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We are buying land and have started to apply for an end of garden mooring. The field sort of slops into the canal what type of mooring are the waterways looking for? Do we need to construct a decking and show them plans or can we simply just put an anchor point into our land for our narrow boat? Eventually we’d like to build a deck but this will need to be done in stages and I know you need to apply separately for planning permission. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I’ve attached a photo showing edge of land which will need clearing.

Ever claiming something is complete is always a request for people to find errors, and I expect I have made a few if not many many, but I feel like I have completed stage 1 of my Canal/River Mooring map, I still have a lot more to find and add, but I have done my best to clean the current data. https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-and-river-marinas/ Thanks for all the help David

Hello all, I was hoping you guys can help me with this one before I send a very angry email to our dear Environment Agency (EA). One of our boats is moored on the Great Ouse navigation, on a private (paid) mooring with the EA, around 7 months ago or so we had a big Freeman boat moor on the 24 hour public moorings located next to our private mooring, we never saw the owners but I was sure it was a vessel that was usually moored further down the bank. It had moored fairly close, in fact it is encroaching on our paid mooring, making mooring up difficult for us relatively new boaters, but being a 24 hour mooring we presumed it would be gone within the day. The next week it was still there, and by the following week EA enforcement notices had been stuck to it stating it was unlicensed, had been moored there for too long, had no BSS, no insurance etc etc. This has created huge issue for us as although we are infrequent boaters, moored behind us is a very expensive sunseeker speedboat which we have to try to avoid when trying to 'parallel park' our vessel on our mooring. This continued for the past 7 months with new notices just being stuck on the boat, no signs of the owners, only curious members of the public coming to check the notice, no enforcement action seems to be being taken against the vessel or its owners, the last notice dated 9/12 stating it was now being considered abandoned and would be moved! Fast forward to yesterday when my father visited our boat to find the other boat was STILL there and worse still that the moorings for this 'abandoned' boat had loosened and the vessel was now colliding frequently with our own, how long it had been doing so is impossible to say, I haven't seen the damage myself yet but I am understandably furious. Edit: My father remoored the other boat to prevent further damage, I forgot to mention we had moved and tightened its moorings previously. My question is where do we stand with this, do we claim against the environment agency for damages due to the lack of action in the 7 months to date? Do we have to claim against the owners of the other boat (if we can find them)? Your help is appreciated.

Hi! So I've been living on my boat for about 6 weeks now. We usually travel round canals, but are thinking of heading up onto the Avon and Severn soon. We've been on the Severn from Stourport to Worcester, and did this in an afternoon. However, I don't really know anything about mooring on rivers. We have Pearson maps, and there were visitor moorings in Worcester marked on the Severn, but when we approached, it seemed you were supposed to pay 4 quid a night and pay and display. Obviously, we didn't stop there but carried on up the locks into Worcester and moored on the canal. What's your experiences with mooring on rivers? Does this happen a lot, that you have to pay to moor on rivers? Or are there places you can moor?

As Atherstone lock 11 is officially due to be open tomorrow,after winter stoppages, can anyone tell me if that is still the case, also where is the best place to moor around there, and are there mooring spaces available, or is there lots of boats waiting.? Thanks..

I'm making plans and need the forum's expertise, please. Is it possible to moor at or in the vicinity of Bugsworth for longer than 48hrs, would it be wise to leave a boat unattended there, and is it practical to get a train from close by? Cheers, MP.

Hi all, we have just bought our first 16ft river cruiser and looking for somewhere to moor it/ store it in oxfordshire, we are in woodstock. Please can someone help us or point us in the right direction!! THANKS

Hello! I'm moving to Oxford in September to start an MA and I've been thinking about getting a narrowboat to live on whilst I'm there. A room in a house would be £400/month minimum and I'd much rather put the £5000 living costs for the year towards a boat instead (I realise some of that would go on various licences, fuel and fees, but I'd imagine less than half). I've started to research boats and their costs, and I've spent a day travelling through London with friends on their narrowboat, I want to illustrate that this isn't an idle fantasy but something that I'm considering carefully. However, from my research it seems that Oxford is a difficult place to find a mooring. I called up Osney Mill and was surprised that they have no residential moorings and weren't able to suggest anywhere else I might call. I asked about continuous cruising, and was told there wasn't anywhere I'd be able to stay near Oxford for more than a night or two at a time (whereas most of London seemed to work on a 14 day basis). At this point, I'd be open to either a permanent mooring or cruising and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations for either. Apparently its possible to apply for an Agenda 21 mooring, so advice on this would also be well received. I'm planning on visiting Oxford in the next week to do some ground work, so please let me know if you'd like to meet Sam P.S. I'd also be interested if anyone was looking to rent space on a boat that they used lightly.

