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Detail Pages
The Three Locks, Milton Keynes
Stoke Hammond
Postal town: Milton Keynes
MK17 9DD
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Three Locks
The big selling point for this pub it its canalside location. You can guess how many locks are nearby!
Despite the sun having gone down and it being chilly outside, we chose one of the tables on the towpath to watch a barge go through the locks, with the youngsters navigating the boat seemingly breaking all canal rules!
Inside, the barman was friendly and there were plenty of people dining. Unbelievably this pub is in the latest Good Beer Guide, when London Pride is the only beer. Equally, there was no real cider. A strange inclusion considering it was the weakest offering we saw throughout our day in Buckinghamshire.
On 5th October 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Three Locks
Called in while visiting Buckinghamshire's 2019 Good Beer Guide pubs around the Milton Keynes area. Delightful setting on the locks and able to sit outside and watch the narrowboats working their way up or down while enjoying a beer. Six handpumps but only 2 available yesterday, but we enjoyed both the Hornes Triple Goat Pale Ale and the 3 Brewers Ruby ales.
On 18th November 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Three Locks
ORIGINAL REVIEW Sept 2011
Converted a few years ago to a gastro pub,the interior design has been sympathetic to this lockside building and the internal timbers have been exposed and painted in best Farrow and Ball.
The restaurant is branded as the Grand Union but the pub seems to have retained it's original name.However there are few salty sea dogs ,or even old boatmen in the pub nowadays.
There is a long wooden clad bar running along most of the rear wall with two sizeable banquettes opposite the bar and a few pieces of genuine antique furniture doubling as tables and chairs to either side of the bar.There is a fireplace and a Chesterfield sofa to boot.I felt perfectly comfortable popping in just to drink and there are great views of the lock operations at this well known flight.
There is a dining area at one end of the building up a stair or two, beyond which is an open kitchen with two chefs hard at work.
Six handpumps but only three serving on my trip ,and the guest St Austell Tribute was fine if a little over chilled,but reasonably priced at £3.10.Although I didn't eat ,a lot of other punters were and a glance at the menu showed mains priced from £9 to around £13,which seemed par for the course in this sort of upmarket establishment.
Sometimes a gastro makeover can destroy a pubs ambiance,I was glad that this is not the case at The Three Locks and I will pop in again ,at the very least to grab a beer, while working through the Soulbury Three.
UPDATE
The Grand Union branding has disappeared and it feels like there has been a change of ownership with the interior walls now painted a classy shade of blue.Still the same formula with a focus on food,but a much better range of ale with a free house type of choice including Locales which translated into Concrete Cow Cock & Bull,White Park White Gold,Doom Bar and Vale GMT (very good nick) plus a real cider on my visit.Friendly welcome and tasters were offered,If I could I would push this pub up to 7.5.
On 25th November 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Three Locks
A good sized pub in a prime spot next to the canal and the three locks, it does unfortunately lack a little in the way of authentic charm and instead, I suspect, relies largely on it’s location to pull the punters in. It appears as though it has recently been refurbished and has a slightly mass-produced corporate feel to it, as though it’s been designed by someone sat in an office with a suitable qualification in pub design. In particular the old beams and the ceiling have all be painted over in a pale shade of coffee brown, which to my mind is a great shame especially looking at the earlier photograph taken by John McGraw.
The main bar area has old wooden boards on the floor, a slightly curious shade of dark blue paint on the upper part of the walls with cream wood panelling down below. Various gilt framed pictures with country scenes on are dotted around and there was a plasma mounted up in one corner above an old fireplace, although neither were in use. A small area off to the left housed some leather button sofa’s and this led on to a restaurant area (complete with “Please wait here to be seated" sign) with black slate tiles on the floor and an open kitchen beyond this.
The pub naturally makes the most of it’s setting, and there were several tables along the lock edge as well as a patio beer garden at one end which even had music piped out to it from the pub. Slightly unnecessary I felt, but maybe some people appreciate it. Food wise there was a decent enough looking selection of “pub grub” dishes such as burgers and fish & chips as well as a few slightly more adventurous dishes, and a number of boards on the bar counter detailed the Pie of the Day, Risotto of the Day and even Scallops of the Day. Most of the mains were somewhere around the £10 mark and whilst my Spicy Crab Linguine was ok, I felt it was a little heavy on the chilli and a little light on the crab and certainly wasn’t worth the £13.95 I paid for it.
Despite six pumps on the bar, only three were in use dispensing Doom Bar, Tribute and this month’s guest Waggle Dance. The solitary cider was Bulmer’s Original. In summary, this is a great location and I’m sure it gets packed on sunny afternoons, but I can see little reason to make a special detour to visit.
On 16th May 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about The Three Locks
Well described by Mr Fastard below, the Three Locks is situated on the Soulbury flight of locks between Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard.
It's a comfortable place to be with a dedicated dining area and a bar which welcomes both drinkers and the odd luncher. It was reasonably busy on our midweek lunchtime visit with the whole being very efficiently managed by just one barmaid.
Doom Bar and Courage Best are offered as regular beers with one guest, St. Austell Tribute on our visit. The Tribute was in very good nick and went down well.
Well worth a stop if you're passing.
On 25th September 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Three Locks
Nice basic pub right on the canal.Large single bar with outside drinking area next to the canal.The Bombardier was in very good form.Would imagine that it would get very busy in the summer.Visit by road or narrow boat.
On 30th June 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]