A great spot to relax, drink and watch the world go by

Posted by one of the many happy customers who have visited The Boat House Bar in Skipton, this comment, sums up the characterful watering hole.

Tess, one of the managers at the pub

Sitting in Skipton’s picturesque canal basin, visitors can while away an hour or two watching the gaily painted boats manoeuvring around the junction of the main Leeds and Liverpool Canal with the Springs Branch of the waterway.

The Boat House Bar - our Telegraph & Argus Pub of the Week - opened in March 2016. It was the brainchild of Ian Clarke, the owner of Pennine Cruisers, a narrowboat holiday company run by him, his wife Pamela and daughter Zoe.

“We bought Pennine Cruisers in December 1999,” says Zoe. “My dad has always worked on boats - his first job after leaving school was at Pennine Cruisers and he's been a boat and canal lover ever since."

The pub sits in a scenic location beside the canal basin

For a few years half the building served as a cafe, “but in all honesty rather unsuccessfully,” says Zoe. “Dad had the idea that it would make a fantastic real ale bar and he was right, it has.

“What sets us apart is not only our great selection of fantastic beers but our location. You sit and enjoy a drink and have such interesting things to watch on the canal.

“We have a great outside seating area, and huge bi-fold windows making the indoors a great free flowing open area for those lovely warm days.”

Outside the pub

Zoe takes care of the behind the scenes paperwork. “My dad does a lot of the technical stuff like making sure all the pumps are working properly and general maintenance. We then have a great team of staff who do all the day to day running.”

The Boat House has “a huge following” of regular customers, most of whom are local. “When we first opened we thought the bulk of our trade would be from tourists but in fact it’s the locals that keep us so busy. We do get lots of tourists in during the summer months though."

A band entertains customers

Over the past few years the pub has extended its bar. “When we originally opened we started with just four cask lines, we now have six, plus five keg lines. One of our cask lines is dedicated to Tiller Pin, a beer we brewed ourselves in collaboration with Wishbone Brewery in Keighley for the bars first birthday.

"It was a brew which we planned to have on the bar for 12 weeks, however due its huge success Wishbone has continued to brew it for us all year round and it has now been a permanent line for five years,” says Zoe.

The other lines change constantly. “We are a free pub so we get to choose exactly who we want to buy from and when. We tend to buy from small and local breweries - our general rule of thumb is if you see it in a supermarket or in a high street chain pub you won't see it in The Boat House. It’s being able to operate in this way that makes our bar so special.”

Ian's dog Tilly is a regular at the bar

Not surprisingly, it's quirky interior has a boat theme. “We have a canoe hanging from the ceiling, canal art on the walls and a mini mile maker to show you how far it is to the toilets,” laughs Zoe.

The bar holds jamming sessions twice a month on a Sunday and hosts a Boat House Brew Collective - a small group of people who meet at the bar once a month to talk all things beer.

The bar is the perfect spot for a pint

“They talk brewing and recipes, do tastings and share their love of beer,” says Zoe. “We also get guest speakers in every now and then for the group, and collaborate with breweries to do tap takeovers or similar. We have had very successful takeovers from North Brew tap and Northern Monk.

*facebook.com/boathouseskipton