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Detail Pages
The Water Witch, Lancaster
Lancaster
LA1 1SU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Water Witch
This very wide but shallow pub's unusual layout seems to follow the bend of the canal alongside which it is located. You enter into a quarry stone floored main bar area with the servery directly opposite the front door. The bar has a modern, pine fronted counter and plain bar back with a big stone pillar to one end. To the left, there's a secluded seating area, possibly best left for diners, but completely empty on my late night visit. Banquette seating has been arranged beneath a staircase that leads up to a first floor mezzanine space with a few extra tables and chairs looking down to the empty space opposite the servery. Basic tables and chairs can be found through the next few spaces, each of which is broken up by protruding sections of exposed stone wall, with some windows cut through. The decor is a little bland, with various photos, promotional blackboards and plain mirrors about as exciting as it gets. Over to the far right, there is another, almost completely separate room, hidden by a big stone wall, but with a see through fireplace with a lit stove in it. More tables and chairs can be found back here and it seemed a popular spot with a younger crowd taking most tables whilst cool 80's tunes played in the background.
On the bar, three cask ales - Cross Bay The Blonde, Wainwrights Amber and Fell Quiet Batpeople - were available alonside one real cider option. A supremely friendly barman poured me a tidy pint of the Blonde, which was a fittingly good final pint from my few days in Lancaster.
This seemed like a decent enough pub with a few pleasant, secluded seating areas and a modest selection of well-kept ales and I was content spending a bit of time here at the end of a long day of pub crawling. It lacked a bit in atmosphere, but I'd be more than happy to call in again another time.
Date of visit - 15th January 2024
On 12th May 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3126 recommendations about 3126 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Water Witch
Now sports a vast array of unused handpulls. Just three in use on a Saturday night and a pretty dreary selection at that, I know this is more of a summer pub but I was still underwhelmed. The place actually felt a bit rundown and not the slightly irritating but vibrant bar it used to be. Think it was sold to Punch when Mitchells collapsed so maybe that explains the downturn.
On 22nd January 2023
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1071 recommendations about 1036 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Water Witch
Pleasant canal-side location with a good number of wooden tables beside the towpath. With the weather good, and restrictions inside due to the coronavirus, I didn't get a proper look around, but the semi-traditional interior seemed to suit the heritage building. I also didn't get to see the handpumps, but I was assured that that the five names reeled off were reasonably local, and my Tiffin Gold from Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery (£3.75) certainly hadn't needed to travel too far.
On 28th September 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8159 recommendations about 8159 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Water Witch
Still has nine hand pumps (see previous reviews - I was last here just over five years ago), but at the time of my latest visit two of these had ciders available, with just four real ales. Two were from local Cross Bay, with the others still local-ish but further away. If I visited pubs for food, as most of the customers I saw were doing, I would probably like it more than I do as a beer drinker. Having said that, my Hawkshead Winter Red was in good condition, and I didn't feel totally out of place, so it is good enough for another visit some time. I still prefer the White Cross, though, just a brief stroll along the towpath.
On 17th February 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3810 recommendations about 3536 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Water Witch
A nice canal side pub. It has 9 real ales pumps that had 5 on and 4 "available soon". A long, thin bar and an outside area. Pleasant and enjoyable.
On 4th March 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Water Witch
The Water Witch can be accessed from either side of the canal: a footpath leads down from the main road near the infirmary entrance, and there's a footbridge from the opposite bank which is accessible from Aldcliffe Road and from the mooring basin. I remember coming here before it was a pub, as we used to hire punts from the owner who livied in a canal boat moored alongside. I organised a race from Galgate to here, which we finished off with a keg of beer set up in one of the buildings that now make up this pub. Now there are eight hand pumps, with seven beers available at the time of my recent visit. Two were from Kirkby Lonsdale, two from Black Jack and one each from Titanic, York and York's Off The Wall experimental arm. There's a 30p per pint discount for Camra members, but this applies to whole pints only, and I was on halves because of my bike. This is a food-led pub, with not much of an atmosphere to it, partly because it's for diners more than drinkers, partly because of its long, thin shape. Maybe if I'd stayed longer it would have grown on me.
