#183 The Swan, Fradley Junction, Staffordshire : 1986 to 2016

The Swan at Fradley Junction is a classic canalside pub that really hasn't changed much throughout the years that we've been passing by. Our first stop there was back in 1983 before my cataloguing of our pub visits began.

Our first, recorded, visit was at lunchtime on Tuesday 29th July 1986 returning from a trip to Nottingham.

Fairly quiet, but it was midweek!

We returned a year later, again at lunchtime, on Wednesday 15th July 1987.

More people about this time, probably because it was a sunny day. Back in those days, you could moor up right outside the pub.

After this visit, our boat Emma Jane spent a few years moored near Wigan and then a few more years berthed on the Grand Union Canal near to Hemel Hempstead nd so our next visit to The Swan wasn't until lunchtime on Thursday 30th May 1996.

In the intervening years, the hanging sign had been renewed, the main pub sign had turned 'gold', the porch roof had been re-covered and the upstairs window shutters had disappeared. Apart from that, it was completely unchanged.

On this occasion, the pub let us down, from memory they'd stopped serving food at 2pm leaving us without lunch while we got our leaking shower tray fixed. Fortunately, we managed to acquire provisions from the shop next door.

Our next visit was an evening stop on Monday 30th August 1999.

Little seemed to have changed.

Next visit was on the evening of Tuesday 17th September 2002 on our way back from a trip that should've taken us to Chester but instead took us to Leek on the Caldon Canal.

No real changes but the hanging sign was starting to show signs of severe fading.

We returned the next year at lunchtime on Sunday 24th August 2003.

It was a Bank Holiday weekend that coincides with the Wychnor Boat Rally which led to the locks being very busy and progress was slow. Allied to it also being a hot day meant that we weren't best pleased to be told that the food was Sunday lunch only - NO sandwiches available! Once again we had to avail ourselves of the provisions available in the shop next door; the first, and so far only, time I've had Turkey Ham! Notice also that the hanging sign is missing, but hanging baskets have appeared below the upstairs windows.

It was another couple of years before we ventured back, this time on the evening of Sunday 21st August 2005.

Again no changes and the hanging sign was still missing!

We were back again at lunchtime on Wednesday 7th June 2006.

It looks like the hanging sign had returned and parasols adorned the outdoor tables.

Our next stop was on the evening of Sunday 30th August 2009 at the start of a two week trip that would take us up the Erewash Canal for the first time.

We returned almost exactly a year later on the evening of Sunday 29th August 2010, this time at the start of a journey that took us through Manchester.

The baskets below the upper windows had gone.

Again, almost exactly a year later we passed by on Sunday 28th August 2011, the last year of Emma Jane.

In the following years we hired boats that took us to parts of the canal system that we'd never visited before and it wasn't until 2015 that we returned. William's new boat, Peggy Ellen, is moored at nearby Kings Bromley so we've been visiting The Swan somewhat more frequently.

This was on the evening of Monday 25th May 2015 and, despite it being a Bank Holiday they didn't seem to have run out of anything. We were also treated to some unexpected entertainment when a man walked in with a parrot on his shoulder!

We were there again on Monday 15th June 2015 in the evening.

And again on the evening of Friday 3rd September 2015.

Since 2011, the main pub sign on the front wall had gone back to black lettering, but everything else was as on previous occasions.

All of our visits during 2015 were charcterised by excellent service and very good food, often served under quite stressful conditions as The Swan gets very busy and has a small bar for serving. Sometimes in the past it wasn't always so good as certain owners/managers/landlords didn't try too hard, essentially, because they didn't have to. The Swan is in such a good location that when the sun comes out people flock there and certain managers had realised that they didn't need to put in as much effort.

On the day before our most recent visit I'd learnt that The Swan was under new management, which I hoped was a good sign as we were making a very special trip. Our friend Mike was coming over from Canada (first time we'd seen him since 1995) and another friend Matt was coming up from near Oxford for a reunion of former crewmates of Emma Jane. (Mike's last trip was in 1981 and Matt's 1987!)

