Another 'plug' for boating holidays :

[Alan de Enfield]

 

Summer holiday 2020: Unlocking the beauty of Britain's waterways

BRITAIN'S 2,200 miles of navigable canals and rivers are open after the lockdown and waiting to be explored.

They offer a chance to live life in the slow lane with travel at a maximum of just 4mph, so you have time to take in the scenery and wildlife. Narrowboat holidays on the 200-year-old network offer a safe staycation option, and a chance to see some fantastic sights - whether you're on a trip afloat or just a day visitor to the towpaths (canal watchers are called gongoozlers) by car or public transport.

Here's our pick of the waterway wonders...

Bingley Five Rise Locks, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, W Yorks

Five magnificent locks provide a gateway to cruising along the Leeds & Liverpool into the Yorkshire Dales.

Visitors and those in the queue can watch boats working through these iconic 59ft locks, the steepest staircase in the country.

Little Venice, Regent's Canal, Grand Union Canal, London

A tranquil oasis where the Regent's joins the Grand Union at Paddington.

Hop on to a London Waterbus narrowboat and take a trip from Little Venice to Camden Lock, via the zoo.

Anderton Boat Lift, Trent & Mersey Canal/River Weaver, Cheshire

The Big Daddy of the network, it's a Victorian working boat lift and known as the Cathedral of the Canals.

Perched high on the banks of the River Weaver and constructed from wrought and cast iron, it carries boats the 50ft between the Trent & Mersey and the Weaver and was in use from 1875 to 1983, when it was so corroded it had to be closed.

Restoration started in 2001 and it reopened the following year with a visitor centre. It is one of only two working boat lifts in the UK, the other is the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

Standedge Tunnel, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, W Yorks

Deep under the Pennines, Standedge Tunnel is the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in Britain at more than three miles long and yet another Telford triumph.

Hundreds of navvies (the word comes from the 'navigators' who built the navigation canals) took 16 years to build it and today it's open for general boaters and tourist trips; a transit can take up to three hours.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Llangollen Canal, Wrexham

A 336-yard long civil engineering masterpiece from Thomas Telford and William Jessop, it now has World Heritage Status.

Completed in 1805, the cast-iron aqueduct is supported by stone arches 126ft above the River Dee. Crossing by foot or boat does require a head for heights, but the view is superb.

National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire Again by Telford, its Victorian docks, locks, warehouses, forge, stables and workers' cottages are a treasure trove of industrial archaeology and historic boats.

The location is special too, perfectly sited on the banks of the Shropshire Union and Manchester Ship canals.Annual passes cost £9.75 adult/£6 child/£25 family.

Caen Hill Locks, Kennet & Avon Canal, Wilts

Settle down for this beauty, it's the longest continuous flight of locks in Britain and can take up to four hours to transit.

Known as a gongoozlers' paradise, it was built in 1810 by pioneering Scottish engineer John Rennie and each of the 16 locks - part of a total of 29 - has a side pond to prevent the canal from running dry.

It fell into disuse and disrepair in the 1940s but was saved from closure in the 1960s, then finally restored and officially reopened by the Queen in 1990.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1304993/summer-holiday-uk-boat-travel-canals-rivers

[robtheplod]

We went to London Zoo via the canal boat from Little Venice - great as you miss all the queues!!

[pete.i]

The problem with holidaying on the canals is the speed. I know that there are enthusiasts on this forum, and others, that like and positively enjoy the peace, tranquility and the slow life on the canals but believe it or not those people are a tiny tiny minority when it comes to the holidaying public in this country. Most want to get on a plane, fly to foreign climes to put their hard earned into foreign pockets. Throw copius amounts of Sangria down their throats and get a suntan. It takes me two days to get from the Selby Canal to Goole harbour by narrowboat, 15 miles and 20 minutes by road. . Okay I can do it in a day but that is a long day. Also it is hard work (especially at Beale lock and Bank Dole Lock) compared to flying off to foreign lands, not that I do that to be honest. Standing at the back of a boat in all weathers. operating badly maintained locks, having to put up with fishermen and louts on the towpath etc etc etc. It's just not most people's idea of a relaxing sun soaked holiday.

[Jerra]

10 minutes ago, pete.i said:

It's just not most people's idea of a relaxing sun soaked holiday.

I doubt anybody who takes a UK holiday expects it to be sun soaked.   Soaked probably but not sun soaked.

[Murflynn]

16 minutes ago, pete.i said:

The problem with holidaying on the canals is the speed. I know that there are enthusiasts on this forum, and others, that like and positively enjoy the peace, tranquility and the slow life on the canals but believe it or not those people are a tiny tiny minority when it comes to the holidaying public in this country. Most want to get on a plane, fly to foreign climes to put their hard earned into foreign pockets. Throw copius amounts of Sangria down their throats and get a suntan.

I would never have guessed .............................  

 

it's not a "problem" - it's what makes the waterways so appealing.   Thank god most folk aren't attracted to it. 

[Jerra]

5 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

I would never have guessed .............................  

 

it's not a "problem" - it's what makes the waterways so appealing.   Thank god most folk aren't attracted to it. 

I am not sure about the tiny minority.   Most people I talk to about boating (from all walks of life) have had at least one canal holiday.

[Midnight]

7 hours ago, pete.i said:

The problem with holidaying on the canals is the speed. I know that there are enthusiasts on this forum, and others, that like and positively enjoy the peace, tranquility and the slow life on the canals but believe it or not those people are a tiny tiny minority when it comes to the holidaying public in this country. Most want to get on a plane, fly to foreign climes to put their hard earned into foreign pockets. Throw copius amounts of Sangria down their throats and get a suntan. It takes me two days to get from the Selby Canal to Goole harbour by narrowboat, 15 miles and 20 minutes by road. . Okay I can do it in a day but that is a long day. Also it is hard work (especially at Beale lock and Bank Dole Lock) compared to flying off to foreign lands, not that I do that to be honest. Standing at the back of a boat in all weathers. operating badly maintained locks, having to put up with fishermen and louts on the towpath etc etc etc. It's just not most people's idea of a relaxing sun soaked holiday.

Blimey if you find Beale Lock hard work and cruising too slow maybe you are in the wrong game.