#282 The Hampstall Inn, Astley Burf, Stourport-on-Severn : 1997 to 2020

This will only be a short entry for a pub that I've visited only once. 

The mighty River Severn is not a waterway that we visit too often as we prefer the canals - the river can be boring...or...capriciously exciting when the flow is too great for boating (two of our last three visits to this great river have resulted in time lost because the flow was too great!).

Our only visit was at lunchtime on Tuesday 27th May 1997 after a 4½ hour slog up the river from Worcester.

I have absolutely no recollection what it was like inside, but I expect that it was typically country pub...ish!

We've been past The Hampstall Inn on a few occasions since, but the only photo I took was this one on the morning of Saturday August 29th 2020 immediately following our 36 hour sojourn at Holt Lock.

It looks as though the 'lean-to' frontage has been removed, but is now definitely in the Country Pub and Restaurant category.

According to their website, the pub is under new management and, hopefully, they will have the resources to last out the current crisis (and the vagaries of the River Severn).

#155 Eagle & Sun, Hanbury Wharf, Worcestershire : 1997 to 2020 (revisited)

Whilst the world of pubs enters a period of seeming decimation, I'm going to carry on with views of yesteryear in order to keep spirits up!

Considering how close the Eagle & Sun is to where we cruise most regularly you'd imagine that we'd visited a lot more often than we actually have done! Unfortunately, it sits alongside the Worcester & Birmingham Canal along a stretch that we don't visit quite as often as you'd expect...and when we do the Eagle & Sun is often between regular stopping points!

Our first visit to the Eagle & Sun was at lunchtime on Monday 26th May 1997 after an unexpectedly difficult morning cruise.

Tibberton had been our intended lunchtime destination, but the throttle cable on Emma Jane snapped and driving the boat became a two-man operation. I was winding locks and I wondered what the delay was; and then Emma Jane appeared with the steerer shouting orders down to the engine room for more (or less) power to allow the boat to keep on moving!

To add to the complications it was a Bank Holiday Monday so we were expecting to be delayed quite a while. However, we were in luck (as we so often have been throughout the years!). That stretch of canal is home to one of the Black Prince Narrowboats hire bases, so we pulled in to see if they could help. Just fifty minutes later we were on our way again with a newly fitted throttle cable for the princely sum of £22.30p!

I remember little about the pub other than it was well geared up for serving food and was on a busy road into Droitwich as well as being canalside.

Our next visit was a lunchtime stop on Thursday 29th May 2003 travelling up from Worcester.

This view is from the car park, but is enough to see that it had been completely redecorated externally and was, seemingly, no longer a Banks's pub. I think that it had been extended to make more restaurant room.

The next picture is from the canal as we cruised by on the afternoon of Sunday 15th May 2013, again on the way up from Worcester.
 

From here the 'new' extension is clearly visible and (with extreme magnification) the blue sign says that it was being run by the (now defunct) Number Works Pub Company.

Our most recent visit was at lunchtime on Wednesday 26th August 2020.

Fortunately it was a nice day as, with the new COVID-19 rules, there was no room inside the pub, but there was plenty of table space in the garden. I'm not 100% sure who runs the pub now, but all of the warning signs were similar in style to the Marston's ones we'd seen before (and the beer range was consistent with it being a Marston's pub).

At the time we were there, they hadn't really come up with a user friendly way of operating under the new restrictions. We had to wait outside before being allowed in (or directed to the garden if not having booked in advance). There was also a one way system in place which meant that once I'd been served our three pints I had to walk the long way round (through the rest of the pub and car park) to get back to the garden. (It would have made much more sense to have the route reversed!)

Despite the minor irritations, we had a pleasant lunch in the garden of the Eagle & Sun setting us up nicely for an afternoon's cruise into Droitwich for the first time for all of us!

#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.

#210 Cheshire Cheese, Wheelock, Cheshire : 1987 to 2016

Our first visit to this classic 'proper' pub was on the evening of Saturday 11th July 1987. Of course, back then it was just considered to be a normal pub, nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Waiting outside are the fine, upstanding members of the crew of Emma Jane for that two week trip that took in both Worcester and Middlewich. As far as I recall the interior of the pub was pretty much the same as it was on all subsequent visits.

Our next visit was only four years later at lunchtime on Wednesday 24th July 1991 as we moved Emma Jane from her northern mooring at Adlington to her new home on the southern Grand Union Canal.

The outside had been given a thorough makeover, although the signage appears to be unaltered. 'Dusty Bin' has been installed by the local council by the lamp post.

With Emma Jane being "daarn sarf", it took another eight years before we returned to the Cheshire Cheese.

