#234 Crown & Anchor, Stone, Staffs : 1991 to 2016

The town of Stone (between Stoke and Stafford) is a notable location on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Approximately at the mid-point of the waterway it was once home to the company that owned the canal and was the place where many of the original plans were formulated. 

However, more importantly, it is a town with a good number of pubs, so it is always a poipular stopping place for us. The Crown & Anchor isn't canalside, but it is only a short walk from the cut. Our first visit was on the evening of Friday 26th July 1991 during the journey that took Emma Jane from Adlington (on the Leeds & Liverpol Canal) to, ultimately, Cowley Peachey (on the Grand Union Canal).

I don't remember much about it and with plenty of other pubs to choose from, we didn't return until the evening of Tuesday 29th August 2000.

This was a completely unscheduled visit as we'd passed through Stone that afternoon and were moored at Barlaston. Unbeknownst to us the Plume of Feathers at Barlaston was closed and we needed an alternative! One of the good things about canal trips is that, although it may have taken 3+ hours to get somewhere, it's only a 10 - 15 minute taxi ride back...so we chose Stone as a safe bet. As I recall the pub was largely unchanged.

Our next visit was on the evening of Monday 22nd August 2005.

Subtle changes from 1991 are visible (if you look carefully enough) but to all intents and purposes it is stil the same as before.

It was quite a number of years before we ventured back to the Crown & Anchor, this time there were many changes.

This visit was on the evening of Sunday 27th March 2016 as part of our Easter trip to Stoke. The pub had been completely refurbished inside (as a more dining led pub) and some minor changes outside. The one main external change is the removal of the distictive  hanging sign from the gable end of the pub.

#109 Rodley Barge, Rodley, Leeds : 1981 to 2012

Although I've only ever been to the Rodley Barge once, I've included it here because of this picture taken in 1981 by John Dockray that was hanging in the pub.

Back in those days it was a Bass pub and looks as though it was probably a friendly local.

This is how it looked on Wednesday 17th October 2012.

In the intervening 30+ years the pub has been extended to the right, but other than that it is remarkably unchanged (especially the windows!). It is now a Free House and has much more signage than back in 1981.

With a name like the Rodley Barge, there seems to be no evidence of any waterway nearby, until you look at the pub from this side, looking across the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

We spent a pleasant evening in here, winning part of the quiz on one of their regular Quiz Nights. It is a lovely, proper pub and I'd recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Their website can be found here and, if you belong to the 'Twittering' Classes, you can follow them here! 

#099 The Shipley Pride, Shipley, West Yorkshire : 1937 to 2012

Obviously I didn't visit this place in 1937, in fact my only visit was in 2012 on our canal trip along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. However, hanging in the pub were pictures from bygone days, so I took advantage of this and photographed them.

Back in 1937 it was called the Beehive Hotel.

The next picture was a night-time shot taken in 1994.

From this picture I can't make out the name of the brewery, but a Google search confirms that it was Tetley (no surprise there!).

Finally, to the modern day. We visited the pub on the evening of Tuesday 16th October 2012 on a bit of a pub crawl around Shipley.

From the outside, The Shipley Pride looks quite imposing, but inside it is a cosy and welcoming place with separate rooms. It was fairly quiet as it was a Tuesday night. We actually went in twice, before and after eating and caught the end of the Tuesday night quiz. Although it prides itself as a real ale pub, there was proper lager (Carling) on offer so we were happy!

The Shipley Pride website outlines what they are all about and I must concur that it is well worth a visit!

#088 The Devonshire Inn, Skipton : ca.1973 to 2012

When I started this blog last year I expected to have enough pub pictures that I could carry on with it for at least two years. However, that was before we sold our boat Emma Jane and took the decision to hire boats allowing us to visit canals we'd not been on before.

This means that, this year, I've only visited a handful of pubs that I've been to before; although I've now got 54 new pubs along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal that could become part of this blog in future years.

Before we embarked on our 2012 canal trip I came across this blog posting by my favourite author, Christopher Priest. It contained this photo of the Devonshire from the 1970's.

I have guessed the year to be 1973. The pub was the setting for the opening of his 1976 novel "The Space Machine", so I'm assuming he did the research a few years earlier. The details are in his blog entry and make a very interesting read.

