Short tester holiday

[Charles Payne]

I hoping to take my three children for a long weekend (4 nights) on a narrow boat. This will be a test to see  how we all get on - none of us have done this before and if successful, we plan to book for longer and go more often. My children are in their late 30's/early 40's and  I am 68. We all lead outdoor lives and love country living. My question is this: can anyone recommend somewhere that we can hire a suitable boat where the waterway is in pleasant (not city) surroundings with not too many locks! Preferably with a decent pub or two on the way!! I appreciate that I am probably asking a lot but any help/advice that you can give will be gratefully received.

 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Charles Payne said:

I hoping to take my three children for a long weekend (4 nights) on a narrow boat. This will be a test to see  how we all get on - none of us have done this before and if successful, we plan to book for longer and go more often. My children are in their late 30's/early 40's and  I am 68. We all lead outdoor lives and love country living. My question is this: can anyone recommend somewhere that we can hire a suitable boat where the waterway is in pleasant (not city) surroundings with not too many locks! Preferably with a decent pub or two on the way!! I appreciate that I am probably asking a lot but any help/advice that you can give will be gratefully received.

 

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

The world (or rather the canal system) is your oyster. A lot depends on budget too.

 

Any number of starting points would suit but I will kick off with Aqua Narrow Boats (expensive but very nice. boats) at Barton Turns Marina on the Trent and Mersey. You could travel East or West for two nights and then double back.

 

How close are you to a canal and how far are you willing to travel?

[ditchcrawler]

For a short break I would suggest the Droitwich ring, it includes narrow canals and locks, broad canals and locks, a river section with river locks, swing bridges, a stair case lock and 3 locks with working side ponds and a short low tunnel. It passes through Worcester and Droitwich for the pub fix. I know of nowhere where you can experience so much in 4 days.

[LadyG]

I dont think weekends will suit many hire businesses, they usually work on weeks.

I would suggest that four days is too short to get in to a rhythm, and work as a team, some people will want to helm, and want long days, with record breaking locking and miles. .

The boat has usually to be returned to the hire base , have a look at the hire websites for info on the area they cover.

 

[doratheexplorer]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

For a short break I would suggest the Droitwich ring, it includes narrow canals and locks, broad canals and locks, a river section with river locks, swing bridges, a stair case lock and 3 locks with working side ponds and a short low tunnel. It passes through Worcester and Droitwich for the pub fix. I know of nowhere where you can experience so much in 4 days.

I wouldn't say that fits the bill of not too many locks, or not going through a city.

 

I'd recommend hiring from Napton Narrowboats at Autherley Junction and heading north.  Plenty of pubs, and probably only 2 locks, depending on how far you get.

[Tracy D'arth]

I would suggest the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union canal.

Middlewich to Nantwich say  on the main canal and return, total 8 locks. 

Hiring from Andersen boats, very well kept and comfortable boats. The base is 3 more locks down from Middlewich so in the 4 days you could do a maximum of 14 locks if you wanted to.

An out and back trip is better than trying to rush round a ring, you can decide when to turn round and it all looks different in the other direction anyway.

[IanD]

Shire Cruisers in Sowerby Bridge do weekend hires (Friday to Monday) and midweek hires (Monday to Friday) as well as week hires. You can set off towards Todmorden, go as far as you want to, and then turn round and come back, so avoiding the stress of having to get somewhere in a given time. Good boats from a good company, lovely scenery, and some very nice pubs... 🙂

[Hudds Lad]

I'd say hire from Pennine Cruisers at Skipton, or Snaygill Boats, or Silsden Boats and do a bit of Leeds & Liverpool.

A lot depends on where you are willing to travel to from wherever you are in the country.

 

Also bear in mind you'll lose a lot of your first day with handover which is usually early afternoon, and you'll need to return the boat to base for about 8am on the last day.

 

The time of year will have an impact on cruising time as well, hire boats are not supposed to cruise in the dark.

[jonathanA]

I'd second Tracy's suggestion of andersen from Middlewich, or ABC out of Anderton Marina. ( I think its ABC), lots of interesting canal from either of those.  

 

Otherwise Pennine cruisers from Skipton.  Family firm, nice boats and good options from Skipton.  

