A narrowboat micropub?

[Mark R]

An odd question but over a few beers in a pub (as you do), the conversation of a narrowboat pub came up. Searching on Google didn’t bring up anything much with regards to narrowboats that have been converted to a micro pub.

 

Our thoughts were that from a regulation point of view there may be issues. Has anyone ever seen such a thing or know why they don’t exist?

[blackrose]

...from a regulation point of view there may be issues.

[Higgs]

Drunks, near water, getting on and off a boat? And toilet use could be entertaining. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Higgs

[Mark R]

Totally agree with both of those points, they'd both be issues for Wetherspoons.....

 

[David Mack]

In the 70s, what was then the Longboat pub at Cambrian Wharf in Birmingham had a butty with a full length cabin moored in an arm outside, and was used as a function room. It was later sold off and the arm infilled to provide more space for outdoor tables.

[Tracy D'arth]

I know of a private one. Don't drink beer so its of little interest.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Mark R said:

An odd question but over a few beers in a pub (as you do), the conversation of a narrowboat pub came up. Searching on Google didn’t bring up anything much with regards to narrowboats that have been converted to a micro pub.

 

Our thoughts were that from a regulation point of view there may be issues. Has anyone ever seen such a thing or know why they don’t exist?

 

 

I think this idea arises pretty much every night in canalside pubs up and down the land. The immediately obvious stumbling blocks are getting a commercial boat license from CRT which requires stuff like insurance for the public boarding the boat, car parking, and other such stuff, the involvement of Board of Trade (or whatever they are called this year) in the boat design if you plan on having more than 12 people aboard at a time, and you'd probably need a second boat just to provide toilet facilities. 

 

If you can field that lot, then I'm sure there will be a boatload of other regs I haven't thought of that will emerge to defeat you, or there would be a load of pub boats already. 

 

Even flogging beer to customers congregating on the towpath would probably result in important-looking officials turning up pretty soon to stop you. 

[Captain Pegg]

Probably the closest thing that exists are the party trip boats in Birmingham. Although they are more akin to a club than a pub.

 

There are lots of logistical issues but a lot depends if it’s fixed or mobile.

 

A mobile enterprise would need licensing in every local authority area it entered.

 

How would you power the refrigeration requirements after 2000 and what would be the likelihood of being allowed to even remain open after 2000 on the towpath?

 

Then there’s the problem of supply and storage, particularly if you sell live products. For something like a cafe boat the liquid that’s required in bulk is water. That’s a lot easier to do than alcohol.

 

And then where do you live? You can’t have a flat above it.

 

Much of that goes away for a fixed enterprise but where would you get permission to situate it where there isn’t already a number of better offerings in an actual pub?

 

Hence the best you might manage is a specialist on board shop selling alcoholic products and those have/do exist I think.

[dmr]

There is, or maybe was, a beer boat. It would stop, set up chairs on the towpath and sell beer. I don't think people were allowed onto the boat and they did not provide toilets. I saw them at Anderton, it was very popular with quite a croud of drinkers, myself included.  I think the bloke had a personal licence but suspect he was maybe bending a few rules.   Its actually very easy to get a personal licence.

[haggis]

There is (or was) a boat moored below Stoke who served drink on football days . 

[BilgePump]

I've seen a craft ale boat at one of the water weekends. Seating was for the use of all visitors to the various food/craft stalls and they were serving from a hatch with no customers going aboard. It may also have all been bottled beer rather than draught.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

18 minutes ago, dmr said:

There is, or maybe was, a beer boat. It would stop, set up chairs on the towpath and sell beer. I don't think people were allowed onto the boat and they did not provide toilets. I saw them at Anderton, it was very popular with quite a croud of drinkers, myself included.  I think the bloke had a personal licence but suspect he was maybe bending a few rules.   Its actually very easy to get a personal licence.

Yes, the ‘Barge-Inn Booze’ boat.

They cover quite a bit of the Trent and Mersey.

All cans and bottles. Beers and spirits. Towpath seating where the area can accommodate it.

 

[dmr]

A quick google finds the beer boat company and they are trading now. I don't think this is the same people that I met at Anderton, its a very nice tug deck/porthole type boat and I would have remembered that.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Just now, dmr said:

A quick google finds the beer boat company and they are trading now. I don't think this is the same people that I met at Anderton, its a very nice tug deck/porthole type boat and I would have remembered that.

The one I’m thinking of is painted red just like the bargain booze shop

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

Probably the closest thing that exists are the party trip boats in Birmingham. Although they are more akin to a club than a pub.

 

There are lots of logistical issues but a lot depends if it’s fixed or mobile.

 

A mobile enterprise would need licensing in every local authority area it entered.