Date of visit: 13th December 2014
On 13th February 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3810 recommendations about 3536 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Water Witch
On the towpath of the Lancaster Canal that runs closely by the centre of the city is The Water Witch, a well known pub that has won multiple awards for both its beer and food offerings in recent years.
Previously being stables housing horses that pulled barges along the canal, the premises only became a pub in 1978. It’s a long, narrow stone built building running parallel alongside the canal bank. In the early nineneenth century, a company called Water Witch Waterbuses provided a canal service between Kendall and Preston – hence the pub name. Even today, cruises may be taken to/from Carnforth and the Lune Aqueduct from a waterbus terminus close by on the opposite bank.
As we approach the pub, the pub sign greets us with the welcome “award winning canalside pub, quality homecooked food, waterfront patio, large selection of cask ales”.
The interior features exposed sandstone walls, stone paved floors, a long wood panelled light pine bar counter and a modern, contemporary style interior that is surprisingly devoid of character and items of specific interest. For instance, there’s no old photos of the canal or the premises in their former capacity, nor are we told why the pub is so called. The counter runs alongside the back wall, with several further areas either side. To the left of the main entrance, an upstairs area (and the ground floor area immediately below it) mainly cater for diners, but the food emphasis is quickly apparent throughout the pub.
There’s a number of picnic tables outside at the front on the cobbled towpath area from where, on my mid – September visit, I was able to watch the efforts of a man fishing in front of the student flats on the opposite bank, despite several prominent “No Fishing” signs.
By the entrance outside, a sandwich board told us that, during August / September, the following guest breweries would feature at some stage, with no less than 3 beers on from one of them at any time – Milk Street Brewery, Banks and Taylor, Red Squirrel, Blue Bees, Bridestone. However, on my visit, we only had 4 beers on in total – York Guzzler ( presumably because it’s a Mitchells of Lancaster owned pub ), Black Sheep, Old School Brewery Detention Bitter and one beer only from Red Squirrel – London Porter. This was something of a disappointment. The pub is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular and several award certificates are displayed just inside the entrance.
My pint of York Guzzler ( £ 2.80p after the prominently advertised 30p CAMRA discount had been somewhat grudgingly applied ) was reasonable, but the food emphasis is all too apparent, with bar staff seemingly under instructions to ask “ is that all?” to those not ordering food when being served.
On a reasonably warm September lunchtime, it was pleasant sitting outside in the sun overlooking the canal, but I did cut short the length of my planned visit.
I only visit pubs nowadays when I’ve done my research (reading other reviews, web sites, pub/ beer guides etc ) and, on the basis of which, will be expecting an enjoyable and impressive visit. In this case, I had considered beforehand that there was a sporting chance that I’d be scoring this pub a 9 out of 10. Perhaps, I just came in on a bad day – and I’d probably give it another go next time in Lancaster – but it’s only getting a 7 from me.
On 6th October 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Water Witch
A great canalside pub, originally converted from a stables used for the canal company horses. Well described by others below. The outside seating area will be great in summer and a few hardy souls were braving it on our visit. 8 beers available on our visit and as we decided to eat here I managed 3 of them. All were in very good condition. The left hand area is a dining room, but you can eat throughout the pub. We went for their homemade burgers and chips which had been recommended to us by friends. They were right as well, the burgers were excellent. I can't see me ever visiting Lancaster and not having a beer in here. It's a very good pub.
On 10th June 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3227 recommendations about 3138 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Water Witch
I can see Bucking Fastard and his shipmates moored up here for a good few hours. Taking in the White Cross also, which is only a few minutes further along the canal - two gems along a short stretch of water. For us landlocked ale lovers, the pub is accessible across the nearby canal bridge.
The pub is long and narrow, which is no surprise. The walls were undressed sandstone blocks, with a stone paved floor. The bar is situated on the right of entry, where you see their 14 highly polished handpumps. The left side of the pub was mostly set out for dining, there was also a small mezzanine here. There were 9 ales to choose from on our visit, up to 14 when trade picks up.
We went for the Coniston Bluebird and the Old School Brewery Textbook.
On 23rd February 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3401 recommendations about 3401 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Waterwitch
Old canalside building refurbished in a modern clean way and there are benches on the tow path.
Well worth finding with 6 good real ales.
On 19th August 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1457 recommendations about 1435 pubs]