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Hi All,

 

Booked a boat called Little Pea from Clifton Cruisers in Rugby for a week in August.

 

Can you suggest some routes to take from Rugby ? Open to all suggestions for routes: Rings, out and back, long days, leisurely cruising.

 

Hopefully your advice will help my planning.

 

Thanks 

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

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August will be even busier this year after lockdown so if you want gentle, try north Oxford to Hawkesbury then Marston Jctn, the Ashby and return.  With just the 1 lock, you won't be waiting in queues for hours.

 

If you manage that you can always go past Clifton and add Braunston and back, but you will have a busy time at Hillmorton

Definitely stay away from Napton towards Banbury!

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18 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Nice tips.

 

Any info out there on potential wait times at particular locks in August ?

This year will (hopefully) be a one off so any tips based on past experience however well intentioned will probably be  unreliable -  but I guess its a fair bet that anywhere that is usually busy will be busier??

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Watford staircase on the Leicester section (and Foxton beyond it) can have waits of over an hour.

 

But I think Watford is closed at present due to a gate failure.

 

Braunston is worth stopping at.  Whether you go up 6 locks and through the tunnel is up to you.

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9 minutes ago, jake_crew said:

Watford staircase on the Leicester section (and Foxton beyond it) can have waits of over an hour.

 

But I think Watford is closed at present due to a gate failure.

 

Braunston is worth stopping at.  Whether you go up 6 locks and through the tunnel is up to you.

Watford has re-opened, no booking required but they have warned that the wait could be more than a day. Note that if you go up Braunston flight you have to go through the tunnel, there is no winding point before it, but it is a unique experience and worthwhile (as long as you aren't claustrophobic) 

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4 hours ago, Jeff78 said:

Hi All,

 

Booked a boat called Little Pea from Clifton Cruisers in Rugby for a week in August.

 

Can you suggest some routes to take from Rugby ? Open to all suggestions for routes: Rings, out and back, long days, leisurely cruising.

 

Hopefully your advice will help my planning.

 

Thanks 

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

What sort of things do you like, countryside, industrial, villages, towns, cities...?

 

There is quite a lot of choice from Rugby.

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I do nearly all my boating during school holidays and that includes bank holiday weekends. I don’t concur with the idea that you should avoid certain places. Go where you want to go, just be prepared that if you do get delayed you’ll have to put in some early starts or late finishes. Canals are rarely if ever busy outside the middle of the day and early and late are often some of nicest times to boat. That said I haven’t been unduly delayed during any of the last few years while boating in the same area you will be in.
 

Teenage kids will likely want to be active and for that reason the Ashby might not be the best option due to lack of locks. The other extreme is the Warwickshire Ring (which many hire boats complete every week throughout the season) for which you will need to know they are going to be willing to work the large number of locks involved. I’ve done pretty much all the options you have available as a hirer both as child and parent and I would rate the Warwickshire ring as the best and Ashby as the worst from a family perspective.

 

Ultimately why not ask the kids what sort of holiday they want? Deciding what makes a good holiday on their behalf sounds like a recipe for disaster.

 

JP

 

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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Usually the only places you can have substantial waits for the locks are Watford and Foxton, and the Leicester line is probably not the first choice from where you are starting anyway.  I would not fret to much about the waits.

 

If you want to do a ring then the only one available to you is the Warwickshire ring.  In a hire week it is a busy week and there are over 100 locks.  Many people do it, but you will need to be doing full days each day.  If that appeals then it is very rewarding, and if you push yourselves you can go the route that will let you stop overnight in the centre of Birmingham, which is great.

 

Another option would be to Braunston and then south on the GU to Stoke Bruene.  If you do it with time to spare when you get to Braunston you can turn left, ie stay on the GU and go towards Napton, before turning round coming Bach to Braunston turn and up the North Oxford.

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  • 1 month later...
39 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Update !! Bit of a cock-up with our booking !! Now got to do 2 trips from Rugby. One Friday-Monday and the other Monday-Friday.

 

Any suggestions for our now 2 trips ??

 

 Thanks 

So you have to go back to Rugby on the Monday?  To change boat?

 

Anyway it would make sense to go one way on the first trip and then the other way on the second, longer trip.  I would say go north on the first shorter trip, and then south on the second longer one.

