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Winter Pub of the Season 2003
It was raining so much the other Friday night as we drove towards Cromford. The roads were almost flooded; so much so that we did begin to start looking for an Ark! We didn’t find one, but we did find a boat. And the best thing was that this boat not only served beer, it was also holding a Beer Festival ~ we had arrived at Scarthin, Cromford and the place was The Boat Inn! The Boat was originally built in 1772 under the orders of Richard Arkwright as a place for his workers to drink. It is now a friendly village pub run by the White family ~ a place where you will find good food, good beer, good music, good atmosphere and (of course) Beer Festivals! If you go there you are assured of a friendly welcome from the Whites, their bar staff and their resident pets ~ Guinness the 3 year old pub cat and Jazz a 9 month old Bearded Collie. They have music nights on Tuesdays, bands playing on the last Friday or Saturday of the month and a pub quiz every other Sunday. Add to this four hand pumps (Marston’s Pedigree 4.5% ABV and Springhead Bitter 4.0% ABV are permanent and two ever changing guest beers) and the food from Frets Restaurant, and there is always something to tempt you back. You will find The Boat in the centre of Cromford village near to the Market Place. You can reach it by car (via the A6 between Matlock and Derby), by train (the station is a few minutes walk away) and by some local bus services. If you are going by car you will need to park in the Market Place where you will see a sign for the pub! The best thing is to get someone else to drive, get dropped off outside and then you can have a few beers! We opted for the latter option… We rolled in on the 14th November, the first day of the three day festival, to find Congeroo (a blues/rock trio) playing in the main bar. We headed downstairs to the “Cromford Cavern” (the downstairs function room) where the beers were on display for the Festival. There was a great selection of 14 beers and 2 ciders, including Brewster’s Last Orders (brewed by Leatherbritches in honour of the pub’s late dog), Abbeydale Black Mass and Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted (this years GBBF winner). All the beers we tried (and we tried a good number) were excellent and the music that filtered downstairs was great too.
After the formalities were over there was a great deal more enjoying of beer, before it was time for us to be dragged onto the minibus for the journey back home.…it was still raining, but we all seemed to have forgotten about it! Andrea Waterhouse Boat Inn - Cromford This webpage was last updated on Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
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But
we weren’t just there to socialise ~ we had a serious reason for visiting The
Boat Inn too. Kevin, Debbie, Dave and the team had just won our award for Winter
Pub of the Season, so there was congratulating and certificate giving to come!
Kevin was genuinely thrilled to accept the award and posed happily for photos in
the main bar and with the beer down in the cellar bar. The folks in the bar also
looked happy and I heard many saying that it was richly deserved. Judging by the
welcome we received, and the high quality of the ale, I can’t argue with them.
It was a great night in a great pub!