#177 Fool's Nook, nr Macclesfield, Cheshire : 2000 to 2015 (RIP?)

Until the past year or so the Macclesfield Canal was a rare treat for us, only to be considered if we were doing the mammoth trip to Manchester and back in a fortnight. And so it was for my only ever visit to the Fool's Nook.

Between Congleton and Macclesfield is a long stretch of canal and the only easily accessible pub along the way was the Fool's Nook making it an ideal lunchtime stop on Thursday 31st August 2000. As I recall it was a cosy, welcoming stop after nearly five hours of travelling through the rain including Bosley Locks.

We did pass this way in 2010, but didn't stop here. Our next visit was in 2014 when this had been our planned lunchtime stop on Sunday 22nd June 2014, but unfortunately it was closed!

At this stage we weren't sure if it was terminal or just a temporary closure, but it meant that we'd had a nearly seven hour journey before some respite (for the 'parched and starving' crew) at the Puss in Boots in Macclesfield!

As we were to learn subsequently, things don't look good for the Fool's Nook and this was the view as we were passing by on Thursday 22nd January 2015.

Still closed and from this link, it would appear that it is unlikely to open again. That's a shame, but not too surprising given its location away from any population centre. For us it meant exploring new possibilities and we found some interesting new pubs that may appear here in the coming years!

#176 Rose & Crown, Warwick : 1998 to 2014

There are lots of pubs in Warwick and, on a short stop, we don't manage to get to all of them. However, in the summer of 1998 our boat Emma Jane broke down (on August Bank Holiday) so we had the opportunity to explore the town more fully. One of the beneficiaries of our misfortune was the Rose & Crown which is just off the Market Square.

 This picture is from the evening of Sunday 30th August 1998. As I recall it was a busy pub that was a bit more upmarket than just a town boozer, but essentially it was a proper pub!

In the intervening years we visited Warwick on many occasions, but never went back to the Rose & Crown, and we still haven't been back inside!

On the evening of Saturday 27th September 2014 we again found ourselves in the centre of Warwick and, for the first time in ages, we ventured into the Market Square with the intention of going back to the Rose & Crown, but this is what we found.

The pub had obviously undergone something of a transformation since our previous visit in 1998. Unfortunately for us, the transformation was still going on and it was closed for further refurbishment. Nevertheless, we still managed to have a good time sitting outside the Tilted Wig (#166) in the unseasonably warm evening weather.

Having done some subsequent research, the Rose & Crown is part of the Peach Pubs Group and is now more of a gastropub than the proper pub it was before. If that means that it will survive for many years to come, then I'm all for it!