Winning tip: The Admiral Nelson, Northamptonshire

Waterside pubs are an amazing link with the past on the UK’s 3,000 miles of canals. One of the very best is the Admiral Nelson at the locks near the entry to the Braunston tunnel. The very cosy interior is supplied with a pile of foodie books by an enormous fireplace. You can watch the stream of canal boats and colourful work boats with their gorgeous decorations as the locks are operated, two boats up and then two down. There is a ghost in the part of the pub that was once the canal worker’s morgue. She walks through the wall into the bar, apparently. The Nelson has always been a meeting point for boaters with stories of canal trips around England, and has been for 300 years.
• theadmiralnelson.co.uk
Kate Holbrook

The Riverside, Sheffield

Music, craft beer, ales and a fantastic beer garden are all found in the Riverside just outside Kelham Island in Sheffield. The pub is a hub for all ages, and caters for beer and food lovers alike. The River Don-side beer garden features work by famous graffiti artist Phlegm.
• riversidesheffield.co.uk
ID1280244

Beese’s Riverside Bar, Bristol

The yellow-and-black-striped Conham ferry (50p return) resembled an escapee from a hive, and our party was abuzz with anticipation as we boarded for the short crossing to Beese’s. The tranquil gardens slope right down to the wooded River Avon and most customers arrive by their own water transport. (There are also weekly boat trips from the centre of Bristol.) The menu is extensive, including great vegan choices, and the cream teas are popular. We enjoyed a delicious Sunday lunch as dragonflies shimmered above the sunlit water.
• Open Fri-Sun from April to end of September, beeses.co.uk
rja123

The Cornmill, Llangollen

At the Cornmill in Llangollen, north-east Wales, there’s an excellent bar area and even better food and dining area, with a terrace looking over the River Dee. Watching the water there any day is a great complement to good food and drink but when the conditions are good for kayaking and white-water rafting (most days), it is a real treat. Oh, and mountains, too. The menu includes good takes on British classics, as well as more imaginative offerings, all at a fair price. Main courses £10 to £15.
• brunningandprice.co.uk/cornmill
ID8272404

The Anchor Inn and Boating, East Sussex

Driving along the narrow, one-way track towards this pub , you’d be forgiven for thinking that the satnav had taken you down a dead end. Stick with it, though, and you are rewarded with this picturesque country pub near Lewes, covered in beautiful hanging baskets during the summer months. There is a pleasant front garden but the pub’s real draw is at the back. The River Ouse winds alongside it with rolling countryside and fields into the distance. There’s a deck where you can hire row boats (adult £6 per hour, child £3). Cooked mains are about £12 on average. I should mention that the pub is licensed to hold civil wedding ceremonies – my husband and I were married there in 2014.
• anchorinnandboating.co.uk
Claire Brennan

Saracens Head Inn, Herefordshire

On the banks of the River Wye in Herefordshire, the Saracens Head Inn operates one of the UK’s few hand-pulled ferries. This Symonds Yat ferry is said to have been introduced in Roman times. Hiking a 17-mile stretch of the Wye Valley walk from Monmouth to Ross on Wye, we discovered the pub, which lies directly on the trail. As we sipped refreshing local cider on the riverside terrace in the afternoon languor, the sound of raucous laughter punctuated the air as the ferryman guided passengers to the opposite bank. A river cruise boat, brightly adorned with flowers, navigated the still waters while canoeists worked their paddles rhythmically, eager to reach the churning rapids downstream.
• saracensheadinn.co.uk
eurohike

Rashleigh Inn, Cornwall

There is so much to say about this delectable place, from the minute you walk through the wind-battered door, to the moment you step out again, into reality. Whatever the weather, the Rashleigh Inn at Polkerris, gives great pub. For winter visits, an open fire greets you and then there’s the galleon-like window overlooking the tiny harbour shielding the boats and beach from the wild waves of St Austell Bay. In the summer, you’ll be treated to a sunset like no other, while enjoying a pint of ice-cold cider or local beer on the large terrace at the back. Rustic building, charming staff, delicious pub-grub, including local fish, burgers and sandwiches, and a resident cat. And the most idyllic location.
• rashleighinnpolkerris.co.uk
ID032542

Turf Hotel, Exe Estuary

Since moving away from the West Country, I miss summer visits to the Turf Hotel – a pub (and hotel) that you can only reach by foot, bike or boat. It’s on the cycle trail to Teignmouth, so makes for a great pit stop. Grab a pint and enjoy the huge beer garden overlooking the Exe Estuary, with plenty of birdlife and boats to observe on a summer’s afternoon. You can even get a rowing boat ferry (with bike) across to the other side of the estuary at Topsham, if you want to explore the great pubs there.
• turfpub.net
OneHalfSocialist

The Ferry, Merseyside

Hop on a Mersey ferry from Liverpool to Seacombe and stroll the promenade along the river towards New Brighton. After about 10 minutes you’ll come to what was once the Egremont Ferry Hotel on the corner of Tobin Street. It’s not a hotel, there’s no ferry, but it is in Egremont and is now called simply The Ferry. This pleasant old pub has wonderful views over the Mersey and the Liverpool waterfront. Almost a gastropub, it does the old reliables with a touch of flair and is really good value: all the mains are well under £20. At one time it was comprised of the main bar with two lounges, precise social divisions of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class.
• On Facebook
Fergus Mulligan

The Dog and Doublet, Warwickshire

Lying right beside the Birmingham and Fazeley canal, this pub is an anachronism that would not have been out of place when the canals were in their heyday. It’s in the Curdworth flight at Bodymoor Heath, and is the only sanctuary for tired narrowboaters leaving Birmingham and finding themselves on this stretch of canal. The foods is pretty standard and cheap, the beer too, and the service is unique to this part of the country (indeed, when my friend accidentally ordered drinks to the wrong tab, the landlady corrected his mistake by shouting: “Oy, come here you little sh*t”). No one would ever rate this pub the best in any individual aspect but, when you have a beer, are with friends, after a long day’s boating, there is nowhere else you would rather be.
• On Facebook
Edward Williams