Overview

The approach to the old pub lies in beautiful scenic countryside (photo 1) around the delightful ancient small town of Henley in Arden. ( Set your Sat NAV for B95 5 HJ) and it stands alongside the Stratford and Avon canal (photo 2) in the village of Lowsonford. One of the famous buildings here is the Fleur de Lys (photo 3) originally a 17th century public house, by the same name, and was later known for its pies, baked here in the 1950,s. The pub supplied many of the counties fish and chip shops, before expanding its sales nationwide, and then taken over by Pukka Pies, a firm based in Leicestershire. The Fluer de Lys is named after the job of a Murenger, an officer who had charge of the wall of a town, perhaps originating from the pub in Newport, Gwent. His job was to collect tolls for the repair of town walls, and these taxes were called Mirage. Following our lovely drive to get here, and set alongside the canal, the old 17th century pub looked inviting when we saw it. (photo 3) and the car park is large, on hard core, ( photo 4) so easy for wheelchair use. No actual disabled bays, but all parking is close enough. Easy access to the entrance door over paved slabs (photo 5) all on the level, with a nice shady place to sit under large canopy. As you enter the pub, (photo 6) it has kept its character with that olde world appearance, and to get in it is all on the level. There is a seating area on the flat as you entered, ideal to place your wheelchair or scooter, i(photo 7) and a powerchair could manage, although in limited areas, but unfortunately, to get to the bar to order there are steps, (photo 8) so your carer would have to do the ordering for you, so a disabled person would not be able to get to the bar area, or even to get to the well signed toilets, as there are steps from now on. The bar has a character with a rustic appearance (photo 9) with plenty of old world wooden beams, you can imagine life here in the past. The large log burning fireplace has plenty of logs stacked ready for use (photo 10) so warming and welcoming on a cold winters day. Exiting the pub, they have endeavoured to try to brighten up the area with a colourful display of a few plabts, (photo 11) and if it is a warm day, suitable to sit outside, a disabled person could manage quite well, with plenty of tables and chairs under cover (photo 12) but there is another area under a large canopy, by the staked hay bales, but this has large chippings on the floor, and that would be difficult. Beyond this you find a large open grass field with table and chairs alongside the canal, (photo 13) which was very picturesque, and easily enough for wheelchair to be pushed across. Our final thoughts. If the weather is warm enough and you can sit outside, it is worth the visit, the ride through pretty countryside in itself is worth taking just to get here, then it’s an attractive olde world 17th century pub, with an historical story to tell, but the inside of the pub is not at all disabled friendly with lots of steps, and we could not find a way on the flat to reach the toilets. If you can sit outside, it’s very pleasant with lots of shaded canopies if hot, or to protect you from a sudden shower or two. You will get your chair across the well kept grassland for views over the canal, so all in all, for outside use we could recommend taking the afternoon trip and enjoying the olde pub. But because of limited use for disabled we will only offer 2.5 marks. We did this trip as part of our historical canal trip, which we will offer you a full detailed review of the days trip itself in our final review for the whole trip, combining everywhere we visited, which makes for a delightful day out, and one you can manage quite well.

Transport & Parking

It’s a lovely countryside drive just to get here, then it has a reasonable large car park, on hardcore, with no visible disabled bays, but that’s no problem.

Access

It’s easy enough to get into the olde world pub, on the level from car park into the top dining area of pub, but then it’s steps everywhere. Better to sit outside where it’s level and plenty of cover under a large canopy. Sadly, you will miss a lot of the character of this pub due to limitations, but on a warm sunny day there are lots of areas to be able to sit and relax.

Toilets

All signs pointing to toilets led from steps, we did not find a level pathway to reach them, so cannot offer any suggestions as to what to expect.

Staff

Only met one young lady, so cannot say what their attitude towards disabled would be

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Felt safe enough I suppose, but as it’s indoors, no one wore masks, certainly not outdoors, which is still of concern to someone like myself who has health concerns, but although we always wear masks, it can still be a worry.

Photos