Shroppie Fly

Today's the day ........................ for some good beer

There are some great pubs to be had alongside the canals.

After manoevering our way through two flights of more than twenty locks, we were in need of refreshment when we reached this famous one called 'The Shroppie Fly', at Audlem on the Shropshire Union Canal.

It is named after the 'fly' boats that carried goods on the canals all day and all night without mooring - the equivalent of the fast delivery courier companies on the roads today. The name is derived from Dutch vlieboot, a boat with a shallow enough draught to be able to navigate a shallow vlie or river estuary.

The bar is shaped to look like one of these boats - and the half pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord went down a treat .....................