The Navigation Inn, Milton Keynes

An attractive, stone built canal-side pub that must be a fantastic spot in the summer with it’s beer garden running adjacent to the canal. Unfortunately on a cold and dark February evening with snow on the ground, it wasn’t quite so alluring, but that’s hardly the pubs fault. A sign outside proudly proclaimed that they were in the top ten of England’s waterside pubs (according to the Telegraph in January 2009). Inside it’s divided in to two rooms. The main bar area in the centre has a pleasant ambience with rough wooden floors, a few beams on the ceiling, and a gigantic brick fireplace at one end where a log fire was burning away. There were a couple of sofa’s and a low table in front of the fire, and elsewhere it was conventional tables and chairs. Paintwork was a rather deep shade of maroon with wood panelling on the lower part of the walls. This no doubt contributed to the low light levels, which might either be described as atmospheric of just plain dark depending on your point of view. A number of posters on the wall pointed to their inclusion in various editions of the Good Beer Guide, and apparently there is live music on Friday’s. To the right is a slightly smaller room having a somewhat more contemporary feel with pale painted wood panelling and some modern artwork on the walls. There were a number of locals who had taken up positions at the bar, which made it somewhat difficult to get there to be served. Fortunately the pleasant and friendly barmaid was quite switched on, and could easily spot people who were not in the front row. Food menu was not as extensive as some places, but nonetheless there should be something to suit most tastes and of course quality is far more important than quantity. There was a selection of burgers, although besides a couple of steaks, an All Day Breakfast and Liver & Bacon, other meat dishes were limited to Sausage of the day and Pie of the day. A few fish courses completed the menu, and there were a few more specials chalked up on a board above the bar. Most of the mains were around the £9 mark, and I found my Mariner’s Pie to be a decent enough dish. There is also a Pie & Pint deal at £10 on Wednesdays. Beers on tap were perhaps slightly disappointing after so many GBG entries, and consisted of Greene King IPA, Wadworth’s Bishop’s Tipple and Moorland Original. There were a couple of other pumps on the bar, so perhaps they usually have more than this. The solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk. Overall, a great pub and well worth a visit, especially if the sun’s out.