After regaling you with tales of our trip along the Kennet & Avon Canal and the pubs to be found there, its now time to get back to the regular stuff.
This week it is The Vine in Kinver that comes into view. For those of us in Birmingham, the village of Kinver has taken on almost mythical status as a place where lots of pubs can be found selling all manner of different ales. There used to be regular booze cruises in double decker buses, but until this visit I'd never actually stopped in Kinver, although we'd passed through a few times.
This was at lunchtime on Monday 28th May 2001. We'd actually moored at Stourton Junction, expecting to visit the Stewpony & Foley Arms only to find it wasn't there any more! So, after a longer than expected walk we found ourselves in Kinver and in desperate need of sustenance. The Vine was right by the canal bridge and so was the obvious choice. It was Bank Holiday Monday, so the garden was packed for the special event that was on, so the food was burgers or nothing! Perfect for me!
We returned two years later, this time actually taking the boat there!
Another lunchtime, on Tuesday 27th May 2003, and this time we did do a bit of a pub crawl around the village, but not all were open at lunchtime! Fortunately, The Vine had a full menu on and was largely unchanged inside. Outside, there had been a bit of redecoration and pruning.
Another five years later, we were back.
This time on the lunchtime of Monday 26th May 2008, but despite it being Bank Holiday again, the pub wasn't particularly busy. The exterior had been extensively refurbished as had the inside.
The final picture was snapped on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th May 2013 as we were passing through Kinver on the way to Stourport.
We were waiting for the lock, so I managed to get out and take this snap to record the current state of The Vine. Although closed at the time, I can report that it reopened in July. Apart from the scaffolding and pale green paint job, its also interesting to note the new, larger streetlight and that the TV aerial has been re-sited to the far chimney pot!
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