So, we boarded Peggy Ellen for the 90 minute journey to Fradley Junction. We negotiated the three locks with ease, found a mooring and went to the pub.

This was on Friday 6th May 2016. Mike and Matt are at the front; Andrew is steering and smoothly turning Peggy Ellen.

Lunch, however, did not go quite so smoothly. There have been some, so far minor, alterations to the inside of the pub and hopefully there will be some more to better utilise some of the space. 

Firstly, it took an age to get a round of drinks (the pub was quite busy and obviously the new staff aren't up to the speed required here) and there was no soda water on stream for my Blackcurrant & Soda. A minor irritation; I had tap water instead.

Then, on to the food. Our order was 3 x Cottage Pies, 1 x Cumberland Sausage and 1 x Ploughman's Lunch (for me). Except they didn't have any Ploughman's left! OK, another irritation, I chose Fish & Chips. Half an hour later I was told by the server that they'd run out of Fish & Chips as well! After ascertaining that they had some, I chose Cottage Pie.

We were finally served our food about an hour after we'd placed the original order. My Cottage Pie was alright, but it had an Italian ambience to it, and the accompanying vegetables were derisory; hardly more than a garnish!

I do hope the new management get a grip on things because if they don't it will be a disaster for them and the pub.

ADDENDUM (June 2019)
In all our subsequent visits the service has been faultless, so it looks like the teething problems were resolved.

#182 Red Bull, Church Lawton, Staffs : 1991 to 2015

The Red Bull pub is a well-known canalside pub, but not one we've stopped at very often. It is a couple of locks down from the summit of "Heartbreak Hill" and so is not in the best position for stopping at when boating.

Our first stop there was on the lunchtime of Thursday 25th July 1991.

 This was during the journey south for Emma Jane, from Adlington to, ultimately, Cowley Peachey on the Grand Union Canal.

Our next stop there was another lunchtime stop on Wednesday 24th August 2005. This was a pit stop on our journey to Chester and back.

In 14 years, the only discernible changes were the 'new' hanging baskets and the addition of a burglar alarm.

Our most recent visit to the Red Bull was at lunchtime (again!) on Tuesday 20th January 2015. This was part of the 'Shakedown' cruise for Peggy Ellen, which is why we were boating in January!

At least in the subsequent ten years since our last visit the exterior had been completely redecorated, even if the hanging sign looks to be the same as in 1991!

Regular readers will know that I can rarely remember what the pubs I feature are like on the inside. So far I've resisted all mention of the interior because, quite frankly, I don't really remember it much. However, I suspect that it hasn't changed much over the years and this is what it looked like on this visit.

As you can see, still a proper pub! Well worth a visit if you're passing and, hopefully, we'll be back in less than ten years this time!

 

#108 UPDATE The Bell Inn, Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire : 1986 to 2015

Prior to 2015, we'd only ever stopped at Husbands Bosworth once in all of our canal trips.

This was on the evening of Tuesday 22nd July 1986 on a journey that would take us to Leicester. As I recall, it was a pleasant pub that served food, but back then we probably ate on the boat anyway (Aaah! Those were the days!). In 1986, it was just called The Bell and was an Ind Coope pub. 

On this visit, we popped into both pubs in Husbands Bosworth, but the Cherry Tree is no longer there as recounted in #093 on this blog.

I was passing by towards the end 2012, so I took the opportunity to get a photo of how it looks now.

This picture was taken on Sunday 16th December 2012 and in the intervening 26 years there has been a relatively small amount of change on the outside! It is now called The Bell Inn and they stress the history of it as an 18th Century coaching inn. Having looked at the menu on their website, it looks like they serve proper pub food at a reasonable price.

