#291 The Navigation, Kilby Bridge, Leicestershire : 1986 to 2021

 Our first ever visit to The Navigation Inn was on the evening of Wednesday 23rd July 1986.

This was our summer vacation and my first time along the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal. I remember little about the pub then apart from the fact that it was a pleasant, traditional canalside boozer (the photo is taken from the bridge over the canal).

We didn't return for many years and, when we did, it was a disappointment on the evening of Wednesday 27th August 1998!

The disappointment wasn't that it had become an Ansell's pub; no, it was that it was closed! We'd travelled for 5¼ hours in an afternoon from Foxton only to find that the landlord had, seemingly, done a 'runner'!

Peering through the windows was like looking into the Mary Celeste - there were still empty glasses and crisp packets littering the tables, but no sign of life.

We managed to slake our thirst and assuage our hunger in the not so nearby town/village of Wigston. According to the locals it's just "5 minutes" away...but that was obviously in a fast car as it was a good 20 minute walk (not what you really want after a 5¼ hour afternoon boating session through a dozen wide, heavy locks)!

It was another five years before we were back in Kilby Bridge for a lunchtime stop on Wednesday 20th August 2003.

This time it was open as just The Navigation and a free house as well. I have no recollection that particular visit, but over the years the pub has changed very little. (This time it took us just under 5 hours from Foxton!)

 

Boating trips that take us to Kilby Bridge inevitably entail a visit to Leicester (and often Nottingham) which are places that are only accessible (for us) on two week holidays. Thus, there is usually a significant gap between visits.

 

It was another six years before we returned, this time on the evening of Monday 7th September 2009 having had a lunchtime session in Leicester whilst waiting for our third crew member to join us for the rest of the trip.

There appeared to have been little change to the exterior of the pub (apart from a 'token' shelter over the external seating).

 

It would seem that our routine has changed from a visit every five years to six - we were back again at lunchtime on Friday 28th August 2015.
 

Again, no discernible change.

 

Another six years on and we made our most recent visit at lunchtime on Tuesday 10th August 2021.

The exterior is again largely unchanged (ignoring the fading of signs that have been there for at least 18 years!) but the doors and windows have been painted grey and the hanging sign has been replaced.

 

We sat in the front bar which is a proper old school canal pub bar and had a very pleasant lunchtime pub experience as I reported here.
 

The Navigation is a little gem of a pub and do I hope that we will be visiting it in the years to come (at 5 - 6 year intervals!)

Boozin' and Cruisin' through the East Midlands (Part 2)

 Day 3 - Monday

Usually, at the start of the week, it can be difficult to find pubs that are open, never mind serving food, at lunchtimes. Today was not one of those days!

We were travelling along the summit level of the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal which meant that we had to negotiate Foxton Locks. Ten locks arranged in to two staircases of five locks each; a magnificent setting and a magnet for gongoozlers of all ages! There was a bit of a wait at the top and we were the fourth boat in the queue - it could have been much worse! This is the view from the first lock of the second five.

With help from the volunteer lockkeepers we were soon down at the bottom where we turned left (heading for Leicester) and moored up for lunch in the imaginatively named Foxton Locks Inn.

For a Monday it was pleasantly busy, but table service was the order of the day. The food was good as was the beer and so we returned to Peggy Ellen for the next stage of our journey.

At the bottom of Foxton, you can turn left towards Leicester (leading to the River Soar) or right towards the terminus at Market Harborough. Most boats took the latter option whilst we headed towards Leicester.

As it was early August and the canal had been very busy up to this point, we were hopeful that we'd have plenty of company to share the many wide locks en route to Leicester. Sadly, this was not the case and we saw only a handful of boats all the way to Leicester.

Our first stop along this route was at Fleckney which isn't exactly a canalside village!

This was the walk into the village, which boasts two pubs...neither of which was serving food on a Monday night! (and the chippy was closed!)

We've visited the Old Crown in the past and it is a perfectly decent local village pub. Ordinarily, it would have been a one pint and we're moving on pub...except...although they weren't doing food themselves, parked out front was a pizza van making freshly made pizzas that could be consumed in the pub. What a result! They have different vans/trucks on different nights...a fantastic idea!

We still decided to move on for a couple in the more upmarket Golden Shield; Fleckney's other pub.

Last time we'd been to Fleckney, this is where we'd eaten, but the restaurant wasn't open on a Monday. It seemed to be little changed from the time the late Alan Winfield visited it ten years earlier and reviewed it on Pubs Galore.

