There's nothing so drear as a pub with no beer

Monday April 12th was to be an auspicious day – the day when lockdown rules would be relaxed and pubs allowed to serve food and drinks outside.

My recently acquired AA book 1001 Walks in Britain (£5.79 second-hand) had this interesting-looking walk a few miles north of Gloucester, with two pubs clearly marked.  Surely at least one of them would be open, wouldn't it?  Their websites gave no clues.

We called in to the first on our way to the walk –The Red Lion at Wainlode. Yes, they were open, but wouldn't be serving meals until Wednesday.  We pressed on to Ashleworth.

O dear! The Boat Inn at Ashleworth stood empty and more than a little neglected.  Fortunately, we had packed a picnic just in case, so made ourselves comfortable at a table by the riverside, drank hot coffee and hoped for better days.

A little while later the owner of The Boat Inn appeared and related the sorry tale of the pub's misfortunes. The River Severn had burst its banks and flooded the pub in 2019 and 2020 and the landlord had not cleaned up properly.  Consequently, a layer of river mud had been left too long on the floors and set like rock.  It will probably take another two years to sort out.

"When I ran the pub," he explained, "I used to wash the walls and floors regularly after every flood, and we we were up a running in a few days."

Perhaps when it eventually reopens it will be renamed The Submarine Inn.