#024 Eden Bar, Birmingham : 1998 to 2020 (Revisited)

These were my observations back in 2011: -

Another pub that I've never been in, but is an example that illustrates one of the changes in Birmingham's culture.

 This is the ninth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.

Back in 1998 it was The White Swan a seemingly typical street corner pub, just outside the city centre.

Now in 2011 it is the Eden Bar, one of the newer additions to the Gay Scene in Birmingham.

Since I began this project, the Gay Scene in Birmingham has 'come out' so that there are now a number of gay venues that are 'loud and proud'. The Eden Bar is no longer a traditional pub, but you can probably just pop in for a drink.

From the outside The White Swan has been changed quite extensively and the Eden Bar certainly stands out more. Just up the road is the Village Inn which is a completely new 'pub' and another gay venue.

Since then, the Eden Bar has gone from strength to strength, but is now threatened (potentially) by the possibility of residential accommodation being built next door...but in the meantime this is how it looked on Sunday 23rd February 2020.

It has been substantially redecorated in the intervening nine years, but I cannot comment on the interior as I've still not been inside.

Another view of the Eden Bar is here, showing another pub with much more fanciful decoration than you'd normally expect from a pub...but I like it!

After dark, the upper portion is lit up in rainbow colours from uplighters where the plant boxes used to be, but I've never been passing with my camera.

#064 The White Swan, Digbeth : 1998 to 2020 (Revisited + RIP?)

This is what I wrote about The White Swan back in 2011 - 

The White Swan in Digbeth is another example of the fine pubs designed by James & Lister Lea. This is what it looked like in the mid 1930's.

Picture courtesy www.digital-photographic-images.co.uk.

In 1998 when I took this picture, The White Swan appears to have changed little.

At the time of taking this photo, I don't think I'd been inside, but this was rectified in 2002 when we were in Birmingham on one of our canal trips and ventured into Digbeth for a bit of a pub crawl.

This picture was taken on Saturday 7th September 2002.

It's difficult to tell from this picture if anything had changed. As I recall it was a busy, 'proper' pub only let down by the fact that the only 'quaffing' lager was Carlsberg (probably the worst lager in the world in those days - it is better nowadays!). I've visited at least once more since and found it to be a very pleasant place if you like real pubs.

On to 2011 and this is how The White Swan looks.

Again, it looks almost identical to how it was in 1998. Obviously, it is a Grade II listed building and so there's not much that can be altered, however, none of the buildings that were on either side have survived.

Amazingly it is now a Marston's pub, but you wouldn't know it from the exterior.

I'm not sure whether I'd revisited The White Swan in the intervening years, but I did take a photo on the afternoon of Wednesday 31st January 2018.

Very little had changed and there had been no progress on the development of the adjoining land. A few months later I did pay a visit as part of the Beer & Pubs Forum Proper Day Out in July, but I didn't take another photo on the day!

So, onto the present day. I was aware that the family who had run The White Swan for the last 50+ years were planning to sell up and go back to Ireland, but it was still a shock to find this on the afternoon of Tuesday 18th February 2020. 

This article explains the context much better than I could! Seemingly it is on the market for in excess of £400,000, but I've been unable to find any further details.

It would be a very sad day if The White Swan is truly lost, but hopefully it's Grade II listed status may save it from demolition...fingers crossed!

#276 The Fishery Inn, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire : 1992 to 2019

On our canal trips we've only stopped at The Fishery Inn once, on the evening of Thursday 1st October 1992, on the return journey to the then mooring of Emma Jane at Cowley Peachey.

I have very little recollection of what it was like. It must have been alright as we ate there and didn't leave in search of alternative hostelries.

Although Emma Jane was moored in the vicinty from 1991 to 1995, we never returned to The Fishery Inn, preferring to visit the Three Horseshoes at Winkwell instead, which is only fifteen minutes away by boat.

Our most recent trip that brought us up the Grand Union from Brentford was very similar in that we didn't stop at The Fishery Inn and lunched at the Three Horseshoes. However, as I was winding the locks I still took this picture.

This was at midday on Monday 5th August 2019. Quite a transformation! It is another example of a Mitchells & Butler's Premium Country Pub. In fact, if you use the historical views on Google Street View it was an Ember Inn in 2008 and 2009, but from 2012 it adopted it's current guise!

#275 The Sly Old Fox, Birmingham : 2000 to 2020

When visiting Chinatown in Birmingham or on a night out at the Hippodrome Theatre, The Old Fox was always a must visit pub for at least one pint. It was (and still is) a proper pub with a bar and a lounge that is populated with people from all walks of life. It's a pub I'd visited on numerous occasions before our first canal related encounter on the evening of Thursday 7th September 2000.

I suspect that it was our last pub of the evening after sampling one of the many Chinese restaurants in the vicinity.

Our next visit was on the evening of Wednesday 1st September 2004 near the end of a journey back from Oxford and a trip on the Ashby Canal.

I'm fairly sure that the interior was largely unchanged, but the outside had undergone a major redecoration.

We haven't been back on canal based visits, but over the ensuing years I've had the occasional pint (or three) with non-boating friends. The next photos, though, have been from occasions when I happened to be passing by with my camera to hand.

This one is from Thursday 21st August 2014 as I was taking pictures in the vicinity.

No discernible changes from 10 years earlier...apart from the chairs outside for the smokers!

