Canal Cruising in a COVID World (Part 1)

Recently we undertook our first canal pub crawl cruise in the 'new normal', post pandemic era.

The good news is that we never failed to get a drink in the 20 or so pubs we visited, but planning in advance was required especially for weekend stops!

What was also remarkable was that every pub followed the guidelines differently - some very strict...and some quite relaxed (in a couple, apart from the signs and the hand sanitiser, it was almost back to normal - people standing at the bar, shaking hands and hugging also!)

We started at The Blue Lias on the Grand Union Canal at Stockton (our regular haunt, the Two Boats, not opening until 4th August!)

Here there was no need to book, but a long one-way system was in operation and food (from a limited menu) was served in polystyrene takeaway trays. We were the only people who sat inside. The lager was cold and the food was just what we wanted!

Next stop was Warwick for the evening where both The Railway and The Roebuck were both accommodating with no need to queue. Normal service in the Railway and table service in the Roebuck. In between, we managed to get a very good Italian meal from our go-to restaurant in Warwick, Piccolino's!

Next day was a Saturday (with predicted good weather) so I'd prebooked The Hatton Arms for lunch as it is the only pub nearby after the slog of Hatton Locks!

This is a large gastro pub with a large outside area to exploit as well as the pub terraces which are now covered and protected from the elements by perspex screens. There was only one way into (and out of) the pub, via the front entrance.

We were a bit early, but our table was available so we sat down and enjoyed a pleasant couple of hours of, essentially, restaurant service. All very efficient as they had plenty of staff on.

For the evening we made our first return for a few years to The Navigation at Lapworth, which I'd pre-booked.

Again, there was a one way system in place and the number of tables in the bar reduced, but again, most people were outside.Bar service for drinks and table service for food, so not too different from normal.

Next day and Sunday lunch was pre-booked at the Fleur-de-Lys in Lowsonford, just a short trip down the Stratford Canal.

Again, strict enforcement of the guidelines was in operation requiring an extra long walk for pedestrians to get into the pub from the car park entrance! They were running a limited menu and drinks range, but the lager was cold so we were happy!

In the evening we got as far as Wilmcote, normally a two-pub village. Unfortunately, the Mason's Arms was closed and up for sale. This was not really a surprise as we'd been expecting it for at least 10 years. As for the Mary Arden Hotel, we weren't sure if it was open and, with it being a Sunday evening, whether we were too late for food. So, it was taxi time and a short trip into Stratford-upon-Avon for the evening.

Our first choice, The Garrick, was closed so we headed straight for the Wetherspoons. This was the first time that we'd had to queue up outside a pub, but we were soon inside The Golden Bee after taking care of the administrative chores.

After all the hype, we didn't have to order via the app and it was all fairly normal, going up to the bar to order food and drinks. After eating and a couple of pints we decided to go for a bit of a wander and have another pint in a different pub.

What a mistake!

We left at about 9:45pm and got to the White Swan/Dirty Duck just before 10pm to be told that they were closing. We knew that Encore was open till 10:30pm so headed there. At just after 10pm we were turned away because there wasn't room...there was! The Red Lion had closed at 10pm, so we headed back to Wetherspoons as they closed at 11pm...but...unbeknownst to us...they don't allow anyone in after 10pm. So we were turned away!

The moral of the story? Don't leave a pub close to closing time in the current climate expecting to get a last drink elsewhere, because you probably won't get it!

The thing that really got to me though was the smugness with which we were turned away (not the Red Lion) which will make me very reluctant to step through their doors once/if this crisis is over! Two early 60's blokes looking for a last drink wasn't going to cause anyone any heartache and yet they turned us away with repressed glee without any form of apology (or even apologetic tone!). Still...lesson learned!

Until next time!

#174 Hatton Arms (aka The Waterman), Hatton, Warks : 1998 to 2014

As any regular narrowboater will know the lock flight at Hatton on the Grand Union Canal is a daunting, but magnificent challenge. At the top of the hill overlooking the flight sits the Hatton Arms (for many years called The Waterman) which is a welcome sight after several hours hard work coming up the locks or a last chance for refreshment before the arduous journey down the hill!

As far as I can determine this was my first ever visit to The Waterman although we'd passed through Hatton Locks several times in the previous 18 years of canal travelling. This was at lunchtime on Friday 26th June 1998. As usual I don't really recall the visit, but I do remember that it has always been a bit of a more upmarket pub that has always served food.

We paid another visit that year at lunchtime on Friday 11th September 1998, but I don't have a photo for that visit!

Our next visit was at lunchtime on Friday 31st May 2002. The only photo I have is a view from the canal looking up the hill to the pub which you will see below.

We were next at The Waterman at lunchtime on Saturday 16th August 2003.

You may have noted that, so far we'd always stopped here on a Friday. This is because the top of Hatton Locks is about half a day's boating away from our moorings at that time, in Lapworth, making The Waterman, potentially, our last stop on the way home and the first stop on the way out (if we started early enough!) On this occasion it was at the start of a journey that took us to Leicester.

Our next visit was on Friday 1st June 2007, again a lunchtime 'pit stop'!

The Waterman had undergone somewhat of a makeover since our last visit and was one of the first pubs I recall having the pastel exterior that is so common these days. Although the hanging sign still shows a kingfisher! (I also find the 'Canalside Pub' description somewhat amusing as you will see from the later pictures!)

Inside it had gone more upmarket, so much so that you couldn't buy a simple ham sandwich, even though they possessed all of the ingredients and you could order a ham ploughman's!

We were back again, twice, two years later.

This was at lunchtime on Saturday 23rd May 2009 at the start of a short trip around the Midlands. Not much had changed, but the kingfisher was no more!

We returned on the evening of Friday 11th September 2009 after an epic 6 hour afternoon journey from the Two Boats at Long Itchington. That's just the 33 locks, including the 21 at Hatton which we did in 1 hour 55 minutes. This must be a record for a 3-man crew! (I was steering, so I did all the difficult bits!!)

Our next visit marked the end of an era, it was on the evening of Friday 4th November 2011 at the start of what turned out to be our last journey on Emma Jane.

It was also the end of another era as this was our last visit before the name changed.

In the era after Emma Jane, we hired boats around the country which enabled us to visit parts of the canal system we'd never been able to visit previously. However, we were back again at lunchtime on Sunday 28th September 2014.

And what a transformation! Now called the Hatton Arms it had become the full gastropub and was largely unrecognisable compared to the days as The Waterman. However, despite my misgivings, it turned out to be much better than the previously average service offered by The Waterman in its later years!

Earlier, I promised you the view of this 'Canalside' pub, from the canal - here it is over the years.

May 2002

June 2007

May 2009

September 2014

It isn't a particularly long walk up the hill to the pub, but is it close enough to call it 'canalside' - I'm not so sure.