#277 The Three Horseshoes, Winkwell, Hemel Hempstead : 1992 to 2019

Having no new pubs to report on in 2020 and having exhausted the interesting local watering holes, I thought I'd take a while away from blogging. But now, the pub world is waking up from its long slumber and my fellow bloggers have hit the ground running, so I decided to get back on the horse myself.

What better place to restart than this little gem tucked away on the Grand Union Canal near to Hemel Hempstead?

This was on the evening of Thursday 1st October 1992 towards the end of our first journey up and down the Grand Union in the days when our boat Emma Jane was moored down south. It had been an eventful trip encompassing floods and a fire in the engine room. The pub was very close to the boatyard from where we had begun our journey, but our final destination was another day away at Cowley Peachey.

Back in the early 1990's, The Three Horseshoes was a superb country pub that was both a local and did very good food.

Our next visit was at lunchtime on Saturday 18th September 1993 when we visited before setting off from our new moorings at Winkwell.

Not surprisingly, the pub was completely unchanged.

Another year later and again, prior to picking up the boat we 'retired' to The Three Horseshoes for lunch - it was Saturday 27th August 1994.

Nothing new to report, which is the reason I kept taking pictures from different angles!

The last year that Emma Jane was moored at Winkwell was in 1995 and we made two visits to the pub. First was on the afternoon of Saturday 3rd June 1995 before we set off on a journey that took us to Lime House Basin in London.

 Our final visit was at lunchtime on Saturday 26th August 1995 as we set off from Winkwell for the final time to take Emma Jane to her new moorings at Lapworth.

Still unchanged and one of the best canalside pubs along that stretch of the Grand Union Canal.

Over the next years, our canal adventures didn't take us as far south as Winkwell until 2019, when we undertook a massive journey down the River Thames and back up the Grand Union Canal, starting and finishing at Napton.

This is how The Three Horseshoes looked at lunchtime on Monday 5th August 2019.

Just a few changes in 24 years, but nothing unexpected nor too untoward! As you would expect it is now more of a gastropub. Whilst the cosy, proper pub feel is long gone it still feels like an old establishment and has a selection of real ales...so all is not lost.

I'd like to tell you about the pub in more detail, but my stay was fairly short lived. I had to pop into Hemel Hempstead to acquire a new phone as my old one wasn't working since I fell into the canal a couple of days earlier!

I can report, though, that The Three Horseshoes has survived coronavirus and has reopened, according to their Facebook page. 

#276 The Fishery Inn, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire : 1992 to 2019

On our canal trips we've only stopped at The Fishery Inn once, on the evening of Thursday 1st October 1992, on the return journey to the then mooring of Emma Jane at Cowley Peachey.

I have very little recollection of what it was like. It must have been alright as we ate there and didn't leave in search of alternative hostelries.

Although Emma Jane was moored in the vicinty from 1991 to 1995, we never returned to The Fishery Inn, preferring to visit the Three Horseshoes at Winkwell instead, which is only fifteen minutes away by boat.

Our most recent trip that brought us up the Grand Union from Brentford was very similar in that we didn't stop at The Fishery Inn and lunched at the Three Horseshoes. However, as I was winding the locks I still took this picture.

This was at midday on Monday 5th August 2019. Quite a transformation! It is another example of a Mitchells & Butler's Premium Country Pub. In fact, if you use the historical views on Google Street View it was an Ember Inn in 2008 and 2009, but from 2012 it adopted it's current guise!

#271 The White Bear, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire : 1993 to 2019

Even when our boat was moored in the area, Rickmansworth was not one of our regular stopping places, but we did manage to visit The White Bear on a couple of occasions.

Our first encounter was on the evening of Friday 25th June 1993 as we moved our boat Emma Jane from Cowley Peachey to Winkwell - just a couple of days by narrowboat.

It was (& still is) a large(ish) pub on a busy road junction quite close to the canal and that's about all I remember of it.

We did return a couple of years later on the evening of Friday 9th June 1995 as we made our way back from a trip that had taken us to Lime House Basin in London.

Not much change, but it was now demonstrably advertising itself as a 'Free House'.

So, fast forward through just the 24 years and we found ourselves moored above Batchworth Lock looking for a pub for lunch. None of us could remember exactly what to expect and this is what we found on Sunday 4th August 2019.

In some respects it is remarkably unchanged, but in others it is radically different. Now run by Greene King and also it is now a desi pub in that it's food offering is entirely Indian Cuisine. So, we had a very pleasant Sunday lunch curry in a pub that is still a proper pub, but with a very extensive menu.

#266 The Globe Hotel, Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire : 1992 to 2019 RIP

Weedon Bec (usually just referred to as Weedon) is one of those villages on the canal that for part of my boating life has been a regular stopping off point, then it wasn't on the itinerary for a while...but now it is back!

