please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Perfectly functional canalside pub. Post work crowd a mixture of blue and white collar workers - with plenty of diners coming in.
There is a good drinking bar with a real wood burning stove that I bet is lovely in the winter. Beer wise - a good choice - Brew XI, Mad Goose Purity and I couldn't ignore a perfect pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord.
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Ref the hand pull Guiness. The innkeeper, aforementioned Yorkshireman Mark has a beer dispensing company. A whole ago he invented a technique for dispensing Guiness by hand pull and it was so successful the powers that be from Dublin popped over to sample it. Apparently, and I'm not a Guiness drinker, it tastes fantastic. Come up and try it.....
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Guinness on handpulll?
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Excellent ale, choice of six hand pull included in this Guiness...so five if you are a purist. Innkeeper Mark dispenses Yorkshire humour by the barrel and keeps the best ale for miles around. Stone floor in the main bar with roaring fire in winter. Dogs welcome.
Eating in either the restaurant, outside in the canal side beer garden or inside in the main bar or room off to the left. Bar staff are good to very good and if they can keep a competent chef, long enough well worth dining in. Usual challenge with chefs, bit like eggs, they get poached.
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Nice refurb, friendly staff and the finest pint of pale ale (Lapworth Gold) you could ever dream of tasting - served in a jug too!
Class act.
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An idyllic beer garden proved to be a great setting for a sumptuous fish platter and a pint of Lapworth Gold while my companion's brie and veggies sandwich also slid down well. Lots of ale choice too although the interior has been slightly crassly modernised. Books on Britain's waterways are there to be thumbed through.
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Now very cream in colour with stripped pine floors in places and smart soft furnishings. A little of the olde-worlde character has been lost to a slight feeling of sterility but this is a decent smart place to visit and popular and I recommend it. Both the Holden's (at £3.40) and Timothy Taylor's Landlord were a little cold for me. What I believe was an American-style pale ale called Lapworth Gold is also available on handpull. Aspall's and Thatcher's Gold were the ciders on offer.
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Found this pub by chance from the Grand Union canal at bridge 65, just above Kingswood Junction. A warm welcome from the Yorkshire landlord with a about four real ales on handpump, including draught Guinness - the first in the country, so I was told by the landlord Mark Ainley, who is also Director of Universal Beer Dispense Ltd. The pub had been closed for restoration for about 6 months and still smelled of fresh paint, but don't let that put you off; he has spent �100,000 on it so far and it shows. The Tim Taylors Landlord was in excellent condition and went down a treat after 3 hours locking on the Hatton flight of locks. There was no food at the time, but I am assured by Mark that it will be basic home cooked food to satisfy the most hungry of visitors. There is a canalside garden and the toilets are immaculate, which makes a refreshing change to most pubs. This pub has loads of promise and I hope it comes up to expectations when I visit next. 8/10 for the welcome and the beer.
Oakie - 26 Jun 2012 19:50 |
There is a notice on the door saying it will re-open soon. The outside has been painted off-white and green/grey and the inside looks as if it might be going the same way.
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This has got the potential to be a fantastic pub with it�s traditional interior and picturesque canal side setting. Unfortunately though, on a recent visit it didn�t quite live up to expectations. There were no real ales on and the loos are clearly in need of some TLC � there was no soap in the ladies, no hot tap in the gents, and the windows were wedged open with knives as the handles had broken.
It�s a pleasant looking pub from the outside with visible timbering, and the olde worlde theme continues inside. The main bar has enormous flagstones on the floor, and wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with whitewashed brickwork above. There was a fireplace at one end with an unusual curved brick chimney. A very large pike (maybe, I�m not a fish expert) was mounted in a glass case above the fireplace. Adjoining this was a slightly smaller bar again with a fireplace and wood flooring. We didn�t try the food on this occasion, but there was a decent looking menu chalked up on a board.
At the rear is what looks like a restaurant area, although this wasn�t in use on our visit, which seemed odd as it was a Sunday lunchtime. The main draw for many people will be the large canal side garden at the rear of the pub which also has attractive flower boarders. The canal runs immediately next to the pub, so offers a great view of the narrow boats going past, and if you�re on a boat yourself there is a convenient gate leading directly in to the garden. There is also a patio area with an unusual straw roof covering.
Despite four hand pumps on the bar, unfortunately none of these were in use. The chalkboard listed Holdens and Timothy Taylor Landlord, but it would seem that both of these had run out (along with the San Miguel, which Mrs B. Was none too pleased about). To make matters worse, the only cider on offer was Strongbow.
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Best canalside pub for a long way. Excellent cider, hearty chips, friendly staff. The restaurant round the back is a bit sterile but otherwise we love it.
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We went for a evening meal (party of 10), and went in blind as we had not visited previously. The decor is nice (Bar old fashioned, Dining room more modern), real ale was reasonable: Holdens was pretty good, Timothy Taylors was not. The menu looks uninspiring, with quite a few main course and very few(one)starters, but actually the food was pretty good, hearty fare.
My issue was with the food service, pretty much order at the bar (even for a table of 10) and get left to your own devices, food was a little slow (which is acceptable), no one came to check we were OK, to offer more drinks, etc. Same old problem, young (but friendly) untrained staff running the place, could do with a little care and attention on the service, so I would not recommend friends to go there. Overall: Average pub in a nice canal side setting.
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Traditional, attractive front bar with granite-slabbed floor and real fire. You have to pass through this bar to get to the lounge so it's difficult to make a discreet entrance and you will be on display! The locals were friendly enough but at least one thinks he is a comedian.
Timothy Taylor's Landlord and a Holden's brew were the real ales available and both were fine. They also do a few ciders.
Food is served between 12 and 2 at lunchtime. There is a fair selection which is all listed on the chalkboard. Many itmes are available in child size portions. Portions are large so less hungry patrons may be advised to try kiddie versions.
The pub is closed Monday to Wednesday between 3:00 and 5:30. Packwood House is a short distance away if you want something to do before/after.
All-in-all, The Navigation is how I like a country pub to be.
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Nice place if you can afford it!
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Great country pub. No problems with the warm and friendly staff, and the locals where really friendly and helpful. Good beer and food, all at resonable prices.
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proper country pub good choice of traditional beers great atmosphere good set of locals once you get talking to them all round my kind of place
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Nice cosy pub good atmosphere, staff not very friendly, good choice of beers, bad choice of warm lagers.
anonymous - 30 Jan 2006 14:53 |
Nice old pub, locals don't like strangers but the food and drink makes up for that
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Nice old pub with good pub food for the money and decent beers.Nice in the summer
Only problem is some of the locals who hang round the lefthand side of the bar can be very rude to "Strangers" and seem to think they own the pub.
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Best pub in Lapworth by a mile. Great old building with new extention for diners. Great food, guest beers, nice gardens. Nice place winter or summer.
Arnie - 22 Feb 2005 16:35 |
Proper pub with granite floors, log fires etc
anonymous - 25 Jan 2005 15:16 |
