On our first canal trip visit to Leek in 1999 The Quiet Woman was one of the many pubs we visited. I don't really remember too much about it, but what I do remember about Leek was that there were a lot of pubs in the town - certainly reason enough to go there again!
This photo of The Quiet Woman was taken on the evening of 2nd September 1999 (a Thursday).
From memory it was the our first 'pit-stop' of the evening, but that's about as far as my memory goes!
Our next visit was on 1st September 2011 (again in the evening and again on a Thursday!) and again it was our first stop. Inside it felt like a recently refurbished, 'proper pub'. Although it was early evening, the pub was fairly busy and filling quite quickly with young people who were there for a band, playing later.
From the outside very little has changed in the intervening 12 years, even the pub sign looks to be the same one. This isn't too surprising as it is a listed building and so only very minor changes are allowed. What was surprising was that it was still thriving, but this is probably due to the owners, a small company called The Yard Glass Pub Company that appears to have about 10 pubs. They in turn are part of Sporting Lodge Inns who are based in Leigh, Lancs.
Hopefully this is the way forward for pubs, to be run by individuals or small companies who really care about pubs and are willing to make them welcoming, friendly places that keep the traditional feel (even though most have to sell loads of food to keep going!). All-in-all a good find and a pub well worth visiting again (and spending more time in).
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