In it's heyday there were many more pubs in Weedon, but considering it's modest size, five is still quite a good number in this modern era!

My first visit to Weedon was on my very first canal boating trip back in 1980 when Emma Jane was moored at Woodford on the River Nene. This made Weedon a regular stop and we were back there in 1982 and 1984, all before I started taking photos of every pub we visited.

For the first half of the 1990's, Emma Jane was moored on the Southern Grand Union Canal at Cowley Peachey and then Winkwell. So, our summer/autumn jaunts would take us up the Grand Union to Braunston and beyond...and then return the same way (hopefully stopping at different pubs on the way down!)

I can't say that the Globe was our 'go-to' pub, but it was a pleasant enough place to visit and this first time was on the evening of Thursday 24th September 1992.

We were there again on the evening of Wednesday 22nd September 1993, but it was so late that the photo isn't great!

We were back again at lunchtime on Wednesday 31st August 1994.

Largely unchanged, although the Rooms Available sign has been replaced by a hanging basket.

We returned a year later in what would be our last visit for a few years as Emma Jane was returning to her 'old' moorings at Lapworth.

This was on the evening of Wednesday 30th August 1995. Although the signage had changed, I think that everything else was pretty much as before.

For the next few years our boating trips didn't take us through Weedon until we decided to revisit the Grand Union on a trip to Aylesbury and back. This time we stopped at Weedon twice and visited the Globe on both occasions.

Evening of Monday 27th August 2001.

Evening of Tuesday 4th September 2001. Little change, again, but the hanging baskets had bitten the dust!

A few years later, we had a little bit more time than we'd anticipated, so we added Weedon onto our itinerary.

This was on the evening of Sunday 29th May 2005 and still the signage hadn't changed...apart from the missing 'O'.

With the new boat, Peggy Ellen, now being moored at Napton returned on the evening of Friday 19th April 2019 (Good Friday) to be greeted with this scene.

It is a scene that is repeated up and down the land as large pubs/hotels become less viable and are turned into Tesco Express (or Sainsbury's or Co-op or Morrison's...etc). Sad, but inevitable in the modern age.

Looking through the historic pictures on Google Street View, the Globe was largely unchanged in 2009 (earliest picture), boarded up by 2012 (with a new main sign!) and was a Tesco Express by August 2014.

 

#137 Ye Olde No.3, Little Bollington, Cheshire : 1991 to 2013

Being based in the Midlands means that we didn't often get to navigate the canals 'oop north', but since we've been hiring boats we can now explore further afield.

Back in 1991 we embarked on a journey to take our boat Emma Jane from Adlington (near Wigan) to her ultimate destination of Cowley Peachey (near Uxbridge).

One of the pubs we stopped at was Ye Olde No. 3 at Little Bollington on the Bridgewater Canal.

This was the view from our mooring on the evening of Sunday 21st July 1991. I don't recall anything about that visit, but we did spend the whole evening there so food must have been available.

We have been past the pub in the intervening years on trips that took us to Manchester (and back to Lapworth) in 2000 and 2010. Both times we stopped at Lymm as it offers more pubs to choose from.

Our Easter trip in 2013 was from Preston Brook to Manchester (and back) which gave us the opportunity to revisit Ye Olde No. 3.

This was the view from our mooring at lunchtime on Saturday 30th March 2013. Fewer changes than you might expect in 22 years, but the electricity pylons are all still in place!

This is the view from the front of the pub. As we walked into the pub, suddenly it all came back and I recognised the place! It didn't seem to have changed in 22 years. It has a cosy interior with lots of canal memorabilia. The food was good and I was left wondering why we'd not stopped here in previous years!

#083 Wharf Tavern, Hockley Heath, Warks : 1986 to 2011

The Wharf Tavern in Hockley Heath has been a regular watering hole on our canal trips ever since the first time Emma Jane was moored in the Midlands. Our first visit was in August 1981 and we were there again in August 1984, but I don't have the photographic evidence as it wasn't until 1986 that I started to take a picture of every pub we visited on our canal trips.

I took this photo of the Wharf Tavern, from the canal, on our next visit on Friday 18th July 1986 at the start of a trip that took us to Leicester and Nottingham.

In those days it was a Chef & Brewer, so we knew that we could get food which was a relative rarity 26 years ago.

In 1987 we visited the Wharf Tavern both on the way out and on the way back from our trip that took us along the River Severn from Worcester and then up the Shropshire Union Canal and back to the mooring at Lapworth vis the Trent & Mersey Canal. This photo was taken on our last night on that trip on Friday 17th July 1987.

Still a Chef & Brewer pub and still pink!

Over the next few years Emma Jane was based near Wigan and I was living in Melbourne, but on my first trip on my return to 'Blighty' we again stopped at the Wharf Tavern.

