Considering how many times we've travelled along this stretch of the Trent & Mersey Canal it is quite surprising how few times we've been into The Plum Pudding at Armitage. Actually, we've only been inside once and that was on the evening of Monday 28th August 2000.
This was a Bank Holiday Monday and we were in the early stages of our trip to Manchester, which is quite a feat to achieve in two weeks (there and back) from south of Birmingham. To keep on schedule, we needed to be well beyond Fradley Junction, but we didn't want to spend a night in Rugeley because previous visits there had been less than wonderful.
From the outside, The Plum Pudding always looks inviting and inside it didn't disappoint. In those days it was a country pub that did good food. So, we went in, ordered a pint and perused the menu. We chose our food, had another pint and waited. As I recall, the meal came quite quickly and was very good...and we had another pint.
Then we decided to stretch our legs and sample the delights of the Spode Cottage pub which was just across the road. As we were halfway down the path we heard a voice behind us saying, "Er, haven't you fogotten something lads?"
Yes, we'd done a runner and not even realised it! The manager was very understanding and we paid up rather embarrasedly and went on our way. How could experienced drinkers like us make such a textbook error? Quite easily as it turned out! They didn't take for the food when we ordered it, but we did pay for more beer and just assumed that we'd paid! ...And we've never been back, but as we were cruising by last year I took this shot, for old times sake.
This photo was taken on Monday 29th August 2011 as I was steering Emma Jane on the way to Stoke and the Caldon Canal. As you can see it has been completely re done on the outside and it is now a fully fledged gastropub - you only need to take a quick look at their website to see that. The one saving grace is that it's no longer an Ansell's pub anymore!!
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