This final picture is from late afternoon on Friday 24th January 2020 as I strolled back to my car which was parked nearby.

A complete external makeover and a name change as well to The Sly Old Fox. It has been this way for at least a few months (probably longer) but I'm fairly sure that it is largely unaltered inside.

I noticed on the first picture the name Chandlers Brewery, which I confess, I'd never heard of. Their head office is in Witton and has the same address as Uncle's Money, a pawnbroker. It would appear that Chandlers Brewery Limited was established in 1990 seemingly just to run The Old Fox. The company is still going, but I doubt that they've brewed any beer!

#274 The Crossroads, Weedon, Northamptonshire : 2005 to 2019

Considering how many times we've visited Weedon over the years, I'm surprised to find that our first (recorded) visit to The Crossroads was on the evening of Sunday 29th May 2005.

I actually have no recollection of this visit...only this photo. Obviously, back in 2005 it was part of the Chef & Brewer chain of pubs.

Fast forward to 2019 when we made THREE separate visits to The Crossroads!

First time on the evening of Friday 19th April 2019, where I had as near perfect pub Fish & Chips as I've ever had! (I'm almost always tempted by pub Fish & Chips and, almost every time I succumb, I'm disappointed...this time not!)

After leaving Weedon we went to Northampton, but retuned on Sunday 21st April 2019.

Having explored the other half of Weedon (and found no food service - it was, after all, Easter Sunday) we managed to get to The Crossroads in time for a bite to eat.

Our third (and final) visit of the year was on the evening of Thursday 8th August 2019.

This was towards the end of our epic trip to Oxford, down the River Thames to Brentford and back home up the Grand Union Canal - sadly, the Fish & Chips wasn't as good as before (when will I learn!).

It is interesting to note the change of livery for the Chef & Brewer chain, but as I also discovered via Wikipedia, the Chef & Brewer chain itself has undergone quite a few changes over the years.

To summarise - "Grand Metropolitan, which later formed part of Diageo, sold the estate that became Chef & Brewer pubs to Scottish & Newcastle in 1993 in a part cash, part debentures deal of £708 million. 

 In 2003, Scottish & Newcastle auctioned off the Chef & Brewer chain, which was acquired by the Spirit Group. 

In 2005 the Spirit Group was acquired by Punch Taverns. 

 In 2011 the Chef & Brewer chain became part of Spirit Pub Company plc following its demerger from Punch Taverns. 

The Spirit Pub Company plc was acquired by Greene King in June 2015"

Kings Langley, Hertfordshire : 1993 to 2019

As it has been a while since my last post, I thought that I'd treat you to a two-for-one offer to start the New Year.

Kings Langley was never one of our regular stopping places back when Emma Jane was moored down south on the Grand Union, but on each occasion that we visited, we've been to the same two pubs!

#272 Rose & Crown

Our first visit was on the lunchtime of Saturday 26th June 1993 (the day after our first visit to #271 The White Bear) and, as you can see from the picture it was a sunny day and the Rose & Crown was quite busy!

I remember very little about the pub itself, but I have a feeling that this was the day of the village/town's summer festival, so everywhere was busy.

We returned for an evening visit on Saturday 3rd June 1995 at the start of a week long trip that took us all the way to Limehouse Basin in London.

The pub was little changed from two years previously, but it was much less busy!

We hadn't been back that way until the evening of Sunday 4th August 2019.

On a structural level it is remarkably unchanged, but it was decorated very much in the modern pastel shades style. Also, despite the signage declaring it to be a Freehouse it is in fact one of Mitchells and Butlers Premium Country Pubs (I've since discovered) which are a bit more upmarket from their Vintage Inns in the style of food. We did have a pleasant meal, but the pub was a bit quiet so we moved on (as we had on all previous visits!) to the nearest pub.

#273 The Saracen's Head

This pub is smaller and much more of a local and has remained so throughout the years - firstly in 1993.

Then again in 1995.

And finally in 2019.

Again, another pub that is structurally unchanged and inside it still felt more like a proper pub than the Rose & Crown which is as it should be, The Saracen's Head being independently run.

One final thing to note - the two 'gentlemen' crossing the road in 1993 were still lurking outside the pub in 2019 and I'd have to suggest that they may not be 'structurally unchanged' by the passing years! (But they bought me a beer, so all's well with the world!) 

#271 The White Bear, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire : 1993 to 2019

Even when our boat was moored in the area, Rickmansworth was not one of our regular stopping places, but we did manage to visit The White Bear on a couple of occasions.

Our first encounter was on the evening of Friday 25th June 1993 as we moved our boat Emma Jane from Cowley Peachey to Winkwell - just a couple of days by narrowboat.

It was (& still is) a large(ish) pub on a busy road junction quite close to the canal and that's about all I remember of it.

We did return a couple of years later on the evening of Friday 9th June 1995 as we made our way back from a trip that had taken us to Lime House Basin in London.

Not much change, but it was now demonstrably advertising itself as a 'Free House'.

So, fast forward through just the 24 years and we found ourselves moored above Batchworth Lock looking for a pub for lunch. None of us could remember exactly what to expect and this is what we found on Sunday 4th August 2019.

In some respects it is remarkably unchanged, but in others it is radically different. Now run by Greene King and also it is now a desi pub in that it's food offering is entirely Indian Cuisine. So, we had a very pleasant Sunday lunch curry in a pub that is still a proper pub, but with a very extensive menu.