please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Had family visiting now we've moved near here and thought it would be a good place to start the day. Didn't disappoint, 2 Heritage Brewing Beers plus Pedigree and Harrington Whim Ale. Food looked as good as ever - we had eaten here since the previous post.
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Great pub in the village we were staying, was 'bittered out' from earlier in the day so can't comment on the beers. Was going to eat here the following night but bad weather and transport difficulties defeated us. Better luck next time.
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Visited this pub 1st and 2nd July 2013. Both evenings were just perfect,good choice of ales ( taster offered each time ) and well kept. The food was some of the best pub meals i'v had. Ok its not quick but if its speed you want go to a pub that micro waves everything or a fast food burger place, the food quality and price are outstanding ( Pie n Pint night £6.95 and it was all home made ) Staff and locals very friendly ( I could not see any starey locals ). If you find yourself in Cromford this is the only pub to use.
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Didn't rate this place much at all I'm afraid. The beer was so-so, the locals starey and the place itself a bit shabby. Was hoping for so much more as it looked nice from the outside.
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Good pub with good ale and a mix of locals and visitors. Didn't try the food but it seemed to be going down well. Friendly helpful staff. Good allrounder.
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Last visited this Free House in March 2012; the new landlord and landlady had just taken over and it looked a promising start. My visit yesterday (October 2012) was very enjoyable, 5 real ales - 3 local ales (all tried and very good) plus 2 well known national brews - not tried. Was not intending to eat but the food looked good so gave it a go and it was good - pub food not a restaurant - didn't need to eat that evening. Locals very friendly, as were the landlord/landlady had a good chat with various people. I'll be going back.
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Pleasant enough pub, friendly staff and nice beer garden. Everards Tiger was in good nick when we visited!
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My wife and I stayed in a B&B in Cromford celebrating our Wedding Anniversary in October 2009. We visited all the local establishments, the Boat included. The Boat was a friendly, clean and very welcoming pub with lots of locals enjoying the entertainment. The Hostess was very accomodating, and we returned every evening of our stay. We even had a game of Pool.
We returned in October 2010, to find a change in Management. Unfortunately, although the pub had had a lick of paint, the atmosphere had gone, the Johns Smiths was off, and the Manager was not impressed when we told him of this, denying the fact. The locals were nowhere to be seen, and this for us set the alarm bells ringing. On further investigation, we found out that the same people ran the Boat as had the Greyhound - which also lacked local residents. We made our way to The Bell Inn in Cromford, which was warm, welcoming and bustling with local folks ... we enjoyed meeting up again with friends we'd made the year before and had a swell time.
A pub is a pub, but good beer is important, and this little diamond deserves better behind the bar than it has at the moment. The right management would bring this little diamond back to life, it had sunk when last we visited. Such a shame.
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A great traditional pub. Enjoyed a nice drop of Black Sheep and a plate of beef stew - perfect on a cold day. Very busy on a Saturday lunchtime, including a band of Morris Dancers who seemd to be having a stiffener before the fray!
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Recently re-opened, perfect old fashioned pub. Lovely great value food, good range of real ales (4) and very friendly and inviting hosts. Just taken a party of 8 for food and we had a great time and were well lookd after. Highly recommended.
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Visted yesterday, after a 6-mile walk around the Cromford area. Pub was empty bar us and one other couple - why?!
It was clean and attractive indoors, several specials boards, offering a nice selection of food. A lovely beer garden - in fact several different beer gardens! Service was good, on offer was Batemans XXXB, Abbot, and (I think) a Theakstons. We had the Batemans and it was nice beer. Sat out in the sun in garden, a pint had gone before I'd even got settled. Food was tasty and reasonably priced.
Reaction from work colleagues after hearing we'd been, "What, you went there?! It's terrible!". "No, it wasn't!" So it must have changed hands (as alluded to in the previous review).
Well worth a visit if you're in Cromford, a nice little pub, tucked away up a quiet side street.
