This is going to be a short post about a pub that I've only been into once...and I don't remember what it was like inside!
We don't visit Knowle very often on the canal and when we do go there we end up in any/all of the other pubs. Our first (and so far, only) visit was on the evening of Sunday 4th April 1999. It was Easter Sunday and we'd finished our regular Easter trip to Stratford and back. So, rather than drink locally in Lapworth we caught a taxi to Knowle to see what the village had to offer.
Although it has a High Street address, the entrance is on one of the side streets (next door to Loch Fyne restaurant). We must have had a pint in there because in those days I didn't take pictures if we didn't go in, but I have no recollection.
We were once again in Knowle on the evening of Sunday 28th September 2014 and, as we were strolling along the High Street, I took this picture.
To be honest, I wasn't sure if it would still be there, but it appears to have gone from strength to strength. (I discovered, whilst researching this entry, that it has been the Solihull CAMRA Pub of the Year nine times since 1992, most recently in 2013!)
The Vaults now advertises itself as a 'Real Ale Bar' that seems to have filled a niche in the area. Despite the major changes to the outside it is interesting to see that the hanging sign is still the same...even if it has been turned around in the intervening 15 years!
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteI've never actually been to Knowle, but it certainly looks a very up-market suburb!
I was struggling to match your two pictures, but looking at StreetView it seems that the first one was of this doorway, so the pub has somehow moved to the other side of the Loch Fyne restaurant..
Looks like you could be right! I was thinking that the original door was at the other end (to the right of the current entrance), but based on your observation I think I'm wrong! (and it isn't often I say that!!)
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