Boozin' & Cruisin' through the East Midlands (Part 1)

 It's been a while since my last post and a few weeks since we returned from our most recent canal trip, which compared to recent years, was relatively uneventful!

Day 1 - Saturday

We left Wigrams Turn Marina at Napton just before noon and arrived at our designated lunch stop, The Boathouse at Braunston in plenty of time.

It's a pub we've visited many times in the past and it is still a solid Marstons pub that majors on food. It delivered again!

The canal had been very busy on the trip to Braunston and we were unsure how long it would take us to negotiate the six locks that lead to the tunnel - especially as there is a hire base nearby!

We struck very lucky, two boats exited the bottom lock just as we were approaching and only one of the hire boats was ready to depart, so they shared the lock with us. There was little drama in ascending the lock flight and I even had time to take a photo of the Admiral Nelson which stands by the third lock up.

Sadly, there was no time for a pint, but in the past we've managed to squeeze in a swift half (or more) whilst queueing for this lock. So, it was onward and upwards through the rest of the locks and a busy Braunston Tunnel to our evening destination of the New Inn at Long Buckby.

It is a pub I've reported on before and, whilst it is a lovely pub it has been seriously let down by it's management in the past - #192 - again it didn't disappoint on that front. It was 6:45pm, the pub was virtually deserted and yet, they were fully booked for food! After a brief discussion, we called a cab and went into Daventry...for the first time in many years!

The taxi driver dropped us off in the town centre and we went into the first pub we found.

The Plume of Feathers was a lively proper town centre boozer that did have cask ale available. However, we were getting a bit peckish by now so strolled along the High Street until we found our saviour!

Where else is there to eat on a Saturday night in small town England apart from the local 'Spoons! The Saracen's Head was also quite busy and they were still operating table service for food.

After our sumptuous repast, we popped across the road to a pub that I did remember from a previous excursion to Daventry.

Last time we were here, the Dun Cow was a fairly standard boozer; a far cry from the modern day, upmarket gin palace that it has become! All too soon it was time to call the taxi firm again and return to the canal.

 

Day 2 - Sunday

 

Sundays are rapidly becoming the most difficult days on the canal for finding food and drink at civilised times!

 

Our first obstacle was Watford Locks which have restricted opening times and there was a queue. Fortunately, there was a full complement of volunteer lock keepers so the whole process flowed smoothly and efficiently. However, it still meant that we were quite late arriving at Crick, not getting to the pub until 1:45pm.

Fortunately, The Wheatsheaf was still serving food and a very pleasant Sunday roast it was too.

 

At this stage we knew that there would be no food available at our evening stop in North Kilworth so we acquired supplies from the village Co-op over the road from the pub.

 

It is quite a stroll to the pub in North Kilworth from the canal, but after our Chicken Carbonara we were ready for a few pints to wash away the taste it down and the pub website said that they were open until 11pm.

We arrived at the White Lion just after 8pm only to find that they were closing! They did serve us a pint each and after chatting to the bar staff we understood what had happened. Apparently, the gaffer had been making a really good go of it and the pub was doing very well. But the pandemic came along which knocked the stuffing out of him and he'd lost interest! (A not uncommon tale I suspect!) Hence the 'To Let' sign outside!

 After another pint and a vain attempt to get a taxi to anywhere nearby for less than £25, we bought some wine and beer to take out and shuffled back to the boat for a quiet night in!

 

After promising you that this trip was relatively uneventful, it was quite a 'difficult' first couple of evenings...it does get better!

 

(To Be Continued)

#200 The Boathouse, Braunston, Northants : 1986 to 2015

As this is my 200th pub, I thought that I'd treat you to what was once a traditional canalside pub in the village at the centre of the English Canal system on the Grand Union Canal.

My first ever visit to this pub was in April 1980 when it had a different name and I wasn't taking photos of the pubs we visited! On that trip we stopped at Braunston three times and I remember at least once visiting the pub. I recall it as being a fairly large place with different rooms, especially the cosy bar by the canal decked out in traditional canal style.

My first 'documented' visit to The Boatman (as it was known then, previously the Rose & Castle) was on the evening of Sunday 20th July 1986.

Back in those days it was a Mann's pub as so many were in that part of the world. As I recall it hadn't changed much from the previous visit.

We didn't return again until Friday 25th September 1992 for an evening in Braunston.

Very little appeared to have changed. During this period, our boat Emma Jane was moored 'down South' and so Braunston became a regular stopping place for a few years.

So, we were back a year later on Thursday 23rd September 1993 for another evening stopover.

This time you get the land lubbers' view, but the pub was unchanged.