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48 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Update !! Bit of a cock-up with our booking !! Now got to do 2 trips from Rugby. One Friday-Monday and the other Monday-Friday.

 

Any suggestions for our now 2 trips ??

 

 Thanks 

A trip to Welford and return might suit a Monday to Friday. A mixture of narrow and broad locks, not too many, not too few and including Watford staircase plus two long tunnels. Also nice to have a proper end point on an out and back.

 

For a Monday to Friday perhaps head to the summit of the Oxford, very rural up there.
 

Not sure about going north in those times, although I do get the logic of going in different directions. Perhaps go to top of Atherstone flight, or maybe Coventry. Not sure the latter is quite what you’re after though. Problem with going north is there’s no meaningful locks within reach.

 

JP

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Yes swapping boats on the Monday, a double booking !! But not many other options out there for decent boats 

 

Was thinking of doing to Ashby Friday-Monday to get in the swing of it (1st timers !) and then I was thinking some more challenges on the Monday-Friday section 

 

Any ideas where I can download full size canal maps to print of fairly large (4xA4) ?

 

 Thanks 

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10 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Yes swapping boats on the Monday, a double booking !! But not many other options out there for decent boats 

 

Was thinking of doing to Ashby Friday-Monday to get in the swing of it (1st timers !) and then I was thinking some more challenges on the Monday-Friday section 

 

Any ideas where I can download full size canal maps to print of fairly large (4xA4) ?

 

 Thanks 

For a first timer that’s maybe not a bad idea. You won’t get too far up the Ashby on a Friday to Monday hire though.

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I would go to Coventry basin first, have a bit of city cruising, Friday night at Hawkesbury, Saturday night in the basin, Sunday night Ansty.

 

Then head south after that, the first few miles of the Ashby are a bit dull and you wont get much further than Hinckley, unless you put in very long days.

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2 hours ago, Jeff78 said:

Yes swapping boats on the Monday, a double booking !! But not many other options out there for decent boats 

 

Was thinking of doing to Ashby Friday-Monday to get in the swing of it (1st timers !) and then I was thinking some more challenges on the Monday-Friday section 

 

Any ideas where I can download full size canal maps to print of fairly large (4xA4) ?

 

 Thanks 

 

CRT currently advising people not to use the Ashby due to low water levels.

 

I would continue along the Coventry Canal and do the Atherstone Locks, if necessary winding part way down at Baddesley Basin.

 

Notice Alert

Ashby Canal
Location: Between Orton's Bridge 1 and Turnover Bridge 61
Starts At: Bridge 1, Orton's Bridge
Ends At: Bridge 61, Turnover Bridge

Thursday 13 August 2020 until further notice

Type: Advice
Reason: Water resources


 

Original message:

 

Due to the recent dry weather, we are currently experiencing extremely low water on the Ashby Canal. 

This is consequently making it very difficult for our boaters to travel. 

We are working hard with our colleagues in the West Midlands Team, who are trying to bring us water from the Coventry Canal. 

However, they are very low on water as well and so it is taking longer than normal to get the water levels back up. 

We advise boaters to minimise their travel at this moment in time and please proceed with care. 

We will update our website as the situation develops. 
We apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing and appreciate our customers patience at this time.

Please follow the government advice – stay alert, control the virus, save lives

You can view this notice and its map online here:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/18101/between-ortons-bridge-1-and-turnover-bridge-61

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

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13 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Having a look at going up to Burton-On-Trent, seems a nice distance and not to many locks.

 

Anyone got any thoughts or comments on this ?

Seems to be a good plan. Easy locks, you’ll get some help from the Atherstone volockies at your first serious locks and there’s lots of straightforward cruising. Someone started a post asking for views on the Coventry Canal recently and the responses were overwhelmingly - and perhaps surprisingly - positive.

 

You'll also pass two of the best known canal pubs on the network, the Greyhound at Sutton Stop and the Swan at Fradley. Given you’ll be passing both twice there is no excuse not to call in.

 

JP

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Jeff78 said:

Having a look at going up to Burton-On-Trent, seems a nice distance and not to many locks.

 

Anyone got any thoughts or comments on this ?

Criky, what speed do you go at, Rugby to Burton and back in 3.5 days!

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