This was on the evening of Saturday 4th September 1999 at the midpoint of our trip that took us along the Caldon Canal for the first time. The Cheshire Cheese had been repainted and was no longer a Tetley's pub, but was now run by Hydes - a fact that almost certainly passed me by at the time!

We were back again three years later on the evening of Thursday 12th September 2002; a stop that hadn't been expected from our original journey plan.

Our plan had been to visit Chester for the first time in a number of years, but a lock failure at Beeston Iron Lock meant that we needed another plan. Wheelock was one stop along the way to revisiting the Caldon Canal. Essentially, the pub was unchanged, but for the first time the adjacent car park had been refurbished with a patch of grass and a sign for the new Italian restaurant.

Another three years passed and we were back at lunchtime on Thursday 25th August 2005.

On this trip we did make it to Chester after passing through Wheelock; the Cheshire Cheese was unchanged.

We returned, again somewhat unexpectedly, a year later for an evening stop on Saturday 2nd September 2006.

Our original journey plan had been to visit Manchester using the reverse route of our 2000 journey, but it soon became apparent that we'd fallen way behind on the schedule and, once again, we needed a new plan! On this occasion we took our first ever trip on the Anderton Boat Lift and Wheelock was a stop-off on the way home.

The Cheshire Cheese was unchanged, but Di Venezia was no more, being replaced by The Old Mill restaurant.

After a spell of three visits in five years, we didn't return to the Cheshire Cheese until the lunchtime of Tuesday 16th August 2016.

This trip was, essentially, a repeat of the 2006 journey, except it was on board the new boat Peggy Ellen and we'd started from Kings Bromley rather than Lapworth. We used the Anderton Boat Lift again and spent a bit more time on the River Weaver before heading back home via the Trent & Mersey Canal.

The Cheshire Cheese had undergone a subtle exterior redecoration and re-signage with the hanging baskets having disappeared. (A Cask Marque sign had also appeared by the entrance.) 'Dusty Bin' is still there, now at a more jaunty angle and The Old Mill is now Barchetta Italian restaurant.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the pub open on a Tuesday lunchtime even though we were the only customers. As the landlord explained (once we got him out of his garden), he might as well be open for any passing trade (like us!) because he can still do other stuff whilst keeping an eye on the bar. Sandwiches for lunch and a couple of pints to fortify us for the afternoon's exertions were just what the doctor ordered...and the pub took in an extra £20 - £30 that it wouldn't have if it had been closed like so many others do!

It is good to see that such a 'proper' pub as the Cheshire Cheese has survived whilst the other two pubs in the village (Nags Head and Commercial Hotel) are now closed. Hopefully it will be there for many years to come. 

#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!

#155 Eagle & Sun, Hanbury Wharf, Worcestershire : 1997 to 2013

Although close to where our boat was moored, we only use the stretch of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal down to Worcester every five years or so. On those occasions when we have taken this route, we didn't stop at Hanbury Wharf (near Droitwich) until 1997.

This first visit was a lunchtime stop on Monday 26th May 1997. It was an unscheduled stop as we'd been delayed by a break in the throttle cable which had required a replacement. We received excellent service from the engineer at Black Prince Narrowboats who fitted the new one; we were amazed to find somewhere open on what was a glorious Bank Holiday Monday!

As I recall, the pub was pleasant and served good food - just what we'd needed after an eventful morning.

The next visit was on Thursday 29th May 2003 in the middle of a long day working up from Worcester to Alvechurch for the evening - just the 55 locks to navigate!

As is evident, the pub had undergone a complete makeover, but it was still a welcoming place and the food was good.

However, on reflection, it can't have been that good as we've never been back! (only kidding!) Our schedule has meant that whenever we've been passing by it hasn't been a suitable time to stop as happened in 2008 and again in 2013. On our last trip up the Worcs & B'ham Canal I took this picture.

This was on the afternoon of Sunday 12th May 2013 and the photo was taken from the canal as we sailed by, so it is difficult to see what changes (if any) had occurred in the past 10 years. I think that the restaurant section overlooking the canal is new or maybe just enlarged and re-roofed. 

The Eagle & Sun is now owned by The Number Works Pub Company who seem to specialise in country pub restaurants. (Although it is strange to find it still listed as available on the Enterprise Inns website!)

#153 The Lock, Wolverley, Worcestershire : 1987 to 2013

Our first ever visit to The Lock at Wolverley was on Tuesday 7th July 1987 as part of an epic journey that took us down to Worcester and as far north as Middlewich.

For boaters like us it has the perfect location, being adjacent to the canal lock. This photo was taken from our boat as we passed through this lock before mooring up for a lunchtime stop. As I recall it was quite small inside, but felt cosy and welcoming in the traditional pub style - and the food was good as well.

We didn't return for another ten years, again for a lunchtime stopover on Wednesday 28th May 1997.