Having read this, I made sure that we paid a visit to the 2012 incarnation The Devonshire Inn which is now a Wetherspoon's.

This slightly blurry photo was taken on the evening of Saturday 6th October 2012. Inside it is very much a Wetherspoon's style establishment making maximum use of the available space. I imagine it was very different in the 70's when it was a Tetley's pub. Externally it looks pretty much the same apart from the signage.

I still have quite a few pubs to report on, several of which are here in Birmingham, but others are further afield.

#059 Tom o' the Wood, Rowington, Warks : 1986 to 2011

When I first visited the Tom o' the Wood it was a great country pub in a perfect location just by the Grand Union Canal.

This shot was taken from the canal bridge in July 1986 before we started a canal trip that took us to Leicester.

The next visit was in 2000. In the intervening years our boat, Emma Jane, had been 'up north' on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and then 'down south' on the Grand Union. Although we moved the boat back to the Midlands in 1995, the Tom o' the Wood wasn't a regular stop, but we did visit at lunchtime on Saturday 27th May 2000.

The main sign on the side had changed and the ivy was starting to take over, but inside it was pretty much the same as before...apart from the extension/conservatory that had been added.

We were back again in 2001 at the start of our trip that took us to Aylesbury for the first (and so far only) time.

This was taken at lunchtime on Saturday 25th August 2001 and, apart from the extra growth of the ivy, it was still unchanged.

The next time we stopped at the Tom o' the Wood was on Friday 27th May 2005 on our way to Nuneaton where Emma Jane was going to get a new roof.

And what a disappointment it was! It was no longer a country pub that did good meals, it was an up market restaurant where you could get a pint! As I recall, it was lunchtime, but there were no sandwiches on the menu! On the outside, the ivy seemed to be taking over and the traditional pub sign had disappeared.

Over the next few years it went through several owners and,I think, was just called The Wood for a short while!

Our most recent visit was on Friday 4th November 2011 on what turned out to be our final ever trip on Emma Jane.

The Tom o' the Wood is under new ownership and it is their intention to turn it back into a country pub again, but on the evidence we saw it is still more of an eating place than a proper pub, but in rural Warwickshire, that's what will be successful. At least they've reinstalled the pub sign and trimmed the ivy!

Here is the above photo converted to a 'painting' which is my current project under the name Photo Digital Art.

Finally, where does the name come from? According to their website the name goes back to a 17th Century corn mill.

#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!

#004 The Boot Inn, Lapworth : 1991 to 2011

I don't remember exactly when I first visited The Boot Inn in Lapworth, but it was probably in the early 1980's. At that time the narrowboat I holidayed on was moored on the Stratford Canal just behind the Boot. In those days it was a very cosy country pub and was a popular watering hole that many people drove there for a trip out.

My first picture of the pub dates from lunchtime on Saturday 3rd August 1991 (below). The narrowboat had been moored near Wigan on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and we were moving it down South to Cowley Peachey on the Grand Union Canal. On the day this photo was taken we were due to swap over crew for the second half of the journey. This was complicated, on the day, by the fact that Lock 11 was broken and so we left the boat above Lock 10 and went to the pub for lunch! We did still hand over to the new crew who managed to get under way at 5:30 pm!

We didn't move the boat back up to the Midlands until 1996. By this time I had become a joint owner of Emma Jane and we were back at Briar Cottage Moorings behind The Boot Inn! This was on the evening of Saturday 6th September 1996.

I'm not sure when The Boot was converted into a 'Country Pub & Restaurant", but it was round about this time. The main body of the pub was largely unchanged, but the building on the right was converted into the restaurant. The picture below is from 2000.

Moving on to 2008 and the scene is largely the same except that it is no longer a Whibread pub and the quality of cars parked outside is now much higher.

Although it isn't a 'proper' pub any more you can still visit and just have a pint (or three!) in the bar area and it has a very pleasant garden for use on warm evenings. The food is very good and the place is always busy, so despite the loss of its original character it is still a thriving concern which includes former Aston Villa footballer and former Sky pundit Andy Gray amongst it's regular clientèle.

This photo was taken on the evening of Friday 3rd June 2011. The cars have become even more expensive!! The Boot Inn is part (and was the first one) of a collection of Country Pubs & Restaurants which operate on similar lines. To learn more about The Boot Inn and the others in this group follow this link.