the waterman pub

This is a pleasant waterside pub next to the big flight of locks at Hatton. It has a vast car park, and plenty of outside seating to enjoy the views of the canal and watch the boats going to and fro.
Immaculately clean, the pub has a menu of posh pub grub, with some nice-​looking salads on the menu. Unfortunately the kitchen was closed when we visited.
Our drinks were reasonably priced, and this is clearly a place where you can loiter with a paper watching the world go by.

I stopped here today on my way to a meeting. My husband (and, in this case, chauffeur) and I had a pint of Arkrights each, and I had vegetable soup, and hubby had a salad.
The food was good (though the salad husband got was a bit on the small side — when they said starter portion, they really meant it).
The pub wasn’t busy, but the atmosphere is good — wood floors, old style décor, comfortable chairs along with some stools and pews — and some odd pews that are also stools.
The chap behind the bar was very friendly, even noting that we were on a time limit and moving accordingly. The place was spotless (I noted extremely clean windows) and the toilets clean and comfortable. I was especially amused by the little sign asking ‘are you sitting comfortably’ and then suggesting you apply for a job.
They have a number of special offers. There is a garden and terrace outside, though it was too cold for us to sit there. The view over the canal was very pleasant.
Beer and food are reasonably priced — the beer we had was £2.75 a pint, and the food priced between £5.00 for starter portions and £10 — £12. There is also an extensive wine list.
There is a large car park. This is a good pub — shame I don’t live close enough to visit more often.

This has recently been transformed from a bog standard out of town pub to a more upmarket out of town eatery. There is a big carpark outside the pub but beware Wednesday is biker night and it gets very packed with motorbikes.
There is an average menu that tries to include ‘posh nosh’ but the prices are very high for the area and the food does not live up to expectations. They try to compete with other local upmarket pubs but do not provide the same standard of food.
The staff are excellent and the pub is clean and newly decorated. Toilets are good.
They have a beer garden round the back of the pub which overlooks the canal which is nice on a hot day. Drinks selection is good and there some real ale choices, again drinks are expensive and they concentrate on selling the usual mass market lager.