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question about boat hire


georgekatkins

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Hello!

 

However, my wife and I are going on holiday in England and hope to hire a narrowboat for a short break. It is a new experience for us. We ran across one company known as "Kennet & Avon Canal Boat Hire" and wonder if anybody knows anything about the company (experience, boats, etc.) they could share with us. 

George

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Just having looked briefly at the website, I'm surprised to see that it says all 3 boats have cassette toilets.

 

This is highly unusual for hire boats, nearly all of which usually have pump-out toilets, and the idea of hirers having to empty cassettes seems somehow alien.

 

Nothing wrong with cassette toilets, but make sure you are comfortable with needing to empty them before considering this firm!

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12 minutes ago, Slim said:

Yes, go 'norf' for lower tempertures, more rain and naff beer. ????

 

 

... if you can actually find a Northern waterway that is open as a through route - I'm not sure there are any at the moment!

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33 minutes ago, Slim said:

Yes, go 'norf' for lower tempertures, more rain and naff beer. ????

)

I think you meant that, because of the lower prices, you can afford to drink nuff beer, and because of the quality of brews such as Black Sheep and Landlord, you'll probably want to.

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Just now, Athy said:

I think you meant that, because of the lower prices, you can afford to drink nuff beer, and because of the quality of brews such as Black Sheep and Landlord, you'll probably want to.

 

Greenie for that. For the avoidance of doubt, I wasn't joking, I was being  perfectly serious.

 

(The Memsahib is from Yorkshire and she has managed to train me even if it did take over 40 years).

 

 

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1 minute ago, Athy said:

I think you meant that, because of the lower prices, you can afford to drink nuff beer, and because of the quality of brews such as Black Sheep and Landlord, you'll probably want to.

Yes, Black Sheep (good) Landlord (not for me ) widely available in the Sarf as well as Old Hookey, Broadside and many (can't remember) more. Before you say it, yes, we (southerners) have some pretty naff ones as well. Some smell like a tarts boudour (spelling). (I'm told)

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18 hours ago, georgekatkins said:

Hello!

 

However, my wife and I are going on holiday in England and hope to hire a narrowboat for a short break. It is a new experience for us. We ran across one company known as "Kennet & Avon Canal Boat Hire" and wonder if anybody knows anything about the company (experience, boats, etc.) they could share with us. 

George

 I know nothing about them, which wouldn't normally give cause for comment except that my boat is moored about two miles away, and I regularly pass their base by bike (less regularly foot, boat and canoe but it still happens) and I wasn't aware of their existence. 

 

That's quite an achievement....

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39 minutes ago, Athy said:

I think you meant that, because of the lower prices, you can afford to drink nuff beer, and because of the quality of brews such as Black Sheep and Landlord, you'll probably want to.

I hope so I truly hope so, There are so many good beers up here unlike some of the stuff from darn sarwfh ?

  • Greenie 1
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1 hour ago, Athy said:

I think you meant that, because of the lower prices, you can afford to drink nuff beer, and because of the quality of brews such as Black Sheep and Landlord, you'll probably want to.

And you can get decent fish and chips.

  • Greenie 3
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2 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

And you can get decent fish and chips.

Yeah true. Does anyone know why its absolutely impossible to buy top notch fish and chips south of around Derbyish?

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1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

 I know nothing about them, which wouldn't normally give cause for comment except that my boat is moored about two miles away, and I regularly pass their base by bike (less regularly foot, boat and canoe but it still happens) and I wasn't aware of their existence. 

 

That's quite an achievement....

Thanks for the response. Well, that's interesting.... it is a family-run business and they hire out three boats. The owners are Richard and Sue Warren. We've only talked with Richard by phone and via email. Seems a decent enough fellow.

To Magpie Patrick,

Well, we'll be there on Sep 24. Maybe we'll see you and your boat (juno) on our way out!

George

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6 minutes ago, georgekatkins said:

Thanks for the response. Well, that's interesting.... it is a family-run business and they hire out three boats. The owners are Richard and Sue Warren. We've only talked with Richard by phone and via email. Seems a decent enough fellow.

To Magpie Patrick,

Well, we'll be there on Sep 24. Maybe we'll see you and your boat (juno) on our way out!

George

Hope so - look forward to it! Which boat you on? 

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6 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

The boats don't seem to be cheap to hire even though two of them are tiny in hire boat terms!

Thanks for the response. However, they seem to be the cheapest ones available for the time and place we selected! :) Plus, the fuel cost is inclusive.

23 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Hope so - look forward to it! Which boat you on? 

We'll be on the Tinka 2. It's the tiny 25' boat. This is our first venture, so The Wife and I (there are just the two of us) thought we'd start off modestly, having never piloted a narrow boat before. And we'll make it a point to stop by, if not on the outbound, then the inbound.

George

Edited by georgekatkins
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56 minutes ago, georgekatkins said:

Thanks for the response. However, they seem to be the cheapest ones available for the time and place we selected! :) Plus, the fuel cost is inclusive.

We'll be on the Tinka 2. It's the tiny 25' boat. This is our first venture, so The Wife and I (there are just the two of us) thought we'd start off modestly, having never piloted a narrow boat before. And we'll make it a point to stop by, if not on the outbound, then the inbound.

George

Don't be worried about the size and being a novice... we had a 42 foot as our first hire (two summers ago) and enjoyed every minute... with only minor problems.... weeds and poly bags around the prop etc.

In fact we had such an enjoyable time on our mid-week "out and back", that we are planning on another longer trip this time next year.

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2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Yeah true. Does anyone know why its absolutely impossible to buy top notch fish and chips south of around Derbyish?

Because that's as far south as the Young Pretender got? ??:cheers:

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5 hours ago, Slim said:

Yes, Black Sheep (good) Landlord (not for me ) widely available in the Sarf as well as Old Hookey, Broadside and many (can't remember) more. Before you say it, yes, we (southerners) have some pretty naff ones as well. 

But Old Hooky and Broadside are not Northern beers: they are from Oxon and East Anglia respectively.

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15 hours ago, cp140405 said:

Don't be worried about the size and being a novice... we had a 42 foot as our first hire (two summers ago) and enjoyed every minute... with only minor problems.... weeds and poly bags around the prop etc.

In fact we had such an enjoyable time on our mid-week "out and back", that we are planning on another longer trip this time next year.

 

This ^^^^

 

My first canal boat experience was 46 years ago on a 72 foot "camping boat" (ex-working boat.

 

After many years of hiring, shared ownerxhip and for the last 5 years full ownership, I have found that longer boats steer a straight course more readily.

 

Out and back trips look very different on the way back and allow you to revisit favourite pubs found on the way out and to visit those you missed ?

 

As to whether northern beer is better than southern beer, I was born in the North, spent my working life in the South and have retired to the Midlands.

 

Excellent beer is available in each area, (Hogsback Brewery's TEA, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Bathams bitter being my regional favourites) but you may have to look for it.

Edited by cuthound
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31 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Excellent beer is available in each area

 

As my Grandad used to say: there are no bad beers, just some better than others.

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Iain_S said:

Because that's as far south as the Young Pretender got? ??:cheers:

 

On the basis that he was Italian-born and French-speaking, he would have been a wine drinker!

Edited by Machpoint005
sp.
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4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

That is North to a suffner!

I am not responsible for the standard of present-day geography teaching in our schools.

 

Actually, East Anglia is a bit further up the map than many people think. We are on the Cambs/Norfolk border, which is often thought of as a sort of extension of the Home Counties. But in fact we're about level with Leicester.

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