The UK's LARGEST inland waterways publication

An amble with a pub...on the Kennet & Avon Canal

THE George is a vision of Olde England in a building packed with character that can only be pasted by time not design. Priest holes, low ceilings, creaking beams, nooks and crannies and real fires to snuggle up to, give this pub special cosiness.

The building was once a 12th-century monastery, but it is the Cask Marque ale served here these days that has become a beer connoisseur’s grail. The George says ‘we champion small regional breweries when stocking our cellar’ (and Coolcanals’ taste buds can vouch that the choice from the taps is usually good).

Wines, coffees or herbal teas are all served too; and the food is extremely edible, as well as reasonably priced.

The hardest thing about this pub is choosing where to sit. Tiny rooms seem to tuck themselves in every direction and just when you think you’ve discovered them all, another cubby-hole appears around a corner. Each space feels different with floors of wood, flagstones, tiles, carpets; and walls of stone, wood panelling or just hidden behind grandfather clocks and wall hangings.

Throughout the pub, old timber blends with new additions. The solid wood tables for eaters and drinkers are the sort your mum might have had in her dining room when you were a kid (except these are sanded rustically in a way that would have made her squeal).

The person next to you could be a great-granny or a lycra-sprayed cyclist, since the George is one of those rare pubs that effortlessly makes different types of customers feel at home – “olives or crisps, Martini or Hobgoblin?” It’s a friendly pub that’s busy for a reason. Boaters, cyclists, unhealthy walkers like us and infernally hungry children are offered takeaway fish and chips too. The pub welcomes children, but doesn’t insult them with plastic ‘family fun’.

The Kennet & Avon Canal running straight past the George is part of the National Cycle Network Route 4, which explains why it’s a popular watering hole for bikes, boots and boats.

In the best of summer you’ll have to scramble through piles of dismounted bikes propped along the waterside to grab a patch of grass on the towpath or a table at lunchtime in the beer garden for good al-fresco eating and gongoozling.

Make a day of it Towpath amble

You could spend the whole day doing nothing more than simply relaxing in the George, but there are plenty of canal highlights to explore along the towpath. So bring your bike with you, or a pair of comfy boots. If you turn right out of the pub, it’s a two-mile stroll to the Georgian city of Bath. Turn left out of the pub to visit one of the canal’s pumping stations and its grandest aqueduct.

Claverton Pumping Station

About a mile from the pub, follow the signpost down from the canal, crossing over the railway. The pumping station was built to pump water up from the River Avon to feed the canal. It has been restored by volunteers, and you can see it in action on special 'Pumping Days'.

Open to the public end of Apr-end of Oct, Wed, Sat, Sun & bank hols. 10am-5pm (last admission 4.30pm) (Wed 10am-4pm last admission 3.30pm). Admission charge.

Pumping Days

Two or three times a month during the season. Specific dates vary.
01225 483001 www.claverton.org

Dundas Aqueduct

About a mile further on, the towpath crosses to the other side of the water as you approach Dundas Aqueduct. A footbridge takes you over the entrance to Brassknocker Basin (the old Somersetshire Coal Canal) before you reach the aqueduct.

Dundas Aqueduct was built in 1804 by John Rennie, chief architect and engineer of the Kennet & Avon Canal. According to the useful British Waterways’ information board next to the aqueduct, Rennie wanted to use brick rather than Bath stone, because he thought stone was too expensive and not up to the job. In the end he lost the argument and stone was used anyway. Just as well, you might think, when you feast your eyes on this classic monument today!

If you look closely at the stonework, you will see the proud signatures of the stonemasons.

Words: PHILLIPPA GREENWOOD    
Photography: MARTINE O’CALLAGHAN