, it's a Sam Smiths boozer! I'm not a fan of Sam Smiths Old Brewery Bitter, so I was on the lager and my travelling companion went for the OBB! Sadly, it wasn't very busy - most likely a combination of the pandemic restrictions and the fact that it was rainy and cold!

Next we wanted to find a pub that neither of us could remember the name of. We knew that it was a small corner pub close to one of the colleges and that it had a magnificent collection of ties. This is when a smart phone with a map is your friend.

As they used to say in local cinema adverts, "'ere Bert, this is the place!" We stepped inside The Bear and it was seemingly unchanged except that, in these curious times, it was full...with just three people inside! Sure, we could've had a drink in the 'beer garden', but what's the point? With the current rules, I don't know how many more pubs there are in a similar situation, because that just isn't viable.

Moving on, we found a lovely little pub that we'd never been to before for our last pint of the session.

The White Horse is somewhat TARDIS like in that it goes back a long way inside which meant that there was plenty of space for us! Obviously, no-one was drinking outside, but the rain had finally begun to ease. I don't really recollect too much about the interior other than it felt like a proper town pub...and they served food as well.

By the time we'd had a pint it was almost 5pm and so time for the long stroll back to the boat to 'prepare' for our evening session. As we walked back past the 'Spoon's we could see that a queue had formed. A little further on and we came to the terminus of the Oxford Canal...only a few more steps to our mooring!

(Next time - a night out in Jericho, a 10 minute afternoon cruise between pub sessions and a river almost in flood - stay tuned for more tales of "Canal Cruising in Continuing COVID Times"!)

# 218 The Plaza, Rugeley, Staffordshire : 1999 to 2016

Rugeley has always been something of an enigma, to put it politely. The Trent & Mersey Canal runs through the centre of the town and with good moorings offers access to all the shopping you'd need on a boating trip. There are quite a few pubs in the town, but there aren't many GOOD pubs! Places to eat in the evening are also few and far between.

I do remember the first time we visited The Plaza in Rugeley, though. In the early days I wasn't a fan of Wetherspoons pubs, but I was 'blown away' with the interior of The Plaza when I first walked in. The whole wall, where the screen would have been was now glass, from floor to ceiling.

 This was at lunchtime on Tuesday 31st August 1999.

We didn't return to The Plaza for a few years and when we did this is what we found.

 This was another lunchtime stop on Tuesday 5th September 2006. As we all know, Wetherspoons pubs never change...or do they? The free standing sign has been replaced, together with the signs either side of the entrance and flowers have appeared on the canopy over the entrance as well as in hanging baskets.

It was again quite a few years before we ventured back to The Plaza.

This was on the evening of Monday 6th April 2015. Again, the exterior signage had been replaced and the hanging baskets were still in place, but it was a little too early in the years for them to bloom. Interestingly, the Council have removed the railings which has allowed the pub to build a little outdoor enclave, presumably for the smokers.

Our most recent visit occurred almost exactly a year later on the evening of Monday 28th March 2016.

 Not much had changed in a year, but there are now tables and chairs in the smoking enclaves (it is now possible to see that these outdoor areas are both sides of the entrance.

For the second year running, we ate in The Plaza as it was the best option we could find in the town. I must admit that, over the years, I've warmed up more to Wetherspoons pubs. I think that they've become somewhat more 'pubby' than in the early days and the bar service is now pretty good. I don't think that they'll ever become my 'go to' choice except in places like Ellesmere Port, Bingley and Rugeley!

#211 Bull & Stirrup Hotel, Chester : 1996 to 2016

The Bull & Stirrup Hotel is a magnificent building, but it is a pub we've never actually been in. I took this photo on our first ever canal visit to Chester on the afternoon of Saturday 31st August 1996.

On that visit we had two sessions in Chester and I took the photo in anticipation that we would find our way into the Bull & Stirrup at some stage. Sadly, we never did!

Although we've been back to Chester a couple more times in the intervening years we still didn't make it into the Bull & Stirrup. On our most recent visit, this is the vista that presented itself on the evening of Wednesday 10th August 2016.

So, it looked like we'd never get to sample the delights of the Bull & Stirrup after all.

However, my subsequent research has shown that it is due to reopen on 28th February 2017 having been bought by Wetherspoon's - link. So, we may still have the chance to get there one day!

 

#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. 

#088 The Devonshire Inn, Skipton : ca.1973 to 2012

When I started this blog last year I expected to have enough pub pictures that I could carry on with it for at least two years. However, that was before we sold our boat Emma Jane and took the decision to hire boats allowing us to visit canals we'd not been on before.

This means that, this year, I've only visited a handful of pubs that I've been to before; although I've now got 54 new pubs along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal that could become part of this blog in future years.

Before we embarked on our 2012 canal trip I came across this blog posting by my favourite author, Christopher Priest. It contained this photo of the Devonshire from the 1970's.

I have guessed the year to be 1973. The pub was the setting for the opening of his 1976 novel "The Space Machine", so I'm assuming he did the research a few years earlier. The details are in his blog entry and make a very interesting read.

Having read this, I made sure that we paid a visit to the 2012 incarnation The Devonshire Inn which is now a Wetherspoon's.

This slightly blurry photo was taken on the evening of Saturday 6th October 2012. Inside it is very much a Wetherspoon's style establishment making maximum use of the available space. I imagine it was very different in the 70's when it was a Tetley's pub. Externally it looks pretty much the same apart from the signage.

I still have quite a few pubs to report on, several of which are here in Birmingham, but others are further afield.