purple_pineapple

thanks tuscan - checking the maps, and there is very little road parking in this area at all - and i don't fancy leaving it in a farmers gateway for 4 nights! I agree about audlem (from Canalplan) so maybe i can get back in time to crew through the locks! Cheers for the tips about rurality!

fair point! I was happy to park in the street, but the missus thought it was safer in a pub car park!

Doing the 4CR in April, starting at Etruria, and I've been landed with a job interview right in the middle of our week - in Birmingham. After lots of thought about getting to the interview (train, hire car, taxi) we've decided to take two cars, and leave one in a suitable location that I can pick it up mid-week. Our vague plan will put us at the Anchor Inn on Tuesday night (interview wednesday) so I'm hoping I can leave it there, although I will phone them first and ask. Do you folks think the owners are likely to allow that if we spend Tuesday night in the pub (always the plan!)? I'm also hoping for some thoughts on where I can drop it off on wednesday - about 8 hours cruising north of the Anchor. It will need to remain there until Saturday. If anyone has any other ideas how I can manage this, feel free to suggest them! Cheers! Dave

i checked after i posted (see above) and realised it gives about the same cruising time for both the Avon and FCR. More locks though... To be honest, I prefer a full day, up at 7am type thing! Each to their own!

not surprised! I'm not sure I'd want to try it with two of us, but interestingly, canalplan gives about the same time as the 4CR. Hmm - I appear to be planning our 2014 holiday now!

interesting you say the avon ring is do-able in a week. Even with a total crew of 4 keen boaters, I hadn't considered this was an option! We're doing the 4 counties, and that requires 9.5 hours average per day! The Avon Ring must be getting on for 12 hours per day... We did the stourport ring quite happily in a week. Twas OK, but not my favourite.

I believe my number one money-saving tip is not to own a narrowboat!

We're also doing the 4CR after Easter, so I've researched a few pubs already! Note that I haven't been in them myself (yet!) The Anchor on the Shroppie - real old school, beer in pitchers, no food! The Bluebell (I think) at Red Bull Junction Shroppie Fly My other personal 'must moor overnight' is Tixall Wide. I would ;pic a few essential overnight stops, and then plan around that, as the required miles in a day may not allow you to visit every pub! Enjoy! Dave PS - if you are leaving on the 6th April, going anticlockwise, we will pass you at some point!

We're booked for the FCR in April next year, and me being me, I've already planned to the last detail! CanalPlan suggests about 9.5 hours average day to complete in hire week. I haven't tweaked many of the default settings, and with an experienced crew of 4, we should easily be able to reduce that with faster lock times etc. My biggest concern was that I had two key places I wanted to spend a night - Tixall Wide and the Anchor. Because of this, we have a couple of longer days (getting on for 11 hours) and a couple of shorter ones, although to be fair, it could have been a lot worse! My only real decision now is where to moor on the last night - we need to be approximately 1-2 hours North of Black Prince at Etruria. Any thoughts anyone?

i was wondering if the maps that it uses could be made available for handheld GPSs - although this might be askign a lot, so laptop it is! I'm looking forward to trying it out next April!

Like richard, I would also recommend the Garmins - one that can load the OpenStreetMap data. If you google 'TalkyToaster' then you will find a website where you can download maps of the UK, compiled as one single image file, that can be put on a GPS. They're free (and he's a friend of mine). personally, I use a Garmin Oregon 450t, but that might be overkill for what you want! However, the VERY basic garmin's don't allow you to load fancy maps...

that may be one more than previous! After another 4 closures and re-openings, it should be fine! As it happens, in all the places I've eaten (dodgy burger vans in car parks for example) the only time I've had food poisoning was some past-it pate from my own kitchen - which fortunately isn't listed!

my local chinese scored a three - to be honest, it hasn't stopped us eating there!

Up near Rugby I believe? Would it be Newbold? I haven't got any books to hand, I've only ever cruised that way once!

I find eating sausages causes more problems...

We arrived in central Birmingham last April with all four of us in full evening wear - is that allowed? We told passers-by that we always dress for dinner when on the boat...

During a visit with the inlaws last weekend, we were talking about the fact that their old boat is still registered under the name they gave it - Bel Ombre. This got us wondering where it is currently spending its time... So - its a 48footer from Harborough Marine, named Bel Ombre, has a ridiculously high bow (I believe 'Devestator' was a previous name..) and used to be moored on the private moorings opposite the Folly. Anyone seen it?! I appreciate this is a shot in the dark, but you never know..! cheers dave

slight OT, but just wanted to thank David Mack for that clear and concise explanation of why I had been carefully giving the stern gland half a turn each night! Having only ever hired boats, I knew to do this, but never knew why I was doing it! Obviously, I could have researched it, but that wasn't a priority when enjoying a week of relaxation! and then i'd forget....

Aren't the swansea and neath canals down that neck of the woods somewhere? Would they be suitable?