#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!

#110 Ye Olde Custom House Inn, Chester : 2005 to 2012

This entry is going to be a short one - as I only (re) discovered that I'd been to Ye Olde Custom House Inn when I was looking through my old photos!

This was on Saturday 27th August 2005 on our second canal trip to Chester. I don't recall going in and have no idea what it was like! In my defence (meagre though it is!), there are a lot of pubs in Chester and I can't possibly remember them all!

We were back in Chester just after Easter in 2012 and stumbled across Ye Olde Custom House Inn by accident and only went in because the steak restaurant across the street was busy at the time.

This was on Tuesday 10th April 2012 on our way back from a lovely day trip to Ellesmere Port! In the seven years since our previous visit there has been little change to the outside apart from a new collection of signs.

Ye Olde Custom House Inn is on Watergate Street and their website is here. The restaurant across the street is Upstairs at the Grill and the steaks were fantastic, albeit a bit pricey!

#109 Rodley Barge, Rodley, Leeds : 1981 to 2012

Although I've only ever been to the Rodley Barge once, I've included it here because of this picture taken in 1981 by John Dockray that was hanging in the pub.

Back in those days it was a Bass pub and looks as though it was probably a friendly local.

This is how it looked on Wednesday 17th October 2012.

In the intervening 30+ years the pub has been extended to the right, but other than that it is remarkably unchanged (especially the windows!). It is now a Free House and has much more signage than back in 1981.

With a name like the Rodley Barge, there seems to be no evidence of any waterway nearby, until you look at the pub from this side, looking across the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

We spent a pleasant evening in here, winning part of the quiz on one of their regular Quiz Nights. It is a lovely, proper pub and I'd recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Their website can be found here and, if you belong to the 'Twittering' Classes, you can follow them here! 

#108 The Bell Inn, Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire : 1986 to 2012

We've only ever stopped at Husbands Bosworth once in all of our canal trips.

This was on the evening of Tuesday 22nd July 1986 on a journey that would take us to Leicester. As I recall, it was a pleasant pub that served food, but back then we probably ate on the boat anyway (Aaah! Those were the days!). In 1986 it was just called The Bell and was an Ind Coope pub. 

On this visit we popped into both pubs in Husbands Bosworth, but the Cherry Tree is no longer there as recounted in #093 on this blog.

I was passing by towards the end of last year, so I took the opportunity to get a photo of how it looks now.

This picture was taken on Sunday 16th December 2012 and in the intervening 26 years there has been a relatively small amount of change on the outside! It is now called The Bell Inn and they stress the history of it as an 18th Century coaching inn. Having looked at the menu on their website, it looks like they serve proper pub food at a reasonable price.

#107 Bull's Head, Moseley, Birmingham : 1998 to 2012

The Bull's Head in Moseley was always at the bottom of the list of pubs we used to visit in Moseley when I was a student...but we did still go there quite a lot!! Back in those days (the late 70's), the Bull's Head was one of the pubs that was swapped and became a Courage pub in a ploy to give Midlanders more choice other than the M&B/Ansell's near monopoly in Birmingham.

I don't have a picture from those days, but I do have this one from some years later.

This picture was taken some time over the Easter Weekend in 1998 when we'd been thwarted by the elements in our attempts to get to Stratford on the canal. I don't remember too much about it, though I think the inside was relatively unchanged from previous years!

It was another four years before we returned to Moseley.

This was taken on Wednesday 15th August 2002 during an evening tour around the delights of Moseley. The Bull's Head was completely transformed. From the outside you can see that the entrance door had been moved (to what looks like it's original location) and the ground floor windows have been replaced. Inside was a complete revelation...not necessarily in a good way...the room had become open plan with lots of 'leather' sofas and armchairs - very modern. It no longer felt like a pub and the beer prices were noticeably higher than in the other nearby pubs. But, although it wasn't to my taste, it was good to see it reopened and under new ownership as it had been closed for a while.

I haven't been back for a drink for quite a few years now, but I took this photo on Sunday 11th November 2012.

As far as I can tell, the Bull's Head was almost completely unchanged, apart from the small advertising boards either side of the doors. I didn't go inside, so can't comment on the interior décor, however judging from the Bull's Head website, I'd guess that it has changed a bit, but it hasn't gone back to being a traditional boozer! Still, it is good to see it thriving which is the main thing! 

#106 The Jolly Tar, Wardle, Cheshire : 2005 to 2012

Whenever we pass through Barbridge Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal, there is only one place where we regularly stop...and it isn't The Jolly Tar! We'd normally visit Ye Olde Barbridge Inn which is right by the canal. However, many's the occasion when I've thought that we should pay The Jolly Tar a visit. So in 2005 we finally decided to pop in for a pint.

This photo was taken on Friday 26th August 2005. As I recall, the pub was fairly quiet and a bit of a throwback to the 70's and 80's in style.

We haven't been back inside since then, but i took this photo as we were passing by at Easter on Thursday 12th April 2012.

It has obviously been repainted in the intervening years and the colour scheme has changed from blue to red. This place always reminds me of a seaside pub.

Each year, in recent times, when we've passed by I've been surprised to see that it has still been open. Although it is advertised as a canalside pub, there is the slight problem of the A51 which runs between the pub and the canal, which must make it difficult to 'sell' to the visiting public. Sadly my fears have been confirmed and, as of writing, The Jolly Tar is closed. It would appear, from this statement, that the lease ran out on 10th March 2013 and new tenants have not yet been found. Sad, but in this current economic climate, not too surprising. 

#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.