Boat Inn, The

Located alongside the top lock of the seven canal locks at Stoke Bruerne on the Grand Union Canal, this lively waterside inn is more than just a much-loved local, providing a wide variety of food and entertainment for a widely-drawn clientele, including passing boaties, as well as those who just like the association with boats minus the ruinous cost of keeping them.

The timber and stone barn style restaurant, opened in 1978, offers an air of elegance, splendid views over the surrounding action, and makes an excellent venue for candlelit dinners, business lunches and that great British pastime, Sunday lunch.

The Boat Inn is run by the fourth generation of the Woodward family, and is very firmly independent of any brewery. Its location, together with the picturesque thatched roof and limestone construction, ensures that it has more than the customary share of attention lavished upon an idylically set historic inn.