Hi Im currently based in a Marina, and would like to buy or rent land or similar in the area, either alone or with a group, for mooring. I can imaging finding suitable land and getting mooring permission is difficult otherwise everyone would do it. Can anyone offer advice of the best place to start please. Thanks for any help offered. And if you are interested in this also please let me know, particularly if you might be interested in looking for a location as a group. Mark

Ditch bricks and mortar and buy a canal boat? It costs a fraction of a house but it's not all plain sailing ...? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-3084373/Living-canal-boat-cost-fraction-bricks-mortar-s-not-plain-sailing.html

Hello, So I know that this is a much discussed topic, and sometimes a hopeless case, but I thought I'd ask for advice anyway. My boyfriend and I live aboard in Cropredy at the moment on a 9 month short term permit from CRT. We work in schools, so were hoping to cruise over the summer and then get another 9 month permit in September. However, there do not seem to be any more short term permits being offered at Cropredy or nearby. Now I know there are off-side moorings up and down from where we are at the moment, but you seem to have to know someone (and I'm not quite sure who) to get in with a chance of them (which is perfectly fair, as I'm sure I'd do it the same way if I was renting out my land). So I was hoping some of you lovely people might have some suggestions as to who we need to get to know, how we could get to know them, or how we could prove that we are trustworthy, responsible and a delight to rent to! Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Alison

http://bwml.co.uk Sawley marina is idealy situated in the centre of the country with great links to the M1, A50 and M42. As part of BWML we donate to the Canal & River Trust for the development of the UK's inland waterways. Sawley marina offers a boat brokerage service for both steel narrowboats and GRP cruisers on a fixed fee basis. We also have leisure and grade one live aboard moorings. Please see our website for further details. Relationship with Canal & River Trust We are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canal & River Trust, CRT (formally British Waterways), a national charity formed in 2012, whose primary role is the custodian and navigation authority for around 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales. BWML, along with all other commercial interests of CRT, has a responsibility to generate commercial income to support the running of the waterways within CRT’s care.

I am possibly starting a new job in the new year, unfortunately it will be a 2 1/2 hr commute each way on a good run each day. I am considering moving my boat (currently on the K&A) up to a more local location and spending a few nights per week on the boat to cut down my travelling time. Does anyone know of suitable mooring locations close to J3 of the M5 preferably with electric hookup and parking I will also be looking for a suitable crainage point and contractor in the same locality that can handle a 42footer Any helpful info will be very much appreciated

Hi, apologies if this is in the wrong section/has been covered before. I took on a boat in December. We have been fine in general for mooring, but due to the recent bank holiday, usual spots where mooring spikes are not needed have been filled and I've been forced to use our antiquated mooring spikes. I wanted to know if anyone could point me in the right direction to purchase some new ones in London. Second hand would be fine but I can't seem to find anyone in London who stocks them. I could really do with picking them up ASAP so if anyone could help I'd be really appreciative. Thanks in advance. Michael.

Hi, I'm looking into moving onto a widebeam in the Surrey (Surbiton) area. I've heard residential moorings are hard to come by, so I'm wondering if it's possible to find a local farmer or land owner, with land backing onto the Thames and renting a mooring off them? What license would I need? Would the land owner need planning permission? What else would I and the land owner need to stay legal? Thanks Andy

I first shared this idea with Daniel (site owner) and he suggested that I post it here to see what other people think, so please respond with short or lengthy comments or additional related ideas: My boat is currently stuck on the Leeds & Liverpool (near Wigan) due to a stoppage at Rishton which may take over 8 weeks to be sorted by CRT. This experience has made me wonder whether there is any way to contact other boaters who may be in a similar position and who might have a mooring on the Wigan side of the stoppage that they could swap with my permanent mooring near Skipton in North Yorkshire? I have tried to find a forum set up to deal with this issue but have failed so far. I suggested that CRT might help set something up but received a message from Sally Ash (Head of Boating at CRT) as follows: Using the internet to broker moorings swaps is an attractive idea which we have pondered in the past periodically. The conclusion today is that this would be a venture much better developed independently of the Trust and which didn’t limit itself to occasions when boats are stranded because of bad weather or emergency navigation restrictions. E.g. I have friends with a nice end of garden mooring on the GU in Hertfordshire and they’d love to spend a summer exploring northern waterways. For the Trust to investing its resources in such a venture would be hard to reconcile with our charitable objects which are about providing public, rather than personal benefit from navigation. Nevertheless, it’d be something that we’d be happy to help promote if a suitable scheme was developed. Having just found (and joined) the Canalworld website it seems to me that this would be an ideal place to host such a helpful new service and so I'm making this suggestion to you in the hope that you might be interested in taking it up. If so, I would suggest establishing a new section of the website where people with suitable and available moorings can advertise their availability to either boaters who are either a ) needing help in an unexpected situation (such as mine), or b ) who would like to stay awhile in a different part of the country. On reflection, the idea of "doing a swap" is rather restrictive and may not meet as many people's needs. Mooring "adverts" could perhaps be structured in a way to include some or all of the following: Canal Address Dates available Security Facilities available (electicity, water, rubbish disposal, toilets, toilet cassette emptying, parking, public transport links, distance from shops etc.) Fee payable (either to individual boater, or "site landlord") Comments on using the individual mooring (e.g. I'd put: friendly live-aboard neighbours, lovely farm setting etc) Contact details I hope that this idea will be greeted positively by other Canalworld Forum members, and at this moment my permanent mooring is currently vacant and I'd be happy to use it as a trial for this new service.

