Muddy Waters and the Jolly Boatman
Last Monday I decided to dine in the Jolly Boatman pub. The Jolly Boatman has had a bad name over the last couple of years, it has changed hands a great deal, the public house was re-vamped in a wine bar style and dogs were not allowed – a bit silly considering the pub sits on the edge of the canal and along a walkers paradise. When the new people arrived 2 months ago I wondered whether they were here to stay. It seems they are which can only be a good thing as the pub needed some stability and sensibility if it was to stay open. The new landlords are boaters themselves appreciating the way of the water and those of walkers. They are boaters, have dogs and have a sign along the road that tells us Muddy Boots and Dogs are welcome. They were in the paper last week. Waterways World and Canal Boat magazine are available to read along with the daily papers, and if you want to take a copy of the magazines home they are for sale too – along with other boat books and eggs.
The menu is new so I decided to give it a go and Maffi liked the idea so off we went. The food was good but the company was fantastic. Maffi and I turned up to dine only to discover that Dan Clacher the author of Muddy Waters was dining with his wife. We were invited to join them and had a fantastic evening of good food, good wine, good company and side splitting stories from Dans days as a policeman egged on by his wife who is nothing short of delightful.
If you are familiar with Thomas the Thanks Engine and love them, then you will love the waterways equivalent Muddy Waters. On the website you can find all the information you need about the characters, the books, where to buy them and there is even a worksheet to download
Maffi is a big fan of the books and has been promoting them on his blog along with new snippets he comes across such as this video on you tube, and on his blog which the Clachers really do appreciate, so much so they paid the bill, I am not sure why I was included, but it really was a real treat to share a meal together!
Thanks Guys!
posted by MortimerBones at
1:48 PM
7 Comments:
Be warned, We are heading your way.
We may not get that far, I am still miffed at missing the none BBQ at the weekend, I love the quarry.
Brian and Di
Woo Hooooo! Are you really?!!??! Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How exciting! When are you going to get here?! This is GREAT news.
How nice that is, it will be great to see you both.
I think I've just been inspired to get down to the Boatman again, I've not seen it since a couple of owners ago! I'll drag a friend along on your recommendation :D
Maybe we could all meet up Saturday lunchtime and invite the Alnwicks to join us too.
Wa do you think?
nb Oakfield
sounds like a great idea to me! I am thinking of taking the boat into Oxford during the week as I fancy a bit of city life for a while. I can easily get back up to Thrupp though ( and will do as Annie's is open at the weekend!)
Brian - will you be here by the weekend?!
I hate to add a less enthusiastic note to these reviews (but possibly they are biased - other websites suggest the landlord writes his own!), but my experience is much more mixed.
The food was fairly good, but the staff - whilst happy in their work - were grossly inexperienced and under-trained - a major management failure. No-one seemed to have explained to them the different functions of various pieces of cutlery. Fairly basic I'd have thought.
The guy who claimed to be the landlord (with strangely coloured hair for a middle-aged man) also came across as a distinctly miserable and unwelcoming character.
All the other reviews appear to come from a particular crowd (mates of the landlord?) so if you're not in that circle, I wouldn't be swayed by them.
It's OK and clearly in a nice location, but don't expect any more than 1 or 2 stars as an overall experience.
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