This was on Friday 2nd August 1991 towards the end of the first leg of the trip that took Emma Jane from Wigan to her new mooring at Cowley Peachey near Uxbridge. Still no apparent change to the pub.

We didn't stop at the Wharf for another eight years...and we visited twice! The first visit was on Saturday 29th May 1999 for a lunchtime stop.

Now it had become (returned to?) a proper pub (and no longer pink!), but the good news was that they still did food. We visited again on Saturday 28th August 1999, but I don't have a photo from that visit (presumably I didn't bother as I'd already taken one earlier in the year!).

We were back again at lunchtime on Saturday 26th August 2000 at the start of a trip to Manchester.

A slightly damp start to our journey!

Our next visit was on Saturday 29th May 2004 (lunchtime) at the start of a one week trip spent pottering around the Birmingham Canal network.

This s the view from the canalside and is a repeat of the original 1986 photo.

Our next time was on Friday 24th August 2007 at the start of our trip to Llangollen and Chester.

  The exterior signage had been changed and the pub completely repainted, but inside it was essentially unchanged.

Our most recent visit was on Friday 4th November 2011 at lunchtime (again!). This was before we'd even started our journey that was to become our last ever trip on Emma Jane. We'd tried both the Tom 'o' the Wood at Rowington and The Peacock at Lapworth only to find expensive 'messed up' food, so we went to the Wharf as we knew that we could get good, simple lunchtime food (Hot Pork or Beef baguettes!)

Even though it had been four years the Wharf Tavern was unchanged. They are part of the Spirit Group and their website is here. 

#076 The Posada, Wolverhampton : 1991 to 2011

Wolverhampton was never on the list of 'must stop' places on our canal trips, but since our first visit in 1991 it has become a regular place to visit. The main reasons for this are the good moorings at the top of the (21) locks and the fact that it is a long way in any direction to get to somewhere decent!

This was at lunchtime on Thursday 1st August 1991 on our trip that took our boat Emma Jane from Adlington (near Wigan) to Cowley Peachey (near Uxbridge). I don't remember too much about it except that it was a proper, old style, town centre boozer.

We didn't get back to Wolverhampton until Wednesday 4th September 1996 on our way back from Llangollen and Chester.

Very little had changed, but some metal seats had appeared outside!

It was another six years before we ventured into The Posada again. This time on Tuesday 26th August 2003 near the end of a journey that took us to Leicester and Burton-upon-Trent.

Although seemingly unchanged, all of the Holt, Plant & Deakin signage has disappeared.

Then, in 2005, we went on a sequence that saw us visit The Posada every year for the next three years!

Wednesday 31st August 2005.

Sunday 27th August 2006.

Saturday 25th August 2007.

Then we did the unthinkable...we went back to Wolverhampton - and The Posada - later on the same trip!!

Wednesday 5th September 2007.

Our most recent visit was near the end of last summer's trip along the Caldon Canal.

This was on Monday 5th September 2011, a few days earlier than intended, but we'd been forced to curtail our holiday as my back had gone and it was sometimes difficult to just steer the boat. Working locks was out of the question for me!

In all our years visiting The Posada it hasn't really changed much. It's a pub I really like, but it does seem from some of the more recent reviews, that it may be on a downward slide.

Hopefully it will continue to be a beacon for proper pubs!

#017 Plume of Feathers, Barlaston, Staffs : 1991 to 2011

The first time I visited the Plume of Feathers was in 1991. I'd recently returned from a three year secondment to Australia and we were moving Emma Jane from Wigan on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to, ultimately, Cowley Peachey near Uxbridge on the Grand Union Canal. We were responsible for the first half of the journey and swapped crew at Lapworth, very close to where she is moored now!

This photo was taken at lunchtime on 26th July 1991. I don't really remember too much about it other than it was a fairly basic pub with all the required facilities - cold lager, hot food, serviceable toilets (a must on long canal trips!) and moorings at the 'bottom' of the car park!

We next visited in August 2000, but the pub was shut and we ended up catching a cab and drinking in Stone for the evening! It wasn't until 2002 that we could confirm that it had been redeveloped and reopened, although we didn't stop there again until 23rd August 2005.

It looked as though it wanted to be a 'gastropub', but in reality it had been turned into a modernised pub that did food and effectively fell between the two stools. Judging by the lunchtime crowd it felt that it should be a 'proper' pub, but judging by the décor it was meant to be more than just a pub. Anyway, we had a decent lunchtime visit.

We visited again in 2006 and 2010 with similar experiences.

And so to 3rd September 2011. Another lunchtime stop and this time we went into the Lounge for the first time. This side of the pub felt more like  a golf club...and then I noticed the large bowling green out of the rear windows. The food on offer is reassuringly simple and the service was good. The Plume of Feathers is a good lunchtime stop for us, but I'm not sure if it would be so good for an evening session!