Weekend Breaks near London

[Aussie George]

Hi everyone,

 

First-timer here on CanalWorld, so please be gentle.

 

I'm looking at doing a short (weekend or mid-week) narrowboat hire during late June 2020. 4 people.

 

Looking for a picturesque canal and a marina that can be reached by train from London in say max 2-3 hours. Any recommendations please?

 

I did the Llangollen several years ago, so I am familiar with basic boat handling and lock procedures.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, Aussie George said:

Hi everyone,

 

First-timer here on CanalWorld, so please be gentle.

 

I'm looking at doing a short (weekend or mid-week) narrowboat hire during late June 2020. 4 people.

 

Looking for a picturesque canal and a marina that can be reached by train from London in say max 2-3 hours. Any recommendations please?

 

I did the Llangollen several years ago, so I am familiar with basic boat handling and lock procedures.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Oxfordshire narrowboats at Lower Heyford on the South Oxford canal. Lovely canal mainly rural. Train in from London about 1 hr 15 minutes tops delivers you straight across the canal from the platform. No other transport needed. I minute literaly walk.

Edited October 16, 2019 by mrsmelly

[BEngo]

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Close to the station  though not as close as Heyford.  Handy for the Chilterns or go to Stoke Bruerne, Blisworth Tunnel and the Waterways Museum.

 

Also Puddling Cruises out of Milton Keynes Marina. Same options, wider boat.

N

[Aussie George]

37 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Oxfordshire narrowboats at Lower Heyford on the South Oxford canal. Lovely canal mainly rural. Train in from London about 1 hr 15 minutes tops delivers you straight across the canal from the platform. No other transport needed. I minute literaly walk.

Thanks kindly. From Lower Heyford would you recommend northwards towards Branbury or southward towards Oxford.

[mrsmelly]

10 minutes ago, Aussie George said:

Thanks kindly. From Lower Heyford would you recommend northwards towards Branbury or southward towards Oxford.

I would go North if only a short break. More rural and if a visit to Oxford is wanted its far better done by train. By more rural I mean avoiding the tiny city of Oxford with its highs and lows. Some nice overnight stops going north.

[Aussie George]

Thanks muchly.

11 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I would go North if only a short break. More rural and if a visit to Oxford is wanted its far better done by train. By more rural I mean avoiding the tiny city of Oxford with its highs and lows. Some nice overnight stops going north.

Thanks muchly

[Aussie George]

12 hours ago, BEngo said:

Puddling Cruises out of Milton Keynes Marina. Same options, wider boat.

Thanks BEngo. Unfortunately, from Puddling Cruises' website, it looks like they don't offer short-break hire, and they are fully booked for June 2020.

 

12 hours ago, BEngo said:

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Close to the station  though not as close as Heyford.  Handy for the Chilterns or go to Stoke Bruerne, Blisworth Tunnel and the Waterways Museum.

So this would be northwards from Leighton Buzzard on the Grand Union canal towards Northampton, correct? How far would we get on a short break hire?

[harleyj]

We helped organise a group of four friends, also from W.A., on a four day break from Oxfordshire boats at Lower Heyford. Complete novices, said it was the best part of their holiday. They went to Oxford so that is doable, north is just as good. You will have a ball either way.

[Captain Pegg]

I’d tend to side with the Heyford suggestion, certainly for a weekend.
 

From Wyvern shipping northwards doesn’t make a great weekend in my opinion because about half the time will be spent circumnavigating Milton Keynes. That’s isn’t the best half days boating and it will have to be done twice. It would need at least a midweek break to get to Stoke Bruerne and I’d really be wanting to get to Cosgrove and beyond on that trip. Going south from Wyvern toward Tring summit may be better on a weekend and Aylesbury is a possibility for a midweek.

 

Another option would be the Droitwich Ring from Worcester - probably the best train journey from London being a direct and fairly frequent InterCity train even though it’s toward the limit of the specified time. That is possible in a weekend.

 

A less obvious option is a ring from Alvechurch to Kingswood and central Birmingham which is probably a midweek break. A very varied route in a short space of time but a bit more out of the way. Hire base is adjacent to the station and has a 20 minute frequency service to and from London with a change at Birmingham.

 

JP

[Aussie George]

Hi Captain Pegg,

 

Many thanks for your suggestions. I have now altered our itinerary to allow for a 4-night mid-week break rather than just a 3-night weekend break. 