Day 4 - Tuesday

From Fleckney it is a long journey to Leicester through 20+ wide locks (with no one to share the joy work!) and the next pub was a long way away ay Kilby Bridge. We moored up at about 2pm!

The Navigation is a lovely old, proper canalside pub and we were happy to see that it was open. Unfortunately, they weren't doing food and when I asked about cobs/rolls I was given a quite brusque, "No, we don't do them they only get left uneaten!" Oh well, a lunch of crisps, nuts and scratchings wasn't the end of the world!

Then, about 15 minutes later, the other barman (possibly landlord) appeared with large trays of freshly made sandwiches, mini scotch eggs and sausage rolls which were offered to us and the other half dozen people in the pub...for free! Fantastic customer service!

So, after a great lunchtime session, we set off again for Leicester. Still very little traffic and some quite shallow sections, but we made it to Leicester without too much hassle.

The Globe was our first port of call and, whist it is a great old pub, it was disappointing to see it so empty! Unfortunately, we only had the one pint before we set off in search of food. We found a lovely curry at a place called Tandem and then went for more beer at the High Cross...the local Wetherspoon's...which was considerably busier than The Globe had been (as were many of the other bars in that vicinity)!

And that was it for our night out in Leicester, but in our defence, we didn't moor up until after 8pm and the canal/river is a bit of a walk from the city centre.
 
(To be Continued)

Canal Cruising in a COVID World (Part 2)

Following a less than excellent evening out, we returned to Stratford-upon-Avon for our lunchtime session. After navigating our way down Wilmcote Locks we moored on the edge of Stratford before setting out to find a drink and some food.

As we walked along a well-worn route (for us) we passed The Oddfellows Arms (closed...maybe permanently!), Yates's (closed...whole block being demolished), The Olde Thatch Tavern (closed, but not permanently) and The Lamplighter (closed, but being rebuilt!) before reaching The Queen's Head.

This used to be one of our regular haunts when we made our annual Easter trips to Stratford...and it hadn't changed at all. Still a proper backstreet boozer (with added social distancing) with a welcome choice of Roast Beef or Roast Pork Baps for just £3.95 each! And, the Carling was just right, as well!

Then it was time to return back up the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal with Wootton Wawen being our evening destination. Because of the pandemic, we were forced into stopping at different places on the way back - The Crabmill at Preston Bagot (now Brunning & Price) wouldn't be open until August and the Fleur-de-Lys at Lowsonford was only opening Wednesday - Sunday - so, The Navigation Inn at Wootton Wawen was our choice! (Viewed from the aqueduct...it used to be a 40mph limit!)

Again, one of our regular haunts from years gone by and, again, remarkably unchanged! The Navigation has endured several new owners since the original West Brom supporting gaffer left, no-one has yet turned it into a gastropub (hurrah!) and it still does proper pub meals! There were clear social distancing guidelines (and tape on the floor!), but because of the layout it didn't really affect the main part of the pub.

Next morning we resumed our northward journey towards The Navigation at Lapworth (again!)

Amazingly it was completely unchanged from our previous visit. Excellent food, as always, and this time I partook of the Lapworth Gold which I find very pleasant.

So, it was back to the boat to complete the final 18 locks of the 27 lock Lapworth flight. This got off to an inauspicious and unpleasant start. As our first lock was filling, William, my fellow cruiser (and main lock wheeler) went ahead to the next lock. It was empty, so all he had to do was open the bottom gates and it would be ready for when I got the boat there.

It was no more that 100 yards away and as William returned to let me out of the full lock, I could see someone at the next lock closing the gates! I gave a toot on the horn to let him know that we were on our way (if he hadn't seen us). After a few more blasts on the horn it was clear that he was going to fill the lock and bring his boat through in direct contravention of lock rules, canal etiquette and general decency.

In 40 years of boating, this was the first time that we'd seen such a flagrant disregard for the rules! To cap it all, when he exited the lock (as I was trying, and failing, to take a surreptitious photo of him) he accused me of being "a disgrace" and in the wrong! Unbelievable! His boat is named Calypso.

After a stop to refill with water we resumed our journey with the Blue Bell Cider House at Earlswood as our evening destination.

Unfortunately, we were too late for food, but after navigating the extensive one-way system we managed a night of ice-cold Carling (served in refrigerated glasses!) with crisps and nuts for sustenance...well...we'd had a full lunch at the Navigation in preparation!

Next morning we took a detour along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal for lunch at Hopwood House.

