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)

#111 Bridge Inn, Napton, Warwickshire : 1994 to 2012

If I'd been on the ball I'd've made the Admiral Nelson entry #111, but I wasn't so you get this pub instead! (A little 'joke' for the cricket fans amongst you!)

However, it has worked out quite well because the Bridge Inn is right by Bridge 111 on the Oxford Canal.

I'm fairly sure that my first ever visit to the Bridge was on my first ever canal trip in 1980 - we certainly moored at Napton on the evening of Monday 23rd April 1980 according to the Emma Jane log book. In those days it was called the Napton Bridge Inn.

The first photographic evidence is from Thursday 1st September 1994.

This was an evening stop and I'm fairly sure that we only had one pint here at the end of a pub crawl around the village of Napton.

Our next visit was three years later on Bank Holiday Monday 25th August 1997 at lunchtime. We arrived just in time to get food as they stopped serving at 2 pm! And, in the next hour, they turned away quite a large number of people who wanted to eat there. (Aaah! The good old days!!)

Although it is from a completely different angle it is still possible to see that the signage has completely changed and it is now a Greenall's pub.

Our next visit was on our way back from Oxford and what a change!

This was on the evening of Wednesday 25th August 2004 and it was now called The Bridge at Napton. It was completely transformed into a restaurant with a bar attached! But the food was good, so we didn't venture any further afield!

We were back again on Wednesday 30th May 2007 and again we spent the whole evening there.

Although not clear from this picture, the pub was largely unchanged.

We were back again two years later - the reason for such regular revisiting is because of the pub's relative proximity to the junction of the Oxford and Grand Union Canals.

This was on the evening of Thursday 10th September 2009 and the pub was still almost completely unchanged and we spent a pleasant evening there...again!

Our last canal visit was on Sunday 29th May 2011 and there had been some changes to the outside.

It was now renamed the Napton Bridge Inn, but only Bridge was in large letters. However, we only had one pint there and caught a taxi into Southam for the evening!

My final picture is from Sunday 26th August 2012 taken as I was passing by in the car.

Some slight changes visible, but as I've found out subsequently, this picture was taken at the time it was changing hands!

#105 The Admiral Nelson, Braunston, Northants : 1980 to 2012

This is a pub from my very first canal trip, a journey that started at Woodford on the River Nene and took us to Coventry before returning to Woodford.

 At that time I wasn't taking a photo of every pub we visited, but the Admiral Nelson is an integral part of this picture of Braunston Locks taken on Tuesday 17th April 1980.

As a canal pub it is ideally located alongside one of the six locks of the Braunston flight. In fact, the next photo I took was of Matt bringing me a pint as we were waiting to pass through the lock!

We passed through Braunston many times after this first visit in 1980, but it wasn't until 1993 that I took another picture.

This was on Thursday 23rd September 1993 as part of a trip that took us from Winkwell to Stretton-under-Fosse and back. In those days, Emma Jane was moored at Winkwell near Berhamstead and our options were limited to heading north up the Grand Union Canal, seeing how far we could get in a week and turn round for the return journey.

I don't recall too much about our visits to the Admiral Nelson, except that it was a traditional pub with a Skittles Table that kept us amused.

We were back again the next year on the evening of Saturday 3rd September 1994, this time on the way back to Winkwell after having got as far as Fenny Compton on the Oxford Canal.

We didn't return to The Admiral Nelson for quite a few years as, after we'd moved the boat back to the Midlands, we didn't feel inclined to go back on the Grand Union Canal. It was 2001 when we ventured forth with a view to revisiting the lower reaches of the Grand Union. We'd moored below the locks and, after visiting the other pubs in Braunston, it was quite a stroll, along a dark lane (called Dark Lane!), to get to The Admiral Nelson which was under new management.

This was on Sunday 26th August 2001.

Over the years The Admiral Nelson has been shut and reopened on more than one occasion, so we tend not to plan a visit there, not knowing if it is going to be open.

This picture was taken on Thursday 10th September 2009 as we were passing. We didn't stop.

My final photo was taken on Sunday 30th September 2012 as I was on my way to play golf!

It was good to see that it was open and seemingly thriving, especially as a Morris Dancing troupe were enjoying some pre 'match' drinks! 

It would appear that the current owners have got it right and the Trip Advisor reviews seem to back this up. I'm glad to see that The Admiral Nelson is now thriving again, but I don't know when we'll be back that way again.