Garyevs

We don't know how to steer a boat or do a lock either, so I thought some sort of plan may help

I’ve been looking at Canalplan.eu and come up with the plan below. I know that the timings will depend greatly on the amount of traffic on the canal and how long it takes to get through the locks, and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct etc, but I was looking for a general plan with overnight stopping points near a pub if possible. I'll need a drink after all that driving, and my wife will definitely need one after opening all those locks lol. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, they would be greatly appreciated as I may have missed something glaringly obvious Thanks Partial first day of trip Moor overnight at Grindley Brook Visitor Moorings (Below Locks). Go to the Horse & Jockey for food and drink. This is 5 miles, 5 furlongs and 4 locks of narrow canals and will take 3 hours 23 minutes. First full day of trip Moor overnight at Ellesmere 14-Day Moorings. (We may not get this far, dependant on Grindley Brook Locks). Go to Ellesmere for food and drink This is 13 miles, 4 furlongs and 6 locks of narrow canals and will take 7 hours 9 minutes. Second full day of trip Moor overnight at Poachers Pocket for food and drink. This is 13 miles, 1½ furlongs and 2 locks of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 41 minutes. Third full day of trip Moor overnight at Llangollen Basin. This is 6 miles, 5¾ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 2 hours 52 minutes. We should have an afternoon and evening in Llangollen. Fourth full day of trip Moor overnight at Hindford Bridge No 11. Go to Jack Mytton for food and drink. This is 13 miles, 1¼ furlongs and 2 locks of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 49 minutes. Fifth full day of trip Moor overnight at Platt Lane Visitor Moorings. There does not seem to be anywhere near to go for food, so will stay on the boat. This is 13 miles, 7¾ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 45 minutes. Sixth full day of trip Moor overnight at Wrenbury Lift Bridge No 20. Go to the Cotton Arms for food and drink. We may not get this far, dependant on Grindley Brook locks, but I didn’t want to have to go too far the following morning to return the boat. This is 11 miles, ¼ furlongs and 10 locks of narrow canals and will take 6 hours 59 minutes. Last morning of trip Return to Wrenbury Mill Boatyard. This is ¼ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 11 minutes.

Thanks for the replies and information, all very helpful. cuthound: We thought the same and planned to moor before the Grindley Brook locks, then get up early to go through them and fill up on water on the other side. llanD: We have had a look at he locks on a canal near us, so get familiar with how they work, but the canal is very quiet so didn't actually see it in action. mrsmelly: Ideally, it would be nice to moor up at lunchtime, but as John6767 mentioned we want to make the most of having the boat for a week and see as much as possible.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I already have the Nicholson guide book, though it doesn't say much about the moorings at Grindley Brook. it was a toss up between that and Pearson's, is the Pearson one better ?

Hi We will be taking our first boating holiday in a few weeks on the Llangollen canal. We start from Wrenbury and hope to get to Llangollen and back in a week, from some of the guides I've seen it seems reasonable. We pick up the boat at 2.30pm, so I assume that we should be on the way by 4pm at the latest. I've started to look at our route for overnight stops etc, and it should be about 3 hours to the Horse & Jockey near Grindley Brook. So a couple of questions: 1. Is Wrenbury > Llangollen and back in a week reasonable, or would it be a case of not having time to stop anywhere ? 2. Is the Horse & Jockey on the Wrenbury side of the locks (and do they have moorings), we don't really want to work our way through those in the evening, as there will only myself and my wife (plus the dog, but she won't help much). If not, are there moorings before the locks and not too far away that we can tie up to while we go for food and a drink ? Any help is much appreciated, along with any other advice from you guys. No doubt, I'll be nagging you some more with more questions as the route plan comes together. Thanks