This photo (not one of my best!) is taken from the road bridge over the canal and you can see the lock gates through the barrier. As I recall the pub was pretty much as we'd found it last time.

We were back again quite quickly with another lunchtime visit on Wednesday 2nd June 1999. The weather wasn't as pleasant as on our previous visit, but the pub was as welcoming as ever. It had also undergone the Banks's exterior re-branding that was prevalent at the time. Inside it hadn't changed much.

 This view is from a little up the hill away from the canal and shows the re-branding at its best.

This view again shows just how close the pub is to the canal!

That was our last visit to The Lock as on the occasions we've been that way subsequently the timings haven't been right for a stop. However, on our most recent trip along the Staffs & Worcs Canal I took this picture from the lock as we were passing through on the morning of Thursday 16th May 2013.

From the exterior view it would appear that it is no longer a Banks's pub and a search of the Marston's website confirms this. Judging by The Lock Inn website it would appear that it is now an independent pub. Hopefully it will still be there when we next venture down the Staffs & Worcester Canal and, if the timing is right, we'll pop in to see how it has changed in the passing 27 years.

#152 The Pheasant, Worcester : 1999 to 2013

Worcester is a place we visit infrequently on our canal trips and, because there are a lot of pubs we don't get too many repeats (often because we can't remember where the pubs are!!).

Our first visit to The Pheasant was on the evening of Monday 31st May 1999.

It is on the same street as The Swan with Two Nicks (#146) and so we generally go there in preference. On this occasion, we decided to go into The Pheasant, but I don't really remember what it was like! It is a very attractive building, I assume it is listed as it doesn't seem to change.

We were in Worcester on Saturday 11th May 2013 in the evening and we walked past The Pheasant having already been to The Swan with Two Nicks!

Seemingly little has changed on the outside, but I'm sure they must have redecorated at least once in the intervening 14 years.

It seems as though The Pheasant has now been refurbished and 're-booted' as a burger establishment (and still a pub!) with good reviews on TripAdvisor. The pub website is here.

#146 The Swan with Two Nicks, Worcester : 1987 to 2013

My first experience of The Swan with Two Nicks was a lunchtime visit on Monday 6th July 1987 near the beginning of a two week trip on board Emma Jane. This was the first trip where we'd taken the boat on a trip without Andrew in the crew and we were a bit anxious as it was his family's boat at that time!

As I recall, we'd been there in 1984 (at the start of a journey, but before I'd started taking photos of every pub we visited). It was a traditional old pub with beams and a low ceiling and we spent the whole lunchtime there before heading off upstream on the River Severn.

It was a long time before we revisited The Swan with Two Nicks because Emma Jane was moored first 'Up North' and then 'Down South' until returning to the Midlands in late 1996. However, even though we visited Worcester again, we didn't actually manage to find the pub again until the evening of Monday 31st May 1999.

A complete overhaul of the outside of the pub had taken place in the intervening 12 years, but inside it was exactly as we remembered.

The next visit was another 9 years later on the evening of Tuesday 27th May 2008 and the outside had again been redecorated.

Inside was still in the traditional style, pretty much as we remembered it.

Five years later saw a much less drastic redecoration (and different smokers outside!) when we popped in on the evening of Saturday 11th May 2013.

Inside it was still the same, but this time it contained a large contingent of Royalist soldiers in period costume, presumably rehydrating after a long day's battle re-enactment!

The Swan with Two Nicks is still well worth a visit if you happen to find yourself in Worcester and a fairly detailed history of the pub (and before) can be found here.

The pub name is NOT a misprint and, although there are probably more pubs named the Swan with Two NECKS, the name originates from the practice of marking swans by making a 'nick' on the swan's bill - a full explanation can be found here.

#143 Samson & Lion, Wordsley, West Midlands : 1997 to 2013

The Samson & Lion in Wordsley near Stourbridge is a pub with plenty of history, going back to at least 1840. I'm not sure when this picture was taken, but I've acquired it from the pub's website to show what it was like in the 19th Century (at a guess!)

I don't normally use other peoples photos, but in this instance it is interesting to see how little the pub has changed through the decades.

My first visit wasn't until the evening of Wednesday 28th May 1997, but that wasn't the first visit of our boat Emma Jane nor my fellow crew members! The Samson & Lion had hosted Emma Jane's crew in October 1985 and again in July 1989 on trips that I hadn't been able to make. We had planned to take a trip up the Stourbridge Canal in the Summer of 1991, but a serious pollution incident put paid to that trip!

What is quite remarkable is that the basic outer structure is almost exactly as it was in the previous century with the two storey lean to replaced with a single storey toilet block (and most of the chimneys have gone!). As I recall, it was quite a lively, friendly place and we had a pleasant evening there.

