DrPhil

Just pulled up alongside Old Trafford, just before the Sir Matt Busby bridge. No way out to the road! Any ideas?!?

Ps, not on the Valley Crusis after all. We arrived yesterday and we're told that it was still being refitted so we are on the Norton Priory. Little disappointing, as one of the reasons we chose the Valley Crusis was the fact that we were told it was being refitted. The Norton is a little run down to be honest. But not to worry, it's got the essentials and we had a fun first day on the water. Have already had our first thoughts of "wouldn't it be fun to have our own boat"...

Made it to Stockton Heath, superb meal in the London Bridge. Sailing to Lymm tomorrow for lunch, anything else we should do there? Sweet shop sounds interesting...

The boat is the Valle Crusis Abbey I believe. I'm expecting to be leaving Manchester on Wednesday afternoon/evening. Is Dunham Massey a suitable stopping place for that evening? Thursday will probably just be a slow relaxed journey, stopping at a few places along the way. Where is recommended? We'll probably have been to Lymm by then.

Few more questions before I go... Am I correct in thinking that the docks at Castlefield are close to Old Trafford football ground? I'm hoping to arrive into Manchester on Tuesday evening and do a few sights on Wednesday morning. We hope to do the Old Trafford tour, the War Museum and maybe a bus tour. Few more questions before I go... Am I correct in thinking that the docks at Castlefield are close to Old Trafford football ground? If hoping to arrive into Manchester on Tuesday evening and do a few sights on Wednesday morning. We hope to do the Old Trafford tour, the War Museum and maybe a bus tour.

We don't particularly intend to do that much walking, my aunt isn't in the best of health so walking isn't high on her agenda! To be honest it's the boating itself that is of more interest to my father and my wife's uncle. My wife and I are just facilitating the trip so we're easy.

That would be fantastic! Thank you. Wife's aunt and uncle are calling up tonight for dinner so the more information I can hurl at him the better!

This sounds pretty good. We arrive at Preston Brook at about 4:00pm so with a bit of luck we could make Lymm by nightfall. I'm sure there are some bus tours etc we can do in Manchester in the morning before heading back towards Dunham in the afternoon. Are there plenty of other towns etc along the route in case we're behind schedule etc? My dad is very laid back but my wife's aunt and uncle are coming too and he's an organisation freak - will want to know exactly where we'll be at any given moment and the entire Monday afternoon to Friday morning will need to be planned out! We need to be back in Preston Brook for Thursday evening as we vacate the boat at 9am Friday.

With regards to when to "turn around", any idea when that should be? I have looked at a few of the route planners but I'm failing to make much sense of them!

Hello. I am doing a 4 day hire from Claymoore Boating at Preston Brook, from the 22nd to 26th of April. It's a new experience for us, taking my father away for his birthday. I've been told by the folks at Claymoore that the routes south are closed due to some kind of maintenance or something, so it's north only. We are completely new to this, and just looking for some nice scenery and possibly some interesting towns or landmarks that we can visit along the way. Any suggestions? Also, with regards to stopping for food etc on the way, I get the impression that the boating holiday style is based around pubs. My father is a strictly traditional religious man, doesn't drink or particularly like even going into a pub! Are there restaurants etc we can visit? Or are the pubs at least separated into a bar and restaurant etc? He would just feel uncomfortable in a bar surrounded by drinkers!