#269 Queen's Head, Stoke Pound, Worcestershire : 1987 to 2019

The Queen's Head at Stoke Pound is in the perfect position for weary boaters on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. If you're heading up from Worcester it is situated in the small gap between the six Stoke Locks and the daunting prospect of the thirty (yes, 30!) Tardebigge Locks so you have a decision to make...should we stay...or should we go on? If you're heading down from Birmingham the decision is much easier...knackered after 30 locks...you stay!

Our first visit was a lunchtime stop on Sunday 5th July 1987 as we headed down the canal towards Worcester. According to the log, it had taken us 4 hours 10 minutes to get from The Crown at Alvechurch to the Queen's Head...a pretty decent time to do the thirty locks with a crew of four.

I don't remember a great deal about the pub other that it was a 'gastropub' even before the term became official in 1991 (according to Wikipedia). It was the definite place to go to for Sunday lunch in that part of Worcestershire!

Our trips along that part of the canal system are quite sporadic and we didn't return, heading towards Worcester, until the evening of Sunday 25th May 1997. (Picture taken next am)

This photo shows what a superb location it is and it was still a very popular place for food and drink.

We returned at lunchtime on Monday 12th August 2002.

We were taking a boat painting trip so we'd interchange travelling with some boat painting as and when the weather allowed. The previous night we had been moored below the Stoke Locks, so after turning, we made the short journey to the Queen's Head for lunch before tackling some more painting and the thirty Tardebigge Locks...again!

Our next visit was on the evening of Wednesday 28th May 2008 on our way up from Worcester.

Again, there had been further external redecoration and refurbishment, most notably the addition of an awning, presumably to shelter the smokers as this was less that a year since the smoking ban had been implemented in England.

It was another five years before we were back on the evening of Sunday 12th May 2013...and this is what we found!

Disaster! Pub very definitely closed, but was this a permanent situation? A closer inspection revealed that it was undergoing a major refubishment following a change of ownership. Long term, that was good news, but in the more immediate short term we had to call a cab and dine in Bromsgrove!

We haven't managed to return to that stretch of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal since 2013, but I took the opportunity earlier this year to pop along and take a couple of photos to update the situation.

This was on the afternoon of Tuesday April 30th 2019. I must assume that most of the refurbishment was on the inside as the exterior looks to be largely unaltered. (I didn't go inside, but I'm guessing that it is still a gastropub!)

It is now run by the Lovely Pubs group which also operates The Boot in Lapworth (#004) and a few other gastropubs around South Warwickshire.

UPDATE 2 : #008 Navigation Inn, Lapworth : 1986 to 2012

Back in November I reported the closure of the Navigation Inn in Rowington and hoped that it would be reopening soon. Well, I have good news. It isn't open yet, but I had a chat with the new owner and he is well on the way to reopening in about 4 weeks time. This is what the outside now looks like.

I was driving past earlier today and, on seeing the new external decoration, I pulled over and took a few pictures. As I was walking back to the car I peered in through the window to gauge how much was being done to the interior. The new owner, Mark, saw me and invited me in for a chat. 

Mark is a no-nonsense Yorksireman who's been involved in the bar fitting trade for many years and lived in Warwickshire for about 30 years. His plan is for the Navigation to NOT be a Gastro Pub, but to keep the front bar as a drinkers area (no food) and to serve food in the rear room. His view of food is very much like mine - proper, good quality, English pub grub. For the beer drinkers he aims to have 4 or 5 hand pulled real ales, a couple of ciders and a decent range of lagers.

I hope all goes well for Mark and the newly refurbished Navigation Inn.

#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.

#006 Mason's Arms, Wilmcote : 1996 to 2011

Since we moved our narrowboat Emma Jane back onto the Stratford Canal we have taken an annual trip to Stratford-upon-Avon over the Easter weekend apart from 1998 when floods got the better of us. We stop at Wilmcote (home of Mary Arden's House) every year now (since 2001) and I have pictures from each year showing that the Mason's Arms has hardly changed over the 15 years that we've been visiting.

In a departure from my previous posts I'm going to show you pictures of the Mason's Arms going back over 100 years to demonstrate that even over that period it has hardly changed.

This shows the Mason's Arms in 1891 and I took this photo of the picture that was hanging in the pub on our last visit.

Now we've moved on to 1908 and the pub has been changed and appears pretty much as it is now (see below). Another photo of a picture in the pub.

This is what it looked like in 1930 - I got this photo from the internet.

This was our first canal related visit and the photo was taken on the evening of Saturday 6th April 1996. In those days it was a traditional village/country pub that served very good food. It also has a restaurant area at the back.

This photo is from Saturday 30th March 2002 and was a lunchtime stop. The only visible changes are the signage. Inside all exactly the same.

And now it's lunchtime on Saturday 7th April 2007. After we'd been doing this trip for a few years we fell into a consistent routine that sees us stopping at Wilmcote for lunch on the second day of our journey. The Mason's Arms has consistently provided us with excellent wholesome food (and if you order a full meal you will get way too many vegetables!)

Finally to 2011. This year, we delayed our trip by a week so that we could miss the royal wedding! This was taken at lunchtime on Saturday 30th April 2011. The only noticeable change from the outside is that the pub sign has been replaced by a floodlight. Inside...still the same décor/atmosphere...and still the same landlord after all these years of our visits. This is how pubs should be - cosy, welcoming and serving good, unpretentious food at a reasonable price!