The Narrowboat Inn

Just after 9am we met Lockie Gareth who helped work us up the 4 Frankton Locks. Will gave him one of his homemade mince pies as thanks and we turned left off the Montgomery Canal and back on to the Llangollen.

It was about 5°C but it was pretty windy so we didn't cruise much further. Even so, Vicky got chilled standing at the tiller and it took her several hours to get her core temperature warmed up.

The Narrowboat Inn had its own mooring spot but it was close to an A road so we carried on and found a grassy spot just before a fallen ash tree that blocked the towpath.

It was Leo's 5th birthday so after we'd had a rest we walked back to the pub with him nestled in Vicky's jacket. Will needed to carry Tiger half the way too because the hedge trimmers had left spikey hawthorn and dog rose sticks accross the path. Elsewhere our boots got sucked into deep mud where the drainage ditches had been overwhelmed. Tiger would have been in it up to her belly!

A boater we'd passed earlier had asked if we'd seen the fuel boat and Will was just saying how typical it would be if it passed while we were in the pub when we spotted it refueling another boat. We decided to forgoe the drink but when we talked to the driver he said he'd be happy to fill us up while we were in the pub and leave the bill to be paid by BACS! Best of both worlds. We gave him the combination to the lock and asked him to put the bill through the cat flap. It was only £1.12 per litre, a lot cheaper and easier than pulling into a marina.

The Narrowboat was an unsusual pub with a long saloon of rectangular tables. They'd invested in the theme with traditional canal painting on the placemats, plates and walls, canal scenes in frames and various boat oddments like pipes, knotted rope etc.

It was full of a group of around 30 pensioners enjoying a christmas meal. We sat near the bar so Leo could enjoy watching watching people as they passed by and even get a few strokes from admirers. We returned the following day for lunch but were disappointed with canteen type food that seemed to have been frozen and reheated. Still, the landlord was friendly and we had a good time nonetheless.Baca selengkapnya