Fancy a lock-in?

What better place to be in summer than by one of Britain’s beautiful, historic canals with a cool drink to hand? Our 3,000 mile network of navigable inland waterways has hundreds of great canal and riverside pubs to explore.

- BY NIGEL THOMPSON

And with names like The Lock Inn, The Navigation Inn, The Narrowboat, The Tunnel and The Bridge, many of them date back to the days when our inland waterways were the transport arteries of the industrial revolution.

Also, canalside inns provided refreshment for working boat families and their horses, as well as professional leggers who propelled boats through tunnels.

We asked rental firm Drifters - which offers more than 550 boats from 10 hire companies at 40 bases across England, Scotland and Wales - for its favourite canal and riverside pubs for outdoor dining and drinking this summer:

The Bridge Inn Chirk Bank, Shropshire

You can reach this popular watering hole on the Llangollen Canal on a short break from Chirk, Trevor or Blackwater Meadow. Also known as The Trap, the historic Bridge Inn is on the 11-mile stretch of the Llangollen Canal, designated a Unesco World Heritage Site and has views of the magnificent Chirk Aqueduct.

Book it: 52ft Princess Signature narrowboat for up to six people, three-night break from Chirk on August 15-18 for £1,440, saving £159.

The Boat Inn Gnosall, Staffordshire