On a recent canal walk on the Leeds/Liverpool canal, we stopped for lunch at this delightful pub and it was delicious. The menu is very extensive and everything being served looked tempting. In the end, my cousin had the spicy five bean patty topped with Mexican cheese and garlic mayonnaise for £9.95, her husband had the Ship’s gourmet burger, an 8oz homemade burger, fresh salad, onion rings, beef tomato and gherkin, served in a fresh toasted bun for £10.50, and I had the jacket potato with Lancashire cheese and Branston for £7.25. The photos say it all! Our meals were washed down with various real ales and a lovely bitter shandy for me.
The pub is locally known as ‘Blood Tub’ but there is no agreement on the reason for this name. There are two competing legends as to the origins of the moniker: one that the landlady of the pub refused to serve patrons who were bloody from fighting unless they washed up in a tub of water outside; one that a previous landlady made blood puddings, the ingredients for which she obtained in barter from her clientele and collected in a tub in the pub. In both instances the name became synonymous with the pub.
We started outside but as we sat down at one of the tables beside the canal, a shower began to fall so we moved inside to a room at the far end of the bar. It was late lunchtime on a Tuesday and the pub was beginning to fill up. Anyone dropping in at peak times may have difficulty getting a table and the website does recommend booking. If you are in the area in September, the 5th Annual Beer, Pie and Sausage festival will take place on 10th – 13th September. I have a feeling my cousins may be paying the Blood Tub a visit.
“The Ship at Lathom”:http://www.shipatlathom.co.uk