Last year we were again on the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal and, because we'd taken a detour to the previously unexplored Market Harborough, we found ourselves having to moor up near Husbands Bosworth Tunnel for the first time in almost 30 years. It is a bit of a stroll into the village and we were pleased to see that The Bell Inn was still there.

This was on the evening of Saturday 29th August 2015. Outside it has been repainted since my last picture and inside, it was a pleasant pub with good food. Just what we needed after a good day's boating which had included the Foxton Locks. 

#181 Littleton Arms, Penkridge, Staffs : 1991 to 2015

The village of Penkridge sits on the Staffs & Worcs Canal and, although we haven't passed through too often down the years, it is always a worthwhile stopping place as there are quite a few pubs to choose from.

The first time we visited the Littleton Arms was on the evening of Sunday 28th July 1991.

I really don't recall what it was like inside, but from the outside, it is an imposing building. In those days, it was an M&B establishment.

We didn't return for five years, this time, it was a lunchtime stop on Wednesday 29th May 1996.

The pub had undergone a complete transformation as a Vintage Inn restaurant/pub (still part of the M&B estate).

We didn't return until the evening of Tuesday 29th May 2001 to find no real change in the exterior.

Two years later, on the evening of Monday 25th August 2003, it was still a Vintage Inn, but the wooden window shutters had been removed.

It was quite a while before our next visit to Penkridge and this is what we found on the evening of Sunday 4th September 2011.

Another complete transformation, this time into an independent restaurant/pub.

Our most recent visit was on the evening of Wednesday 10th June 2015.

Little had changed over the four years. Inside it is now in the currently popular 'rustic' style and the food was very good (as was the free bottle of wine which, on hindight, I should probably taken away for later consumption, rather than drinking it all with my meal!).

If you are passing it is worth a stop to have some refreshment in the Littleton Arms - here's their website.

#180 The Boat, Minworth, West Midlands : 1986 to 2015

In the early 1980's The Boat was, technically, my local pub as I lived just around the corner in Minworth for a few months. It sits at the side of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal and is the last, reasonably safe, overnight mooring before the centre of Birmingham. Over the years, we have been intermittent visitors having passed by more times than we've stopped.

Our first ever boating visit to The Boat was on the evening of Sunday 22nd August 1982, but sadly there's no pictorial record of the visit. I do, however, have a photo taken the next day as we made our way down the windswept Curdworth Locks.

Our next visit to The Boat was in the year that I'd decided to start taking a picture of each pub we visited. This was on the evening of Wednesday 30th July 1986.

Back in those days it had a cosy lounge and a fairly standard bar with pool table and dart board, but (as I recall) didn't do food.

Our boat, Emma Jane, moved away from the Midlands for a number of years and so we didn't stop there again until the evening of Tuesday 5th September 1995, close to the end of the journey bringing Emma Jane back to the Midlands.

On the outside, a complete transformation from a fairly standard Ansells pub into a 'Big Steak' pub!

We returned less than a year later, on the lunchtime of Friday 31st May 1996. This was a pit-stop on an 'epic' journey that took us from Fazeley Junction to Catherine-de-Barnes on the Grand Union Canal in a day (10 hours 20 minutes travelling time!).

Even in just 9 months, part of the exterior signage had disappeared and the paint was starting to peel!

It took us another 10 years before we came back to The Boat. This was mainly because we'd worked out that we could travel from Birmingham city centre to The Kingsley or Curdworth in a day's boating so we sailed on by The Boat on many occasions.

This was at lunchtime on Thursday 8th June 2006 and we still made it into the centre of Birmingham by evening - a 5 hour journey! Another complete transformation of the outside of the pub including a small extension at the front.

We returned at lunchtime on Thursday 6th June 2010 as part of what was, essentially, a repeat of our 2006 journey - this time it took us 5 hours 20 minutes to get into Birmingham!

Not too much of a change apart from the sheltered smoking area that has been added.

This next picture was taken on the afternoon of Sunday 11th May 2014 as I happened to be in the area following a Craft Fair at the Brook Marston Hotel. (There seemed to be little likelihood of us stopping here in the near future, so I thought I'd add a photo to the collection.)

