A tale of the half-full glass at Buckby Wharf

Tim Coghlan visited an old haunt, The New Inn at Buckby Top Lock on the Grand Union Canal, as it reopened at noon on July 14 – Bastille Day – under the new social distancing rules.

HAVING worked on narrowboats in various capacities for more than 30 years, running a pub was completely new to Craig Allen and he would be on a steep and challenging learning curve. But he felt the urge to have a go when the previous owners of The New Inn decided to retire and the hostelry came up for sale.

There was now every prospect that this inn, which had links going back to the very earliest days of the Grand Junction Canal, might suffer the same fate as that of so many other pubs.

Craig had been aware of the pub’s recent history for the simple reason that he lived in the house next door – Top Lock Cottage – overlooking the canal. In former times the house, which had been rebuilt in 1911, was the boatmen’s shop, latterly run by Shirley Ginger, who wrote an account of her life there in two books, Lock, Stock and Barrel and A Little More Boasting.

In particular the shop sold large tin water cans, made in Birmingham, that were painted here in bright colours for the working boatmen – hence the name ‘Buckby cans’. The hooks where the cans were hung are still in the ceiling of the room that had once been the shop.

Craig had felt that The New Inn had great potential with a good makeover and serving wellcellared ales and ciders. For meals, they would offer popular, simple food, which could be locally sourced where possible, and quickly and freshly cooked – with himself very much at the helm. Everything would be offered at very reasonable prices to encourage frequent return visits.

While it wasn’t close to any village and a few miles from the nearest town of Daventry, it had a wonderful destination potential. It was right beside Buckby Top Lock. Drinkers could sit outside and watch the spectacle of boats, sometimes in pairs, going up and down the deep lock – one of the most well-used in the country.

There were ample moorings above and below it for visiting boaters, tempted to call by after completing the seven heavy double locks in the flight, or choosing to stay the night, and enjoying a meal there. It could also be a popular place with canal walkers now the towpath to Daventry and Braunston was in reasonable order, making the inn only an hour away.

Craig’s hunch proved correct, and within only weeks of reopening, the pub had served more than 150 meals in one weekend. His new venture was already proving a great success, going from strength to strength.

Then suddenly it all came to a juddering halt with the coronavirus outbreak. At the end of March this year, the inn was shut and the staff furloughed. And no one knew what the future held.