We would like to move our 13.5m long, 4.1m beam motor cruiser from St Jean de Losne in France to Paris, in December this year, 2014. We missed out on securing a berth at The Arsenal despite sitting on their waiting list since August 2013. Does anyone know any other good mooring options for marina's in Paris where we can access the metro and enjoy Christmas there this year? The boat would then necessarily stay until the following June.

Will be doing a post soon about the best places in Britain to moor, whether it be Permanent or Temporary, so was just wondering where the best place you've ever moored was, and why it was so good?

I'm trying to get a grasp of what the rules are for CRT home moorings. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has answers to my questions. My plan was to get a home mooring from the CRT and regularly travel to nearby cities (say 20 to 40 miles away) staying away for maybe a couple of weeks or more (maybe) before coming back and 'recuperating' on the home mooring for several days or a week in-between my adventures. I read a CRT document "cruising-while-away-from-a-home-mooring.pdf" and it states, "every time you return to your home mooring (provided that this is not merely for a nominal period in an attempt to circumvent the rules), your cruise ends and “the clock” is effectively re-set. " "However, shuffling between two locations close together, neither of which is your home mooring, for an extended period is not permitted as that shuffling is not "cruising." My questions are, Is regularly sleeping overnights on a home (leisure) mooring allowed? If I am using my boat as a live-aboard, would my plans be classed as 'circumventing the rules'? Would it be better to just forget about having a home mooring and become a continuous cruiser instead?

I am currently a liveaboard CCer (have a 32ft GRP narrowbeam cruiser) but will start a PhD in Bath in September, and I think really the only feasible option for my relocation to Bath will be to have a permanent mooring (or the boat will have to go -my funding won't stretch to mooring my boat somewhere else and renting in Bath...although I have had it suggested by more than one person that I should just crane the boat into the university's ornamental lake ) Not expecting to find an officially residential mooring, as long as I can get away with being a 'stays a lot' type (I will in all likelihood be going between boat and places elsewhere a fair bit of the time anyway) but need to be relatively close to Bath as I will be relying on bus or train to get into uni. I'm aware of a few marinas round there, but I've not had a mooring before, so I really don't have much of an idea of how hard it will be to actually secure one (things I read about the K&A make it sound like they're in short supply) and when I should start looking etc (in an ideal world, I would love one sorted for end of August as I am about to embark on a pre-PhD grand canal journey that I am looking forward to, but PhD comes above everything, so if it was a case of needing to start looking ASAP and snap one up as soon as it came along, I will do that). I would really appreciate any advice anyone could give regarding mooring availability in that part of the world and the best approach to take to finding one.

Does anyone know where you can moor safely on the River Thames for 7 days near Staines? All the information I can find suggests that you can not stay for longer than 24 hours.

Does anybody on here have any experience of this marina? It's at Rufford on the Rufford arm of the Leeds and Liverpool. It seems like a really lovely place but it would be nice to hear from anybody that has stayed there, or is there now. Thanks.

Hello all, I'm new to the world of boating, but I've fallen for the live-aboard concept, and it looks like it will fit perfectly to my lifestyle. I spend most of my time working away from home (I'm only really home a couple of nights a week at most.) It seems mad to pay so much for rent when all I need is a peaceful place to sleep and relax. I've done a fair amount of research, and I've put together a budget of roughly £15,000 to spend on a boat (it seems like there are a few in reasonable condition at that price, I plan on renovating much of it myself.) My question is mainly about the mooring type I should look for - I figure I need to find somewhere to put it before I buy! Would my situation require a dedicated residential mooring or would I get away with a recreational one? I have a dedicated office-space elsewhere that I can use as a permanent address and work/stay whenever I need so I don't need a postal address. I plan on using solar power as I won't need much power, and I can use mobile internet. All I really need is a dedicated parking spot, a water supply and the freedom to stay for a few nights a week. I'm hoping to avoid paying council tax as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my situation. Many thanks, Louis

Hi I'm coming up the Trent and Mersey heading for Lancashire. Going on Bridgewater Canal and Leigh Branch. Can anybody suggest good sites to moor when in the more built up areas around Manchester and Wigan ? Many thanks Mike

Hello, Totally new to boating and looking for a permanent (non residential) mooring on the Bridgewater Canal (preferably close to Manchester) but can't find any information. Have been unable to get a response from bridgewatercanal@peel.co.uk and wondered what everyone else's experience was? Is it usual to have trouble gaining info about this sort of thing? Have seen mwebb@peel.co.uk suggested many times, but he has now retired. Finding it very frustrating. Thanks in advance for any help or advice, it would be very gratefully received! Amelia