Best Little Pub on the Canal

The boss of the pub yard

Feathery-footed chicken

We visited the Black Lion pub on the Caldon Canal - it has no road access.  People use the towpath or local hiking trails to cycle, walk or run there.  Tour buses drop people off to walk in.  And canal boaters pull up and moor just below the pub.  If you want to move to England for awhile and you have kitchen skills, they are hiring!

Purple feathers chicken

What a fun little place - chickens and roosters roaming all over the yard, looking for handouts.  I’ve never seen a chicken with purple feathers.  Until today.  

Pubs have this thing

Black Lion Pub - Caldon Canal

Entrance to The Black Lion Pub - cross over the canal
and then the railway to enter.  They don't like glasses
on the rail tracks though.

Pub in the woods - access by foot or boat only.

The house and goat yard beside the Black Lion pub.
You can see our boat moored in the canal at the left side

on the menu called a BAP.  Well, we finally figured we’d ask what that was because it wasn’t coming to us naturally.  Basically it’s a sandwich on a bun.  We ordered a BAP each with some chips (fries) and holy smokes were we full when we were done.  The food was delicious, very reasonably priced, and the atmosphere was too much fun.  The goats bleating next door, with the chickens clucking and roosters crowing in the yard were the musical accompaniment for our meal.

We also stopped at the Rising Sun pub on the Macclesfield Canal.  Sitting on a road

Pile of coal and coal scuttles outside in the parking lot
of the the Rising Sun pub in Scholar Green

Rising Sun pub - Scholar Green.  You can se the fireplace
screen just behind Glen's beer.

Pub food at the Rising Sun.  Delicious.
Not like any pub food I've ever seen.

with virtually nothing around it but farmland, and doesn’t open until 5 pm.  Charming old-time atmosphere - it dates back to the 1800s, the ceilings are low, the staff are attentive and extremely conversational, the food is gourmet, and out back in the parking lot is a coal pile with a couple of old coal scuttles (thanks to my friend Vivienne for giving me the proper name for those!) because they still use coal in the fireplace.  Great place to stop in for a visit..  The food here was very gourmet, with very gourmet prices.  Not what I think of when I think of pub food - we’ve noticed a few pubs that have crossed over more into fancy restaurant food ‘dining experience’ type places.  Nice, but we didn’t budget for that every day!

Last but not least, we found a pub for sale on the Macclesfield - in case anyone is looking!

Pub for sale.  Judging by the name, it might not be a great
investment!