Beers, Boats and Boozers, 2018. No.10

Our time in Liverpool was up and we had to make our way back the way we had come as we were booked for a passage over the Ribble Link to experience the Lancaster Canal for the first time.

Burscough Junction services, just behind the bridge, has been closed for a while now, but there is still a tap on the Rufford Arm side of the bridge, as well as the Leeds/Liverpool side, plus you can wind in the dry dock entrance before the first lock.

The flat lands of the River Douglas and Ribble are home to vegetable growers, and it is so flat that the wind doesn't have anything to stop it blowing you all over. We had to get very inventive to get off the landing after passing through a swing bridge. It involved ropes to the centre of the bridge etc etc to try to get the stern off enough to give the bow a chance when coming ahead!

Before reaching Tarleton before the tidal section begins you pass through an old disused lock and on to a part of the canal that used to be the River Douglas as it winds to the Ribble. The tidal lock now keep the levels constant.

About 20 mins walk from the visitor moorings near the tidal lock at Tarleton is the Cock and Bottle. This was how it looked at the start of 2017 before over £1 million was spent on it's refurbishment.

And here we are today (2018). The old function room has been turned into a dining area and it has gone up market to gastro pub style. However it is nicely done and with separate areas so as if you just want a drink you can find somewhere quiet. The food did look good and there were plenty of waiting staff too, maybe could do with another person behind the bar though. The pub is Thwaites and the in connection with Fayre Inns.

As can be seen Thwaites has been brewing for over two hundred years and from their brewery in Blackburn since 1863. They are closing that brewery, if not have already and are moving out to a new purpose built brewery in the Ribble Valley. They are one of the few brewers to still have dray horses and they are going with them too. They have sold the rights of their beers Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber beers to Marstons in the last few years.

I had a pint of their Original Best Bitter 3.6%, £3-55. A bit pricey but being made with marris otter malt it had a nice malty taste with a good bitterness on the tongue.

I also had a pint of Tarleton Tickler 3.8% that is brewed specially for the pub by Thwaites and was still £3-55. It turned out to be a good session ale that looked good in the glass and the taste lasted well in the mouth too.

All in all a nice pub to walk to for a pint but especially as a celebration for the start of, or the return from, the Ribble crossing.