Yet another external transformation. The smoking area remained, but the new extension has been radically altered.

Having predicted that we wouldn't be stopping here in the near future, our next visit was on the evening of Sunday 14th June 2015.

 Little change in a year. The internal layout of The Boat has hardly changed over the years, but it has been refurbished several times. The Boat has its own website and will hopefully be able to survive as a proper pub that does some food. 

#179 The Great Northern, Langley Mill, Derbyshire : 2009 to 2015

Langley Mill is a small town at the current terminus of the Erewash Canal, which, until 2009, was a stretch of canal that we'd never ventured along.

Our original plan had been to go up the Erewash and then go on to Nottingham, but when we arrived at Trent Lock, the Erewash Canal was closed. So, a couple of days later than planned, we arrived at the Great Northern Basin at lunchtime on Friday 4th September 2009.

A pleasant looking pub that, on the day we were there, was being refurbished and there was no food on offer! This meant that we had just the one pint before heading off to sample the delights of Langley Mill.

It was another six years (and another boat) before we ventured back up the Erewash Canal. Again we went to Nottingham first; this time, by design to collect our third crewman. This time, we reached Langley Mill at lunchtime on Tuesday 25th August 2015 and, after a very poor effort turning the new boat Peggy Ellen (by yours truly) we went to the pub! (In my defence, you'd expect the Great Northern Basin to be a large expanse of water with plenty of room to moor and to turn a boat. It isn't! Essentially it is a canal junction where the currently defunct Nottingham and Cromford canals meet the Erewash. Although, as my crewmates pointed out, it was still a piss-poor attempt at turning a narrowboat!)

The pub had undergone a complete exterior makeover in the intervening years, but inside it still felt like a proper pub...and, this time, food was available.

Further research shows that The Great Northern is run by Pub People who operate over 40 pubs in the East Midlands (Bought from Greene King in 2013). It is good to see that companies are still investing in pubs!

#032 UPDATE Eagle & Tun, Digbeth : 1998 to 2016 (Back from the Grave!)

When I first took a picture of this pub back in 1998 it was called the Cauliflower Ear and I'd never seen nor heard of it before.

Then we stopped in Birmingham on the penultimate night of our trip that was to have taken us to Chester, but ended up with us visiting Leek. In my quest to venture into pubs that we'd not previously visited on our canal trips, we took a stroll into Digbeth and the Eagle & Tun was one of our stops. It was the evening of Thursday 19th September 2002 and as I recall, we had a great time in there and the place was packed. Notice how it has changed from being an Ansell's pub to a Free House, but inside it was beautifully tiled.

Next time I visited was a few years later, but it was very quiet even though it was a Saturday night. So now we move on to Monday 15th August 2011 and it is closed. Apparently it shut its doors in 2008 and there's no real sign of it reopening.

If you panned back from this picture you'd see that there is very little left standing around here. About 100 yards behind me is the Woodman pub which is still open. I think the best bet for the Eagle & Tun is the new High Speed (HS2) Rail project which is planned to terminate at Curzon Street Station which is to the right of where I'm standing in this shot.

You can get a flavour for the interior of the Eagle & Tun here in the video for UB40's "Red Red Wine" which was shot in the pub in the early 1980's. Hopefully it won't be demolished, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

That's what I wrote back in 2011, but late last year I got a comment on the blog that the Eagle & Tun was back in business. Well, it's taken me a few weeks to get around to it, but here's the picture from Friday 5th February 2016!

I didn't go inside, but with smokers outside the door, it seemed to be doing OK. Hopefully this will be a long term going concern and survive into the 'brave new' era of HS2.

 

I also took the liberty of giving it the Photo Digital Art treatment!

 It is now five years since I started this blog and over the coming months I'll be updating all of the Digbeth entries to see what has changed, what has remained the same and what has gone forever!