As it was a Wednesday afternoon we thought about not booking, but relented and booked online (it's a Marston's pub). When we arrived and saw the car park I realised what a good idea that had been. It was about 2pm and the place was probably as full as could be allowed at the moment. The table service was efficient and the numbers started to dwindle not long after we'd arrived.

After a pleasant lunch it was back towards Birmingham and my first venture into town for many months. Our eating destination, the Rajdoot, was booked and not a problem...but where to drink? Both of our go-to pubs were closed - the Prince of Wales and The Shakespeare. This was to be another occasion where it was Wetherspoon's to the rescue...and my first visit to The Soloman Cutler.

It used to be (maybe still is!) a Lloyds No 1 bar, but was just right for what we needed. The fact that Broad Street is currently dug up (for the tram extension to Five Ways) means that everywhere along there is even quieter...as was the Soloman Cutler...apart from Brendan the Irishman who was celebrating his birthday in traditional style!

He was with his wife and was extremely pissed. After a bit of banter with the table of young women next to him, which almost got out of hand, all seemed calm until one of the bar staff turned up with the massively over-ordered food in 'doggy bags' to take home!

"I'm not a f***ing dog!" shouted Brendan at the bar staff as he threw the food around his table. There followed many more expletives and an almost punch-up before Brendan and his (long-suffering) wife were ushered from the premises. The sad thing is that Brendan looked to be about our age...late 50's/early 60's.

The rest of our evening passed by uneventfully and we had another excellent meal at the Rajdoot!

There's more to follow as we escape the 'big city' and head back into the countryside!

UPDATE 4 : #008 The Navigation, Lapworth, Warwickshire : 1986 to 2017

Since our last visit in 2012 we've only had limited opportunities to return to The Navigation as we no longer have our moorings nearby.

We did visit on the evening of Wednesday 1st October 2014.

 I briefly reported on it here and it was a good night in a well refurbished old favourite.

We returned at lunchtime on Sunday 13th August 2017 and I'm pleased to be able to report that it is still as good as ever.

The exterior has been repainted and it is no longer The Navigation "at Lapworth", presumably because it is actually in Rowington. The greenery looks as though it is about to take over, but I'm pleased to report that the streetlight is still unchanged!

Inside, the new owners have maintained the 'pubby' feel in the bar by making it lighter, but also by keeping the uneven floor with the general layout and seating staying the same. The food and service were both excellent and the atmosphere was enlivened by landlord Mark collecting winning bets from his regulars on his beloved Huddersfield Town's first win in the Premier League. (The 'teletext' verion of the top half of the table was the only thing allowed on the telly...presumably until Man United knocked them off the top a few hours later!)

The beer was also up to a high standard, I sampled the Lapworth Gold which was excellent.

I blame Retired Martin for corrupting me as I'm now tryling much more of the real ales on offer than ever before...but I still drink Carling most of the time! The Lapworth Gold is brewed by Byatt's, a small brewery near Coventry (and a new name for me!)

And finally...a man walked into the bar with his son and asked for a half pint of the hand pulled Guinness as he'd heard so much about it and just happened to be driving by. Yes, the only hand pulled Guinness in the UK is alive and well at The Navigation. The verdict? Very good he told me just before getting back into his open top E-type and disappearing into a lovely Warwickshire Sunday afternoon.

#202 The Navigation, Alrewas, Staffordshire : 1986 to 2015 (RIP)

Our first ever visit to Alrewas saw us go to three of the four pubs that were in the village back then. It was an evening visit on Monday 28th July 1986.

The Navigation was a big Ind Coope pub on the edge of the village and I can recall nothing remarkable about it!

Although we'd visited Alrewas on several occasions, we didn't revisit The Navigation for 17 years on the evening of Saturday 23rd August 2003.

Needless to say, there had been a few changes including the name as it was now called The Old Boat. The only reason we were back here was because our visit to Alrewas coincided with the Wychnor Boat Rally meaning that all of the pubs in the centre of the village were packed and we couldn't get any food! By the time we'd got to The Old Boat, they had stopped serving food. So, it was "Call a Cab" time and we disappeared into Lichfield for the rest of the evening!

As we were approaching Alrewas on our most recent visit there I took this shot of Delhi Divan, the restaurant that now occupies what was The Navigation.

This was taken from the Trent & Mersey Canal in the late morning of Friday 3rd April 2015. From what I can gather, it opened in 2014 and gets very good reviews on TripAdvisor. At least it is still being used for 'entertainment' purposes!