Our first ever visit to Alrewas saw us go to three of the four pubs that were in the village back then. It was an evening visit on Monday 28th July 1986.
The Navigation was a big Ind Coope pub on the edge of the village and I can recall nothing remarkable about it!
Although we'd visited Alrewas on several occasions, we didn't revisit The Navigation for 17 years on the evening of Saturday 23rd August 2003.
Needless to say, there had been a few changes including the name as it was now called The Old Boat. The only reason we were back here was because our visit to Alrewas coincided with the Wychnor Boat Rally meaning that all of the pubs in the centre of the village were packed and we couldn't get any food! By the time we'd got to The Old Boat, they had stopped serving food. So, it was "Call a Cab" time and we disappeared into Lichfield for the rest of the evening!
As we were approaching Alrewas on our most recent visit there I took this shot of Delhi Divan, the restaurant that now occupies what was The Navigation.
This was taken from the Trent & Mersey Canal in the late morning of Friday 3rd April 2015. From what I can gather, it opened in 2014 and gets very good reviews on TripAdvisor. At least it is still being used for 'entertainment' purposes!
My great aunt Elizabeth and her husband Frank ran this pub in the early 1950s. I spent childhood holidays there. On fine days I climbed the steps on the barn in the back yard and drank ginger ale while looking out over the village. Those steps are still there. The barn has been extended and converted into a house.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reminiscences - it's always good to know about the life of these pubs from before I knew them.
DeleteThere was a portable steam engine outside when it was called The Boat. I wonder where it went to?
ReplyDeleteAha! - The "Navvy"! I have really fond memories of this pub! Such a crying shame that it has been replaced by a restaurant! As a kid in the sixties, my parents would take me in the music room for a vimto and I would put records on the jukebox. As a teenager we all met up in that music room and I would play the piano along to the jukebox. I think the landlord might have been called Arthur? Pints of Double Diamond or lager & lime in the summer. I had my first pint(s) of draft Guinness in there!
ReplyDeleteThe pub was named after the navvies who built the canal alongside it.
It was a popular watering hole for barge travellers who would tether up just beyond the locks.
Thanks for your reminiscences - it's great to hear from people who knew a pub before I did.
DeleteYou're welcome, Peter. The Navvy was very welcoming to the young (who used the music room) as well as more grown up clientele. I really must go through your archives!
ReplyDeleteI am currently trying to find a picture of a (now gone) pub in newton aycliffe - the Dandy Cart, but it doesn't appear to be anywhere on the internet!
Can you tell me the name of the old pub that is to the right as you look at Delhi divan please
ReplyDelete