Steamboat Inn, Nottingham

The Steamboat Inn overlooks the lock at the end of the Erewash Canal. When i first went in this pub it was a Shipstones tied house,with a decent drink of Shippo's bitter on the bar,the pub has had its ups and downs over the years,it brewed its own beers for a while,with one ale being very srong,it then closed down and fell into disrepair,it is nice to see it looking well looked after again. Once inside there is a dining room to the right,the bar for drinkers is to the left,this is an oblong shaped room which runs to the rear of the pub,the floor is bare boared,there was some comfy looking bench seating to the front near the fire,the rear area looked a bit bare with a couple of tables and a pool table. There were five real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Black Paw Polar Paw,which was a very nice darkish beer,the other beers were Shardlow Reverend Eaton /Mayfly/Whistle Stop and Dancing Duck Duck Blonde. The bar was very busy on my Saturday afternoon vist with boating types and loads of dogs,i counted 8. I quite liked this pub,it was a shame that i had to stand up with it being so busy. Pub first visited 1980 Recent visit 23/11/2013

New guv'nor,new feel to this traditional pub.The decking outside the entrance is large and gives great views over the entrance lock to The Erewash Canal and the River Trent beyond.To the right of the entrance is a dining room while to the left is the public bar with a wooden floor and a large fireplace (coal affect gas sadly) surrounded by a banquette and benches.At the rear past a couple of round tables there is a pool table,darts board and a flat screen with the snooker on during my trip. The big change is the focus on real ale.Five handpumps serving Clark's Ring a Ding,Shardlow Narrow Boat,Reverend Eaton & Cavendish and a very fine Leatherbritches Bespoke (£2.90).Locale beers to the fore.There were also two boxes of real cider and adverts for a May beer festival featuring 18 ales and five ciders. The welcome was friendly and for the boat community this is their local.Popular with visitors as well with reasonably prices bar snack and pub grub,this would be my pub of choice in the immediate area and now worth more than a passing pint.