#230 Three Horseshoes, Fazeley, Staffordshire : 2006 to 2017

We first visited Fazeley from the canal in 1987, but it wasn't until 2006 that we discovered the Three Horseshoes - a whole 19 years where we didn't look beyond the A5 that passes through the town!

We discovered this gem, lurking behind the Tesco Express on the evening of Wednesday 7th June 2006.

It was, then, a proper boozer and we were amazed that it is only about 50 yards away from where we'd been drinking on previous visits! As I recall, we had one pint and got a taxi into Tamworth as it didn't do food.

We didn't leave it too long before we returned in an attempt to redress the years of neglect. We popped in at lunchtime on Wednesday 6th September 2006.

Amazingly, it hadn't changed!

We returned again at lunchtime on Sunday 30th August 2009.

Still no change...apart from the small barrier to stop the skip from rolling into the road!

It didn't take us long to get back for another visit. It was the evening of Wednesday 2nd June 2010.

I was shocked to see that the sign by the skip had disappeared. The eagle-eyed amongst you will also have noticed the mobility scooter by the front door.

We were back again on the lunchtime of Sunday 29th August 2010.

Remarkably, still unchanged and the mobility scooter is still just visible.

It was a while before we returned, this time on the lunchtime of Monday 15th June 2015.

It is amazing how much can change in five short years - a brand new Bass sign, a new skip and the mobility scooter now has a cover!

We were back on the lunchtime of Monday 13th June 2016.

For some reason, I took the picture from the other side, but it is still enough to know that it hadn't changed.

And now onto our most recent visit, just a few short days ago at lunchtime on Wednesday 16th August 2017.

Still unchanged and inside it is still the same welcoming bar that it has always been and, despite all of the adverse conditions for the pub trade since we first visited in 2006, the place was doing a very brisk trade for a Wednesday lunchtime...in a pub that doesn't serve food!

It still has a proper local pub atmosphere and when I took this picture for Retired Martin, there was a bit of good natured banter, which finished with one of the locals saying, "...and it's the best pint in Fazeley!"

I hope it continues unchanged into the foreseeable future, but who knows what may happen as it would appear that it is up for sale by Fleurets. 

#220 Plough & Harrow, Fazeley, Staffordshire : 1996 to 2016

Fazeley sits on the junction of the Coventry Canal with the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal just on the edge of Tamworth. It is a regular stopping place for us as there are several pubs in a small area.

Our first visit to the Plough & Harrow was on the evening of Thursday 30th May 1996.

We were back again, two years later at lunchtime on Monday 22nd June 1998.

This view gives a much better view of the pub, which was unchanged from our previous visit. This is one of those pubs that exhibits the 'reverse TARDIS' effect, being smaller on the inside than you'd expect from the outside! It is a pub that I've never quite warmed to, but it served beer and food so, what's not to like?

We returned a year later at lunchtime on Monday 30th August 1999.

Seemingly, no changes apart from the disappearance of the hanging basket and the three lights from above the wall sign have also gone.

There was a bit of a gap to our next visit, another lunchtime stop on Tuesday 31st August 2004.

A complete makeover had taken place both inside and out - neither had been an improvement! The pub was no longer an M&B house. Despite the changes, food was available so all was well!

We were back again a year later, again at lunchtime, on Sunday 21st August 2005.

No changes from the previous year.

During this period we seemingly couldn't keep away from the Plough & Harrow as we returned for more lunchtime shenanigans on Wednesday 6th September 2006.

  Again it was largely unchanged, but the bench seats outside had disappeared.

We left it for a few years and revisited the Plough & Harrow for a rare evening stop in Fazeley on Wednesday 2nd June 2010.

Another complete makeover with the extra addition of a large outside seating area - partly inspired, I believe, by the smoking ban, but also, I suspect, because the pub is so small inside this was the only way to maximise income.

These changes weren't enough to make us rush back, though, and we didn't return until lunchtime on Monday 15th June 2015.

A five year gap and not only has it undergone another complete transformation, but the name had also changed to simply, The Plough.

We were back again at lunchtime on Monday 13th June 2016.

Quite surprisingly, the doors and window frames had been repainted, but almost everything else was the same as before.

 

One other thing of note is the change to the building next door to the pub which has added a front door sometime between 2006 and 2010!

#160 Three Tuns Inn, Fazeley, Stafforshire : 1987 to 2014

At the northern end of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal is Fazeley Junction where it joins the Coventry Canal. The small town of Fazeley is a place where we've frequently stopped on our canal trips throughout the years. There are several pubs, but the one we've visited most, mainly because it is the nearest to the canal, is the Three Tuns Inn.

This first visit was on the evening of Wednesday 15th July 1987 as we were heading back home from a two week trip that had taken in Worcester, Stourport, Market Drayton, Middlewich, Stoke and Rugeley. I have no recollection of the interior, but I suspect that it was then, as now, a fairly standard boozer.

Our next visit was on the evening of Thursday 30th May 1996.

The outside of the pub had been completely refurbished with a new hanging sign and the introduction of a satellite dish. It would appear that it was no longer a Mann's pub.

Next visit was on Monday 30th August 1999, a lunchtime stop, but unfortunately the Three Tuns wasn't doing food, so we had a pint and moved on.

No real change to the exterior, but it is interesting to note how the net curtains have been removed in stages throughout the years!

We didn't return again until lunchtime on Sunday 21st August 2005.

Some changes to the outside, the hanging sign has gone as has the satellite dish...but the net curtains have returned!

Next visit was on Sunday 29th August 2010, another lunchtime stop.

The hanging sign has returned as has the satellite dish (in a different position), but the derelict building next door has finally been demolished!

And so, on to our most recent visit which was at lunchtime on Sunday 5th October 2014 when we had a large Sunday Roast lunch.

The outside had been completely redecorated with a new hanging sign, a third satellite dish with pastel green replacing the black...and the net curtains have disappeared again!

The pub has been under new management since December 2011 (see website) and, despite claims of refurbishment, the interior seemed to be pretty much as I remembered it from previous visits - namely, proper pub with no frills - just as I like it!