It certainly used to be the case that a moving boat didn't need to be licensed to sell alcohol, the same as moving trains. Which is why the bar wouldn't open until after the trip had set off and would close before they moored up again.

But there were plans a few years back to change the requirements to bring boats and trains into the standard licencing framework. I don't know if that has now happened.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Goliath said:

Its actually very easy to get a personal licence.

 

Has it changed in the last 20-30 years ?

 

I had to go to college, do a course, learn all of the laws relating to the sale of alcohol etc etc and finally pass an exam.

I then had to go to the assizes (Court) and stand infront of a Judge and local 'notables' and plead my case of being of 'good standing in the community'.

 

It was certainly no easier that getting a Driving licence, or a Gun licence and far more difficult that getting a boat licence, or car licence.

[Nightwatch]

My own boat becomes a Popup Pub most evenings. The advantage of course is that I don’t have to get off the boat unless it’s my turn to ‘exercise’ the dogs.

[Athy]

W hen I was at university in Brum, a pub boat appeared on the canal which ran along one side of the campus. I went there on a couple evenings. I can't remember if it was a narrowboat or a wider beam craft. After a few weeks it went away, perhap because somebody told it to.

[David Schweizer]

2 hours ago, David Mack said:

It certainly used to be the case that a moving boat didn't need to be licensed to sell alcohol, the same as moving trains. Which is why the bar wouldn't open until after the trip had set off and would close before they moored up again.

But there were plans a few years back to change the requirements to bring boats and trains into the standard licencing framework. I don't know if that has now happened.

 

The Tripboat I used to captain had a bar which sold draught Wadworths 6X. As suggested above, we could only sell the beer after we had set off, and closed the bar before we moored up. That was quite a few years ago, so things may have changed more recently. The only problem with the bar was that we had to carry more kegs in the locker than we were likely to sell as they took up to two days to settle before the beer could be drawn.

[dmr]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Has it changed in the last 20-30 years ?

 

I had to go to college, do a course, learn all of the laws relating to the sale of alcohol etc etc and finally pass an exam.

I then had to go to the assizes (Court) and stand infront of a Judge and local 'notables' and plead my case of being of 'good standing in the community'.

 

It was certainly no easier that getting a Driving licence, or a Gun licence and far more difficult that getting a boat licence, or car licence.

 

My daughter has just taken over a pub at short notice while the landlord went away (it beats teaching 😀). I think she paid £100 to some private company of some sort and did a little exam on the internet.

[Athy]

1 hour ago, David Schweizer said:

 

The Tripboat I used to captain had a bar which sold draught Wadworths 6X. As suggested above, we could only sell the beer after we had set off, and closed the bar before we moored up. That was quite a few years ago, so things may have changed more recently. The only problem with the bar was that we had to carry more kegs in the locker than we were likely to sell as they took up to two days to settle before the beer could be drawn.

This reminds me of the days when I worked as a buffet car steward on the Festiniog Railway. In those days that part of Wales was "dry" on a Sunday, but you could buy alcohol on anything that was moving. So all the local topers had season tickets on the railway, and the 11 a.m. departure from Portmadoc was the "beer train". As luck would have it, the train reached the intermediate station of Penrhyndeudraeth just as the chapel near the station was turning out after morning service, and of course the inhabitants of our buffet car raised their pint glasses and smiled cheerily at the congregation as we passed.

   I suppose that the local pubs are open on a Sunday nowadays, which must rather spoil the fun.

[Alan de Enfield]

47 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

My daughter has just taken over a pub at short notice while the landlord went away (it beats teaching 😀). I think she paid £100 to some private company of some sort and did a little exam on the internet.

 

Its no wonder the country is where it is. Everything is being 'dumbed down to the lowest denominator'.

 

I first did my diving qualifications in 1973, the requirements were very strict and demanding and were based on the requirements to qualify as a Navy diver.

 

Having started again a couple of years ago I decided to re-do the qualifications using 'modern' equipment and techniques.

The requirements are now far far lower and really seem to be based on the 'holiday crowd' who want a quick basic certificate to allow them to dive for a few days whilst on holiday.

 

 

[koukouvagia]

I seem to recall that there was a static pub on a butty owned by Ansells. It was moored in Birmingham.  It was called Squirrel and later reverted to its original name Grimsby.

 

Just found this 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by koukouvagia

[Hudds Lad]

I spotted the Homebrew Boat on the T&M just up from Big Lock a few years back, after mooring up went to where he was anticipating some tasty beverages, only to find out he didn't sell beer but the stuff to make it with  

 

As i didn't have a few hundred quid on me to spaff on an air distiller, i had to leave him empty handed. He chuntered a bit about lots of people making the same mistake and vowing to change his signage, think he sold up a bit back. Nice bloke though.

[Silent Flight]

Maybe a narrow boat gin distillery would work better than a micro brewery.