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Was left a little disappointed by this pub. It's got a great location in the centre of the town next to the Cromford Dam and just down from Scarthin books (which itself was interesting). Inside was pleasantly warm compared with the freezing cold temperatures outside. Three real ales were on - Black Sheep Best, Ruddles County and Everards Tiger. But the fridges were fairly bare. Judging by the number of leaflets and posters asking if you wanted the opportunity to buy the pub, I guess the pubco may have put this place up for sale and they were running the stock down. Hopefully this is not the case.
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We used this pub several times during the week 19th Sept--25th Sept. The landlady Elaine had only been there 7 weeks. We received a warm welcome ,the pub felt cosy and we felt at ease . The beers we had were in good condition, Black Sheep and Everards Tiger. The food was basic pub style,well cooked and plenty of it. At �4 95 very good value. We were ready to leave when the group started up,on Friday evening but were surprised we were still able to hear ourselves talking. Most of the folks there (50+)also enjoyed it too. Well done Elaine, Keep up the good work,Cromford needs a good local
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Very quiet on Friday lunchtime. Seven people and no dogs. Four beers on but no sign of food. The Bakewell Best Bitter was okay but the Amber Stout was rather flat. We did go back later only to find that it closes at three o'clock.
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Handy for the legendary Scarthins bookshop.
The beer is well kept, however there is a general grubbiness about the place and I would agree about the pervading smell of dog.Not sure I would want to eat here.
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i was looking forward to visiting this pub, but despite its opening times being listed by the door, and arriving after opening time, it was still not open.
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Very quiet for a Friday lunchtime, but the pint of Odyssey from the local Leatherbritches Brewery was in good condition. Noticed the dog bowls, but thankfully the place doesn't smell of the creatures. Surprisingly unkeen to sell the advertised ploughman's lunches to two customers who came in a bit later on - funny way to run a pub if you ask me...
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I wish that I had read the previous review before I visited the Boat last week because if I had the words �dogs welcome� would have totally put me off. I am not a fan of dogs being allowed into pubs at any time, ASSISTANCE DOGS EXCEPTED, specially when food is being served. Although many publicans do in fact have the common sense to do this, it is not actually against the law to allow dogs into public dining areas on licensed premises �
My first impressions when I walked into the Boat on a cold damp miserable November day were pretty good because it seemed to be a nice warm cosy little pub where I could enjoy a nice pint and a quick sandwich
But I was wrong because from there on things began to go downhill. It had four real ales on when I visited � two mainstream and two from micros. I had a pint of Slater�s Top Totty, which wasn�t bad, but it certainly wasn�t outstanding. Then, when I enquired if they served sandwiches or rolls, I was brusquely informed that the only food available was a choice of a few main meals displayed on a chalk board at the side of the bar. The barman�s �take-it-or-leave-it� attitude certainly didn�t impress me at all.
Being on quite a tight schedule, I decided to leave it, and I�m damn glad that I did because when I sat down, I noticed that there was a large black dog begging for tit-bits from the four people who were eating on a table nearby. I became even less impressed when I realised that it was not their dog when it moved on to trying to scrounge food from other diners. The final straw was when, after one of the diners got very uptight and complained quite strongly and the barman reluctantly ushered the animal behind the bar, I realised that it was the pub�s own dog.
For me, this is totally unacceptable. If the management allows the dog to beg scraps from customers, where else, and what else is this animal allowed to go and do in this pub ???
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What a great pub! We opted to call in this hostelry as they welcomed well behaved dogs. The ale was great, the atmosphere lovely, staff and regulars very, very welcoming and friendly. Also served great quality REAL cider. We look forwarding to visiting again!!
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This is a really good pub for real ales. It currently stocks Whim Hartington and Pedigree, but also has at least two other guest bitters on a constantly changing basis - really good bitters like Absolution, Pale Rider, Hartington IPA, etc etc. The food is quite good too. The live music at weekends (and the occasional weekday)is a plus. The pub's own beer festivals, with typically 20 odd ales straight from the cask are eagerly anticipated. No constant background music. It's dog heaven, pubwise. And finally, The locals add to the atmosphere too.
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Good attention to ale. The cellar is clean, it seems, and the lines are kept well. Friendly locals.
anonymous - 1 May 2005 23:01 |
