#275 The Sly Old Fox, Birmingham : 2000 to 2020

When visiting Chinatown in Birmingham or on a night out at the Hippodrome Theatre, The Old Fox was always a must visit pub for at least one pint. It was (and still is) a proper pub with a bar and a lounge that is populated with people from all walks of life. It's a pub I'd visited on numerous occasions before our first canal related encounter on the evening of Thursday 7th September 2000.

I suspect that it was our last pub of the evening after sampling one of the many Chinese restaurants in the vicinity.

Our next visit was on the evening of Wednesday 1st September 2004 near the end of a journey back from Oxford and a trip on the Ashby Canal.

I'm fairly sure that the interior was largely unchanged, but the outside had undergone a major redecoration.

We haven't been back on canal based visits, but over the ensuing years I've had the occasional pint (or three) with non-boating friends. The next photos, though, have been from occasions when I happened to be passing by with my camera to hand.

This one is from Thursday 21st August 2014 as I was taking pictures in the vicinity.

No discernible changes from 10 years earlier...apart from the chairs outside for the smokers!

This final picture is from late afternoon on Friday 24th January 2020 as I strolled back to my car which was parked nearby.

A complete external makeover and a name change as well to The Sly Old Fox. It has been this way for at least a few months (probably longer) but I'm fairly sure that it is largely unaltered inside.

I noticed on the first picture the name Chandlers Brewery, which I confess, I'd never heard of. Their head office is in Witton and has the same address as Uncle's Money, a pawnbroker. It would appear that Chandlers Brewery Limited was established in 1990 seemingly just to run The Old Fox. The company is still going, but I doubt that they've brewed any beer!

#035 UPDATE Rose & Castle, Ansty, Warwickshire : 2000 to 2015

When I reviewed our canal trips and my photos I was amazed to find that the first time we ever stopped at Ansty was in 2000, on a week long trip that took us to Coventry. We'd passed by many times but lunchtime on Tuesday 30th May 2000 was the first time we set foot in the Rose & Castle.

As I recall, it was a pub that served very good food, but beyond that I don't remember much else.

Our next visit was another lunchtime stop on Friday 27th August 2004. Again we visited Coventry, but this trip also took us along the Ashby Canal for only our second time.

Now the Rose & Castle was under new management. The exterior had been completely redecorated and, as I recall, inside it had become a bit more 'restauranty', but again the food was good and not expensive.

We were back again on Tuesday 29th May 2007 for another lunchtime treat.

The hanging sign above the front door had disappeared, but a canopy over the outdoor seating at the side of the pub had been installed.

Two years passed and we returned on Monday 25th May 2009 this time for an evening visit!

No apparent changes, but the canopy was extended, no doubt for the smokers.

It was another two years before our next lunchtime stop on Tuesday 31st May 2011.

The only change I could discern was the reappearance of the 'new' hanging sign above the door that first appeared in 2004.

And finally...to our most recent visit at lunchtime (no real surprise there) on Tuesday 1st September 2015.

Minimal changes, although the external lighting appears to be different, the canopy seems to be broken, there's less seating for the smokers and the hanging sign above the front door has redisappeared!

#164 Wharf Inn, Hinckley, Leicestershire : 1995 to 2014

Our first ever trip along the Ashby Canal wasn't originally planned. We were moving our boat from Winkwell near Berkhamsted on the Grand Union Canal to Lapworth on the Stratford Canal. Once we reached Hawkesbury Junction on the Coventry Canal we realised that we'd got a couple of days in hand, so off we went along the Ashby Canal.

We didn't stop at Hinckley on the way up, but made sure we had an evening stop on the way back down so that we could have a bit of a pub crawl!

This was taken on the evening of Sunday 3rd September 1995. Back in those days this was the nearest pub to the canal and was our first stop before we ventured into town. Beyond that I have little memory except that we did end up having a curry in the Indian restaurant next door.

As the Ashby Canal doesn't link to any other waterways, we didn't venture that way again for a number of years.

This picture of the Wharf Inn was taken on the evening of Sunday 29th August 2004. It had undergone a fairly extensive external refurbishment to bring it into line with the Marston's pub branding. Again it was our first port of call and again we ended up next door for a curry!

Our most recent visit was on Tuesday 7th October 2014, again an evening stop. The Wharf Inn is no longer the closest pub to the canal as there is now a Chef & Brewer as part of the Trinity Marina development. However, the Wharf Inn was our first port of call again.

In the intervening ten years the Wharf Inn has undergone another complete external refurbishment which has included the transformation of the front car park into a beer garden, but it is still a Marston's pub (and the curry house is still next door, although we didn't partake this time!) 

#159 George & Dragon, Stoke Golding, Leicestershire : 1995 to 2014

Stoke Golding is a village on the Ashby Canal which, until 1995, was virgin territory for us. We were moving our narrowboat Emma Jane back to the Midlands from a 4-year sojourn down south on the Grand Union Canal and found that we had some time in hand - so, up the Ashby Canal we went.

This visit was at lunchtime on Saturday 2nd September 1995. I don't really remember too much about the inside apart from the fact that it was a pleasant village pub.

The Ashby Canal is not a waterway we visit very often, mainly because it is a dead end. However, we were back again nine years later.

This was an evening visit on Saturday 28th August 2004 and, at first glance, the pub doesn't look to have changed at all. On closer inspection you can see that the upstairs windows have been replaced and the signage is subtly different. Inside, I still have no recollection!

We were back along the Ashby Canal another 10 years later for another lunchtime stop at the George & Dragon.

This was on Tuesday 7th October 2014 and this time there have been definitive changes! Firstly, the pub is now run by Church End Brewery which is a small brewer from Nuneaton. As far as I can ascertain, the George & Dragon is their only pub, but they do have a Brewery Tap as well. Externally it has had a complete makeover and, inside, it was a pleasant country/village pub serving good 'pub grub'!

It's also interesting to note that the street light by the front door is still the same, but at least it has been painted regularly!

#035 Rose & Castle, Ansty, Warks : 2000 to 2011

When I reviewed our canal trips and my photos I was amazed to find that the first time we ever stopped at Ansty was in 2000, on a week long trip that took us to Coventry. We'd passed by many times but lunchtime on Tuesday 30th May 2000 was the first time we set foot in the Rose & Castle.

As I recall, it was a pub that served very good food, but beyond that I don't remember much else.

Our next visit was another lunchtime stop on Friday 27th August 2004. Again we visited Coventry, but this trip also took us along the Ashby Canal for only our second time.

Now the Rose & Castle was under new management and was more of a restaurant than a pub, but the food was still very good. The exterior had been painted and a new sign was evident.

Tuesday 29th May 2007 (Lunchtime)

Monday 25th May 2009 (Evening)

Tuesday 31st May 2011 (Lunchtime)

On this latest visit we just managed to get there before 2:30 pm and they were happy to serve us food despite being close to the end of their lunchtime period. Many places are not so accommodating! The food again was very good and they manage to strike the right balance between the modern and more traditional styles of British food.

The pub has remained largely unchanged since 2004 and is well worth a visit if you want to eat well.