Another year, another visit; this time on Thursday 1st September 1994 at lunchtime, which explains how we managed to get a mooring right outside the pub!

Still little in the way of changes!

In 1995 we moved our boat back to the Midlands and didn't return until the evening of Wednesday 24th June 1998.

It had been taken over, completely refurbished and renamed to the slightly incongruous, The Mill House. Although it had been due for some redecoration and tlc, this renovation had removed any character that had been in the old pub.

Several more years passed and we returned on Saturday 28th May 2005, again in the evening.

This time we popped in and had a meal, but it was something of a disaster! It was Spring Bank Holiday, it had been a nice day so the pub had run out of lots of things, one of which was butter for the bread rolls! It is inconvenient and frustrating when pubs run out of things, but when the staff become surly and downright unpleasant I draw the line. 

In those circumstances, if our waitress had said something along the lines of, "We've been very busy today and we've run out of various items. You're welcome to stay and sample what is available, but it may take some time to arrive." Then we can make the choice as to whether we stay or go and, if we choose to stay, we know what we've let ourselves in for!

Needless to say, we didn't return for another few years and, when we did, we only had a pint before moving on to find food.

This was on the evening of Sunday 24th May 2009 - again Spring Bank Holiday. This time we were prepared and, after the pint in The Millhouse, we headed into Braunston for our food. Unfortunately for us, The Old Plough was extremely busy and after an hour with no food appearing (and not very likely too either!) we cut our losses and got a taxi to Daventry to eat!

As you can imagine, Braunston was becoming a bit of a 'no-go' place for us until lunchtime on Sunday 6th November 2011 on our final voyage with Emma Jane.

It had undergone a Martson's refurbishment and renamed, more appropriately, as The Boathouse. We had lunch there and the service was far better than our previous experience!

Our most recent visit was at lunchtime on Monday 31st August 2015 and, despite it being August Bank Holiday they hadn't run out of anything and the service was again good...although maybe the rain helped with this!

For the first time in many years we got a mooring spot right outside the pub!

And here's what a bit of artistic licence can do for a rainy day scene!

#097 Old Plough, Braunston, Northants : 1993 to 2012

Braunston, on the Grand Union Canal, is the spiritual heart of the English canal network and has a rich history. It lies at the junction of the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union Canal and is always busy from a boating perspective. There are four pubs in the village, two of which are on the canal.

The Old Plough is in the main part of the village, a short stroll from the cut. The first time we ever visited the Old Plough was on the evening of Thursday 23rd September 1993.

In those days, our boat Emma Jane was moored at Winkwell near to Berkhamstead and our Summer/Autumn trips were restricted to seeing how far north we could get up the Grand Union in a week then turn around and return to base! Judging from the photo, I suspect that this was the last pub of the night. As I recall it was a pleasant, well furnished local pub that did food, but we didn't eat there that night as we'd probably already eaten.

We did return the next year and visited on the way back to our base on the evening of Saturday 3rd September 1994.

I'm fairly sure we did dine there this time. The external signs had been changed, but it was pretty much the same inside.

We didn't revisit the Old Plough for quite a few years when we were reproducing our trips of the 1990's by heading down the Grand Union as far as we could get, then turning around and heading back to our moorings which were now at Lapworth on the Stratford Canal.

This visit was on the evening of Sunday 26th August 2001 on a trip that would take us to Aylesbury for the first time. Unfortunately, for us, this was a Bank Holiday Sunday and the Old Plough was so busy that we were told that the food would take two hours! So we drank up and caught a taxi to Daventry where we had a very pleasant Thai meal.

We were back again two years later on Sunday 17th August 2003.

This time it wasn't the Bank Holiday weekend and there was only a short wait for the food which was very good. Since 1994 the pub had hardly changed with the same signage outside.

Another two years passed before we came back again; this time a Spring-time trip along the Grand Union to Weedon.

This was taken on Saturday 28th May 2005. Again the pub was unchanged.

Our final visit from the canal was on the evening of Sunday 24th May 2009.

Again we got there on a Bank Holiday Sunday and again we elected to go to Daventry to eat as the Old Plough was way too busy! Inside the pub was the same as ever, but the external signage had been changed, removing the Pubmaster branding.

This final picture was taken on Sunday 30th September 2012 as I was on my way to play golf near Northampton.

A complete facelift! One thing I do notice throughout the pubs that I've covered so far is the TV aerial. Here it appears to have been unchanged since 2001, although a satellite dish has appeared! I didn't venture inside as I was on a mission to take pictures of all the Braunston pubs before getting to the first tee!