Overview

Our trip today included a visit to the Black Boy pub in Knowle, and is part of our historic canal tour around Stratford apon Avon area, which we will offer you details of our tour at a later date. It is situated just outside Henley in Arden, and the attractive little town lies in Warwickshire, in an area that at one time was forested, and then known as the Forest in Arden. In 1140 the first charter was granted so that a market could be held at Beaudesert, which helped the growth of Henley, and following this, in 1220, Henry 111 granted Peter de Montford a royal charter which allowed a market to be held at Henley in Arden. Peter, and his more well known brother, Simon de Montford, were both killed at the battle of Evesham in August 1265. Today, a few buildings remain in Henley of historic interest, such as the Guild hall, and the one mile long High street has many historical buildings you may like to see. The small town is now a popular destination when visiting Stratford apon Avon, which is only 8 miles away. The pub we visited is not the original Black Boy, which stood some distance away, but these premises were built in 1793 to take advantage of the growing canal trade.The new owners the Rigby family restored the old pub in 1993 . It is thought the name Black Boy was named after King Charles 11, a nickname given to him by his mother Queen Henrietta Maria. The merry King, Charles Stuart 11; was known as the black King of England, the word Stuart coming from the old Nordish root Svart, which means black. Like his ancestors before him, King Charles 11 was very dark skinned, but he is falsely painted white in paintings. He was born in 1630, and was nicknamed the black boy by his mother Queen Henrietta Maria, because of his dark appearance His appearance certainly wasn’t English, he had a dark complexion, black hair and dark brown eyes, he resembled his Italian maternal grandmother Marie de Medici side of the family. He was 6 feet 2 inches tall, inherited from his Danish paternal grandmother Anne of Denmark. He died without an official heir on 6th February 1685, having survived the Bubonic plague. All English pubs named the Black Boy are named after this Charles 11, because of his dark complexion. The journey to the Black Boy pub is a very scenic trip, through remnants of the forest (photo 1) which gave Henley its old name Forest in Arden. The driveway up to the pub was very intriguing, and again very scenic (photo 2), and when we saw the pub it looked colourful with many flowers and made us feel we wanted to see more. (Photo 3). The car park is large with two disabled bays, and it’s all on the level, an easy push for wheelchair along compressed ground (photo 4). The main entrance is on the level, (photo 5) but there is a notice saying no pushchairs or prams, but a wheelchair or power chair etc is allowed access through this door, as stated by staff. However, if you wish to sit outside, which is alongside a scenic canal, you have to go along a side entrance (photo 6) although narrow, power chairs will get through. The outside Area is very pleasant, right by the canal with many barges moored or passing by. (photo 7). The seating area is very pleasant (photo 8) with many tables and chairs as you enter along a paved area, and beyond this is a grassy area (photo 9) with concrete paths to go along to reach these tables. Moving around is not a problem. However, it sadly is not very clean, tables cluttered and a general feeling of neglect. If you do decide to sit outside, the staff are non existent, so you have to go and order for yourself at the bar, but to my husbands concern, he found two high steps waiting for him, so impossible for a disabled person, unless you go back along the passageway to the main door which is a bit of a bother to have to do. The interior is very basic, (photo 11) uninviting, doesn’t draw you to want to sit there and relax. The bar itself was just as basic (photo 12) with what seemed a limited choice in drinks. You need to move around pub to reach disabled toilet (photo 13) and The disabled toilet has to be opened by a key collected from staff, so you could be waiting a long time. (photo 14) and we were concerned about using it, so cannot advice you as to size or facilities. Other dinning areas were just as uninspiring (photo 15), but sadly, it is in a lovely setting when sitting outside, so management need to sit and discuss a way forward if wanting to keep customers returning, or eventually the uninterested attitude of staff will catch them out, and they could loose out on a good thing, as many people do love these canal outlooks (photo 16)

Transport & Parking

Parking is of no problem, and although only two disabled bays, there is ample parking spaces. Coming along an inviting driveway you arrive right outside the entrance for the pub.

Access

Mixed feelings here, as notice of no pushchairs or prams allowed inside concerned us as to what to do about wheelchair, should we go in or follow their notice that wheelchairs should use side path if wanting to sit outside. It was a very nice day on our visit, so going along passage did not really matter, until it came time to go and order our own drinks from the bar, we did not see any staff coming around to take orders, or even to clean tables, so then had to face the problem of two high steps to get inside, or take wheelchair all the way round again to main door to enter bar area.

Toilets

We give one star as unable to advice on what toilets were like, there is a disabled toilet, but it needs a key to be collected from bar, and it seemed staff were more concerned about hiding than wanting to help, so we left it.

Staff

My husband only met one member of staff, and she was very kind in that she willingly offered to carry our drinks around to outside table we sat at, but did not meet any others, it seemed they wanted to hide, maybe a busy day had worn them out by now.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

COVID did not bother us as seemed enough sprays available, but no one had masked on at any time, so we made sure we met as little as possible, as still have health concerns and need to keep clear of those who could not care less. If you are not bothered about masks, and happy to sit outside then it’s a pleasant enough little pub. Our final thoughts. When we saw the approach and front entrance it looked very nice, but after that we were not inspired. If it’s a lovely day and you can sit outside it’s worth the trip, but we personally would not go if we had to sit indoors, to plain and basic. A disabled person could manage both outside and inside. We maybe recommend a visit if it’s warm and you are willing to sit outside, but mixed feelings about inside. A disappointing end for our canal tour.

Photos