Crick is a small village in Northamptonshire, but in the 'canal' world it is a significant place, being the site of the annual Crick Boat Show. I've reported on the village before in post #126.
The first time I visited the Red Lion was on the evening of Monday 21st July 1986.
This is the most upmarket of the pubs in Crick and, at this time was the only one that did food. The crew on that trip (all pictured here) were Matt, Martin, Andrew and William (plus me taking the photo!). Considering that Emma Jane was only 35ft long I'm always amazed that we managed to accommodate five of us in such a small space (and cook on most days as well!). However, looking at the photo offers some explanation...namely we were all somewhat smaller in those days (well, most of us!).
Next time we visited Crick was a lunchtime stop on Thursday 27th August 1997.
At first glance, it looks exactly the same as eleven years earlier, but in fact all of the signage has been renewed and, most significantly, the Red Lion has acquired a thatched roof! Also, and some may think this is more significant, it was no longer a Mann's pub!
We returned on the evening of Monday 18th August 2003.
In the intervening six years, very little had changed apart from a new sign by the entrance to what probably used to be the stables.
Our next visit was on the evening of Wednesday 9th September 2009.
The signage had completely changed, but everything else remained the same. This visit was somewhat of a disaster and I vowed never to visit again unless the management changed. I reviewed my experience on Qype which you can see here. That review details my complaint and represents one of the worst examples of customer service that I've ever experienced!
I still haven't returned as a customer, but as I was in Crick for the Boat Show I took this picture on Monday 27th May 2013.
It would appear that there have been no changes in the four years since my last visit and judging from the reviews on Yelp (was Qype when I submitted mine) it would appear that management hasn't changed and they still offer a 'wonderful' brand of customer service - review here from four months AFTER this photo was taken! Looks like I won't be returning anytime soon!
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