Frog Man

Hello Nat-g from another Newbie! If you haven't already viewed it, have a look at "Continuous Cruising Clarification" - a question I posted some weeks back in this section, and certainly got a wealth of information and opinion on a particularly dicey subject! Good luck in your new venture. :-)

Let us know how you get on TW, as I am planning this trip later in the year, maybe Sept. FYI, I know reviews can be variable, and I don't usually trust them, but I was looking at Oxfordshire Narrowboats yesterday and some of their reviews were really quite bad. Then again, some gave them 5 stars so I guess you just don't know til you try these things for yourself. I once read a review for a campsite where a chap gave one star because : "The grass was too long and too wet, and the toilet block was too far from my tent!" If you haven't already settled on a hire co. I've been looking at College Cruisers, they do the same trip but start in Oxford. I'm sure someone will be along soon with some first hand experience, and you can't beat that.

Cheers chaps, its very kind of you to help like this. I really appreciate it. :-)

Thanks chaps, this is a bit messy- its a cut n paste from CanalplanAC . RouteOxford Canal (Southern Section - Main Line)From Heyford Wharf Narrows ¾ furlongs, 0 locksCleves Bridge No 2072½ furlongs, 0 locksHigh Bush Bridge No 2086½ furlongs, 0 locksNew Brighton Bridge No 2111 mile, 1¾ furlongs, 2 locksJane's Enchanted Tea Garden1 mile, 4 furlongs, 0 locksOld Enslow Bridge No 2161 mile, 3¾ furlongs, 1 lockRailway Bridge over River Cherwell No 217A4½ furlongs, 1 lockThrupp Cruising Club1 mile, 4½ furlongs, 1 lockThrupp Widea few yards, 0 locksAnnie's Tea Roomsa few yards, 0 locksThrupp Visitor Moorings¾ furlongs, 0 locksThe Boat Inn (Thrupp)¾ furlongs, 0 locksThe Jolly Boatman PH2 furlongs, 0 locksBridge No 223a few yards, 0 locksThe Highwayman PH and Restaurant2½ furlongs, 0 locksYarnton Lane Bridge No 228 Kidlington half a mile north Yarnton Lane 1 mile, 2½ furlongs, 1 lockDrinkwater's Lift Bridge No 231 [seenavigational note 1 below] BW Key required 1 mile, 3½ furlongs, 1 lockWolvercote Junction Junction of Duke's Cut with Oxford Canal 2¾ furlongs, 1 lockIsis Lock Junction3 miles, 1 lockOxford Visitor moorings - City centre 5 mins walk ¾ furlongs, 0 locks I'm sure that all makes sense to a trained eye (!) It comes up as a 4 day trip, return. :-)

Cheers OG, you make a very good case for Oxford - I'm doing a bit of research as we speak! Thanks too to Ian, had a look at that route on canalplanner, looks good but the app says no locks I think? Edit: just realised I had Foxton set as the END point! Plenty of locks after that clearly! (I'm finding googlemaps invaluable too!)

Cheers Bunny, gone full circle! Wey was my first consideration, as I'm living in Kent. But I was somewhat put off. Apparently it runs by M25 for a while, moorings are in short supply and the locks are a bit heavy. However, I've had a look on On The Wey website and found this: "25 miles 20 locks 13 hours cruising A longer cruise up to Weybridge where the Wey flows into the River Thames. Wisley Gardens is a must! Places of Interest: Newark Priory, Send, Ripley, Pyrford and Weybridge town centre." Any thoughts / experiences on this anyone?

Ok, so Oxfordshire Narrowboats at Heyford - anything anyone can recommend seeing en route? - and then of course visit Oxford itself, see the sights and do the return journey... sounds good so far. :-) Edit: sorry kw, clash of posts. Thank you though.

Cheers Gazza (you anarchist!) :-D

Cheers JP that info about the trains is worth bearing in mind. :-)

Nail on head there PaulC, I don't want to make an uninformed choice of route and have a bl**dy awful time (not on my first go anyway! ) Thanks to everyone else who's posted so far, some really helpful pointers. :-) Edit: Thanks OG, didn't see your post til after I posted my post (..?) Informative and to the heart of the matter as always. :-)

Cheers OG, I remember your post well, you were the only one who didn't point me North! :-) 1. I'm thinking September. 2. Quite happy to pay the going rate. 3. Not after a "destination" route. 4. Would like it to be rural with places of interest to visit / walks. 5. Of Course there MUST be pubs! :-) Apologies if I'm being an awkward so n so. Thanks too, Lysander.

Beg 'pardon! Ashby Boat Co. was who I was considering, they are in Stoke Golding. Cheers.

Good evening and a Happy St Georges Day to all! I've had a great deal of help and advice over on another thread re: a good route for a first timer on a short-break, avoiding lots of locks, and on that thread The Ashby Canal was a clear favourite for many. So I've been doing some research and it does indeed look a lovely stretch of water and certainly ticks all my boxes. However, there are no locks at all, and whilst keen to limit the amount of lock-wrangling on my first time, I'm having doubts that none at all would defeat the object a somewhat, and I saw on another thread that someone who had travel that route enjoyed it the least of all their trips. :-( I wonder if it would be possible to join a further stretch of canal from the Ashby that did include some locks within the 3 - 4 days that the break would limit me to? Thanks in advance

That's yet to be seen. (And then mopped up.)

That'd be nice, I could drive but I've got a dog that throws up at the merest sight of a car - but loves train journeys!