05/09/2026
⚓ THE BOAT INN – A LIVING HISTORY ⚓
Our original history post received an incredible 88 reactions, 18 comments and 5 shares!
Thanks to everyone who contributed, we can now begin sharing some of your wonderful memories in date order.
This is not intended to be the final history of The Boat Inn. It is a living timeline created from local memories, and we hope people will help us keep adding to it.
📸 ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH
This historic image of two boats from one of the local cement works moored outside The Boat Inn was kindly posted and shared with us by Steve Vaughan. Thank you, Steve!
If anyone knows approximately when this photograph was taken, who originally took it, the names of the boats or any of the people pictured, please let us know.
📅 BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR
William Hill remembers that quite a number of Stockton’s older pre-war generation had previously worked on the boats.
📅 1904
Graham Frederick Lockley told us that the Lockley family came to Stockton in 1904. His grandfather, George Harry, worked at Nelson’s.
📅 1907
Graham’s father, Fred Lockley, was born in 1907. When he was old enough, he drank at The Boat Inn during the time of Mary Ann Neal.
Keith Neal kindly clarified the family connection: Arthur Neal was Mary Ann’s great-grandson, while Arthur’s father, Frank, was her grandson.
📅 THE 1930s
Fred Lockley worked for Speight’s on the widening of the Warwick and Napton Canal, mainly around the Hatton flight and Ugly Bridge.
He travelled there from Stockton each day on his Royal Enfield bicycle, which remains in the family today.
📅 THE LATE 1950s
Fred later became a cement worker at Southam.
In 1957, when Graham was about five years old, the family would walk to The Boat Inn on Sunday evenings.
Local children apparently knew it as the “Green Pub” and enjoyed pop and Nibbits—described as being rather like straight Hula Hoops!
📅 THE 1960s AND 70s
Steve Kimberley remembers spending time around The Boat Inn fishing during the 1960s and 70s.
He also remembers the old humpback bridge near the Birdingbury road, which had very poor visibility and was known as a dangerous blackspot before it was later altered.
📅 THE 1970s
Steve remembers dining on Arthur Neal’s steaks on Friday evenings while Arthur was landlord.
Graham also remembers visiting from Long Itchington to enjoy Arthur’s steaks, while David Matthews remembers playing darts at The Boat Inn after being tagged by Mark Williams.
📅 UNTIL AT LEAST THE 1990s
The Neal family’s connection with The Boat Inn continued through Arthur Neal until at least the 1990s.
⚓ OTHER MEMORIES STILL WAITING FOR DATES
Lesley Gully Gulliver believes her nan was given The Boat Inn as a wedding present.
Her nan was born at the Blue Lias, where her parents were the owners. Lesley remembers her name as Ida Neal and believes she married Jack Warner.
Barry Fitchett remembers a little house that once stood in The Boat Inn garden, where he believes his grandfather’s sister lived.
Susan Holloway suggested that Stockton News Archives and Howard Collerson may have further photographs or information.
Rob West also remembered Brian and Diane Lockley in Stockton.
Thank you to Alan Glass, Jean Monckton, Mark Williams, Maxine Gregory and everyone else who commented, shared the post or tagged friends and relatives who may have a connection with The Boat Inn.
📣 CAN YOU HELP US ADD TO OUR LIVING HISTORY?
We would love to hear from former landlords, staff, customers, boating families, cement workers and residents of Stockton, Birdingbury, Long Itchington, Southam and the surrounding villages.
Please send us:
📸 Old photographs
📅 Approximate dates or decades
👤 Names of former landlords, staff or regulars
🍺 Memories of the pub
🚤 Stories about the wharf, canal and working boats
🏠 Information about the little house in the garden
🎯 Memories of darts teams, events and celebrations
You can comment below or send us a private message through Facebook.
If you prefer, you can email us at [email protected]
Please tell us who should be credited for anything you share. We will keep adding your memories to The Boat Inn’s living history and publish further updates as the story grows.
Please share this post and tag anyone who might remember The Boat Inn. One photograph, name or family memory could lead us to another wonderful part of its story. ⚓❤️
⚓ THE HISTORY OF THE BOAT INN & BIRDINGBURY WHARF ⚓
The Boat Inn stands beside a canal location with more than 225 years of history.
The canal here was originally part of the Warwick and Napton Canal, completed at the end of the 1700s and opened for commercial trade in 1800. It later became part of the Grand Union Canal.
During the 19th century, Birdingbury Wharf was a busy working location where canal boats loaded and unloaded goods. The surrounding waterways were particularly important to Stockton’s Blue Lias lime and cement industry, carrying materials towards Warwick, Oxford, Birmingham and London.
The Boat Inn’s exact opening date has not yet been confirmed, so we cannot claim that the pub itself dates from 1800. However, it occupies a historic canalside setting once frequented by working boats, wharf workers, local tradespeople and travellers.
As commercial carrying declined, the canal found a new life through leisure boating, fishing, walking and tourism. The Boat Inn evolved with it, becoming the welcoming canalside country pub you see today.
Since taking over in September 2025, Tina and her family have been proud to continue this story—serving great food and drinks while introducing canal cruises, narrowboat stays, motorhome stopovers, live entertainment and community events.
The canal may be quieter today, but Birdingbury Wharf remains a wonderful place to meet, relax and watch the boats go by.
Come and enjoy a little piece of Warwickshire’s canal heritage!
ℹ️ Please note: This history has been compiled from publicly available information. Some dates or details may be incomplete or incorrect, and we would love to hear from anyone who has photographs, documents or memories that could help us learn more.
🎨 The accompanying sketch is an original artist’s impression of how the pub and wharf may have looked during the 19th century. It is not intended to be an exact historical reconstruction.
📍 The Boat Inn
Birdingbury Wharf, Rugby Road
Stockton, Warwickshire CV23 8HQ
☎️ 01788 726088
📱 07399 832047
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.theboatinnrugby.com
