An Honest Pint, Built Upon Gravity, Yeast & Steeped Timber
At the base of Foxton's historic ten-chamber inclined plane, where water meets brick and the locks stand as monuments to Victorian grit, sits The Canal Tap.
We are not a gastro-pub, nor are we a modern sterile lounge. We are, in every fiber of our seasoned oak floorboards, a traditional British public house. Our cellar is kept at a constant, shivering 11°C, and we draw our ale using nothing but traditional manual hand-pulls. No extraneous nitrogen, no excessive chilling—just live, breathing ale as it was intended to be savoured.
It is our firm belief that a pub belongs first to the community and second to the landlord. Here, you will find no pounding music, no glaring flat-screen televisions broadcasting football, and no flashing digital fruit machines. Instead, we offer the gentle click of dominoes, the low murmur of local gossip, and the occasional hiss of a damp log in the hearth.
Whether you have walked five miles along the Grand Union canal path with your hound, or spent the afternoon wrestling with narrowboat locks, our doors are open. The fire is lit. Your stool is waiting.
"There are few places in this county where the bitter tastes so clean, the fire burns so bright, and the hounds are welcomed with more warmth than their masters."
— Sir Alistair Vance, The Leicestershire ChronicleThe Sunday Sacrament & Proper Pastry
We do not do delicate "plates." We do lunch and dinner. Our kitchen is run on a very simple premise: if we can't make it from scratch, we don't serve it.
Our specialty is the traditional Leicestershire meat pie. Made with shortcrust pastry that we hand-laminate daily using local suet, filled with grass-fed beef shin slow-cooked in our own house porter for twelve hours. It is served with hand-cut marrowfat peas, mashed potatoes whipped with double cream, and a gravy boat so rich it could coat a spoon.
On Sundays, we offer our legendary roasts. Ribs of Herefordshire beef, shoulders of local lamb, and crackling-heavy pork loins, roasted in wood-fired ovens. Each plate is crowned with a Yorkshire pudding the size of a bowler hat, crisp on the edges and soft in the middle, ready to hold a lake of gravy.
"The kitchen closes when the pastry runs out. We suggest arriving early."
A Monument of the Canals
Built in 1815, the Foxton Locks are a triumph of industrial-era ingenuity. Ten canal locks cascading down a steep hillside, surrounded by rolling Leicestershire fields.
For over two centuries, barge captains, lock keepers, and weary travellers have trodden the path from the towpath to our door. The Canal Tap was originally built to house the navvies who dug these very channels. If you look closely at the brickwork in our snug, you can still see the initials of the men who built the locks carved into the clay.
Today, we maintain that same spirit of sanctuary. Whether you are walking the Leicestershire Round, watching the boats navigate the lock flight, or simply escaping the modern rush, our pub provides the perfect anchorage.
The Tap's Notice Board
The Weekly General Knowledge
No smartphones, no digital screens, no shortcuts. Just old-school general knowledge, picture rounds, and local history. First prize is a £50 bar tab and a hand-crafted pork pie.
Register Your TeamAcoustic & Ale Sessions
We welcome back the Welland Valley Folk Trio for an afternoon of traditional sea shanties and acoustic melodies. Pull up a stool, grab a pint of Old Barge, and join the chorus.
View ArtistsThe Autumn Cider & Perry Feast
Celebrating the end of the Leicestershire apple harvest. Over twenty guest ciders on gravity dispense in the yard, hot roast pork rolls with apple sauce, and live music.
Buy Feast TicketThe Muddy Boot Charter
We do not believe in keeping dogs on a leash outside. A pub without a sleeping dog by the fire is just a room with beer.
Our floorboards are meant to be scuffed, our hearth is meant to dry wet paws, and we keep a jar of homemade liver biscuits on the bar for any dog that behaves half as well as their owner.