On 17/10/2019 at 17:17, Captain Pegg said:

Another option would be the Droitwich Ring from Worcester - probably the best train journey from London being a direct and fairly frequent InterCity train even though it’s toward the limit of the specified time. That is possible in a weekend.

 

On 17/10/2019 at 17:17, Captain Pegg said:

A less obvious option is a ring from Alvechurch to Kingswood and central Birmingham which is probably a midweek break.

 I think these trips are too far from London for us and there appear to be too many locks for my newbies to cope with.

 

On 17/10/2019 at 17:17, Captain Pegg said:

Going south from Wyvern toward Tring summit may be better on a weekend and Aylesbury is a possibility for a midweek.

You have got me thinking about this one. Although 16 locks and a shortage of canal-side pubs on the Aylesbury Arm would be a major concern for us.

On 17/10/2019 at 17:17, Captain Pegg said:

From Wyvern shipping northwards doesn’t make a great weekend in my opinion because about half the time will be spent circumnavigating Milton Keynes. That’s isn’t the best half days boating and it will have to be done twice. It would need at least a midweek break to get to Stoke Bruerne and I’d really be wanting to get to Cosgrove and beyond on that trip.

I can understand what you mean by motoring through Milton Keynes, but I think the scenery between Leighton  Buzzard and MK and between MK and Stoke Bruerne may off-set that disadvantage. There seem to be a few more canal-side pubs also. I would hope we could get through the Blisworth Tunnel and turn around.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Aussie George

[Aussie George]

On 17/10/2019 at 15:01, harleyj said:

We helped organise a group of four friends, also from W.A., on a four day break from Oxfordshire boats at Lower Heyford. Complete novices, said it was the best part of their holiday. They went to Oxford so that is doable, north is just as good. You will have a ball either way.

Thanks harleyj,
We're hoping to have a great time.

[Athy]

On 16/10/2019 at 17:42, mrsmelly said:

Oxfordshire narrowboats at Lower Heyford on the South Oxford canal. Lovely canal mainly rural. Train in from London about 1 hr 15 minutes tops delivers you straight across the canal from the platform. No other transport needed. I minute literaly walk.

^^

Seconded - though, as I moor on the South Oxford, I am biased!

But I would recommend (if funds allow it) taking the boat for a week. The canal is winding and picturesque but it's not built for racing, so you would not get far in a long weekend. Many Oxfordshire hire boats turn round at Cropredy, an attractive village with shop and pubs - a round trip which you COULD achieve in three days, but which would be better savoured over six days.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Athy

[Mike Adams]

Try Galleon Marine at Odiham on the Basingstoke Canal. They do short breaks and less than an hour by train from London

[Captain Pegg]

2 hours ago, Aussie George said:

Hi Captain Pegg,

 

Many thanks for your suggestions. I have now altered our itinerary to allow for a 4-night mid-week break rather than just a 3-night weekend break. 

 

 I think these trips are too far from London for us and there appear to be too many locks for my newbies to cope with.

 

You have got me thinking about this one. Although 16 locks and a shortage of canal-side pubs on the Aylesbury Arm would be a major concern for us.

I can understand what you mean by motoring through Milton Keynes, but I think the scenery between Leighton  Buzzard and MK and between MK and Stoke Bruerne may off-set that disadvantage. There seem to be a few more canal-side pubs also. I would hope we could get through the Blisworth Tunnel and turn around.

Good plan for a Monday to Friday trip, it will feel like a lot more holiday than a weekend. I really wouldn’t recommend going through Milton Keynes on a Saturday just to return on Sunday. I’ve just had a look at potential stops on the routes from Wyvern Shipping and it does seem to fit better going northwards if you want to stop at pubs for the night. You’d probably end up at Soulbury Three Locks on both first and last nights, mooring below the locks first night and above them on the last night. The second night should see you either above or below Stoke Bruerne locks and with ample time to go through Blisworth and turn to head back to perhaps Cosgrove the next day. Canal Plan has those as seven hour days but they don’t seem like particularly challenging days to me. I can recall doing Cosgrove to Marsworth on a hire boat in a day in 1985 but in those days there were massively fewer moored boats.

 

One thing to note when it comes to locks is that the broad locks on the Grand Union will be harder to work than the narrow locks on the Oxford although there is the possibility you will be able to share on the GU. I appreciate Worcester is perhaps too far but the majority of the locks on that trip are quick and easy.

 

JP