The Water Witch, Lancaster

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

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.

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.