We were back again just two years later on a repeat of the 1997 journey, except that we'd spent the previous night in Stourbridge itself and so we found ourselves at the Samson & Lion at lunchtime on Thursday 3rd June 1999.

Quite a comprehensive redecoration of the outside, but as I recall, the inside was still as cosy and welcoming as ever.

We were back again on the evening of Sunday 27th May 2001, this time on a trip that didn't take us to Worcester!

This was the canalside view and we actually moored up outside the pub for the first time (in my experience). Although the pub was unchanged from our last visit, we weren't able to get any food as it was a Sunday and they didn't serve food in the evening...and it was a Bank Holiday! In those pre internet phone days, we were advised that Merry Hill was our best bet for food and drink on a Sunday night, so we left in a taxi for the rest of the evening.

Our next visit was a few years later on the evening of Sunday 25th May 2008.

Some minor changes to the exterior, but largely the same inside. Although still cosy inside, by this time the Samson & Lion was showing signs of decline. At least this time we were forewarned and so after a couple of pints we headed off into Wordsley in search of food and drink...we found both and a quiz as well!

Our final visit was on the evening of Tuesday 14th May 2013 on our way to Stourport-on-Severn.

Again largely unchanged, but still with the air of neglect that we'd sensed on our previous visit. We were there quite early and it was a very wet evening which didn't help with the atmosphere, so we only had one pint before heading out to find the nearest Bathams pub and a place to eat.

Since our last visit, it would appear that the Samson & Lion is under new management and, from the website, it would appear that the required revitalisation has been injected into the pub. This is good news as it has a lovely location by 'The Sixteen' locks on the Stourbridge Canal and inside it retains the character of a proper pub. Hopefully, when we're next passing it will have regained some of its former glory.

#142 Speed the Plough, Tibberton, Worcestershire : 2008 to 2013

Tibberton is a small village just north-east of Worcester on the banks of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. I've visited Tibberton on quite a few occasions, both on the canal and to visit friends, but I'm not entirely sure when I first visited the pub.

Our first canal related visit was at lunchtime on Wednesday 28th May 2008.

As I recall, it had recently been taken over by new management and I think we had a warming meal on a cool rainy day. It felt like a cosy local, but was quiet at lunchtime.

It was another five years before we were back, again at lunchtime, on Sunday 12th May 2013.

Speed the Plough was again under new management and was, again, a welcome refuge on a cool, damp Spring day. Together with the new management, the outside had been completely redecorated and also rebranded Marston's from the previous Banks's. The inside had also been redecorated, but had lost none of its cosy feel.

#140 The Tontine, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire : 1987 to 2013 (RIP)

As previously noted, Stourport-on-Severn has many pubs and, back in 1987 The Tontine was one of the outstanding pubs in the town.

This photo was taken on the evening of Monday 6th July 1987 after a slightly fraught journey up the River Severn from Worcester. This was our first boating trip up the Severn and, having left Worcester's Diglis Basin at 3pm, we'd not taken the flow of the river into account making the journey much longer than we'd expected! We almost didn't make it to Stourport for the evening because the last lock on the Severn, Lincomb Lock, was technically closed for the night. We were in luck, though, because one of the regular trip boats was due to pass through and after some negotiation, the lock keeper agreed to let us through!

We moored on the river at Stourport and The Tontine was just a short walk away up the carefully manicured bank side. I don't remember too much about the inside other than it was a large pub with lots of canal pictures and memorabilia.

It was another 10 years before we returned to The Tontine on the evening of Tuesday 27th May 1997.

As far as I recall there were no significant changes, but inside were signs of a general decline.

We were in Stourport again in 1999, but didn't visit The Tontine. However, I took this photo on the afternoon of Tuesday 1st June 1999 as we passed through the locks up from the Severn into Stourport Basin.

Since then we've passed through Storuport-on-Severn several times and The Tontine had been closed for most of them. According to Closed Pubs it has been closed since 2001.

Our most recent visit to the town was the premature end of our journey because the Severn was closed because it was running very fast and high from the heavy rain a few days earlier. This gave me some time to take photos of the town, including The Tontine.

These pictures were taken in the afternoon of Thursday 16th May 2013. From the outside The Tontine is largely unchanged, unsurprising as it is a listed building, but it has been split into flats for residential use.

The Tontine is an unusual name and I'm indebted to Andrew Denny and his Granny Buttons blog for this explanation: -

How did the Tontine Hotel come to be called?  A Tontine Will is defined here - it's effectively when a group of men pool their inheritances and the last man standing gets the lot.  But that's not the original name.  According to a Stourport Tourism Leaflet:

The Tontine Hotel was constructed as the Areley Inn in 1772 and gave accommodation to merchants and travellers. It was a grand place with a ballroom and several reception rooms.

Another history of The Tontine can be found here.