[john6767]

24 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I dont think weekends will suit many hire businesses, they usually work on weeks.

I would suggest that four days is too short to get in to a rhythm, and work as a team, some people will want to helm, and want long days, with record breaking locking and miles. .

The boat has usually to be returned to the hire base , have a look at the hire websites for info on the area they cover.

 

Certainly talking to our marina, much of the hire business is short breaks, ie Fri to Mon, and Mon to Friday, rather than the more traditional week long breaks.  I doubt there will be an issue with that type of break, but 4 nights over a weekend would be a bit more bespoke, so approach a hire base you like and see if they can accommodate.

 

To find hire companies in the area of the country that you are interested you could look on Hoseasons web site, which the majority of the hire bases list on.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

25 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

I wouldn't say that fits the bill of not too many locks, or not going through a city.

 

I'd recommend hiring from Napton Narrowboats at Autherley Junction and heading north.  Plenty of pubs, and probably only 2 locks, depending on how far you get.

 
I’ll second this one, mainly for the pubs and keeping it simple,

It’s a favourite stretch of mine at the moment heading North from Autherley Junction,

pretty scenery, relaxing, plenty of places to stop over with some great pubs and good local shops,

also some lovely spots to moor up in the country away from anyone else,

 

 

 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Certainly talking to our marina, much of the hire business is short breaks, ie Fri to Mon, and Mon to Friday, rather than the more traditional week long breaks.  I doubt there will be an issue with that type of break, but 4 nights over a weekend would be a bit more bespoke, so approach a hire base you like and see if they can accommodate.

 

To find hire companies in the area of the country that you are interested you could look on Hoseasons web site, which the majority of the hire bases list on.

 

If booking a boat on the Hoseasons web site it's always worth asking for a price direct from the yard. They aren't supposed to undercut their own prices promoted on there but it's definitely not unknown for them to do so or to add a welcome pack on the boat for free if you book direct.

[David Mack]

Depends what you mean by 'not too many locks'. You could hire on the Ashby Canal which has no locks, whereas other crews might think anything less than 20 locks a day is taking it easy. Also consider whether you want a route with wide or narrow locks (or some of each). Narrow locks are generally lighter and easier to operate, but you will probably end up sharing some wide locks with another boat, which spreads the workload and can be more sociable (or occasionally not!).

Many of the hire company websites have pages with route suggestions for trips of different lengths, which would give you an idea. https://www.canalholidays.co.uk/our-routes/short-break-canal-holidays/3-4-day-cruises/ and https://www.rose-narrowboats.co.uk/routes.html are a couple of examples of many.

 

Note that most companies offer short breaks Friday to Monday (3 night) and Monday to Friday (4 night breaks), and that you will only get 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 days of actual boating. The smaller family-run companies may be more flexible about other length trips, especially out of the main season.

Edited February 8 by David Mack

[ditchcrawler]

55 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I dont think weekends will suit many hire businesses, they usually work on weeks.

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

I dont think weekends will suit many hire businesses, they usually work on weeks.

 

Every hire base I have ever hired from has offered short breaks over a week end Fri-Mon or midweek Mon-Fri. Some offer other combinations too up to 10 days. In fact I can't think of one that doesn't but if there is one then there are plenty that do.

 

If they have 'classes' of boat some will keep some of that 'class' specifically for use as short break boats.

 

 

Edited February 8 by MJG

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, Charles Payne said:

I hoping to take my three children for a long weekend (4 nights) on a narrow boat. This will be a test to see  how we all get on - none of us have done this before and if successful, we plan to book for longer and go more often. My children are in their late 30's/early 40's and  I am 68. We all lead outdoor lives and love country living. My question is this: can anyone recommend somewhere that we can hire a suitable boat where the waterway is in pleasant (not city) surroundings with not too many locks! Preferably with a decent pub or two on the way!! I appreciate that I am probably asking a lot but any help/advice that you can give will be gratefully received.

 

 

When are you planning on doing this?

[Timx]

Have a look on “ latelink” they are usually a bit cheaper and you can have a look at lots of different hire bases and routes they show on there all over the country.

[doratheexplorer]

1 hour ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

 
I’ll second this one, mainly for the pubs and keeping it simple,

It’s a favourite stretch of mine at the moment heading North from Autherley Junction,

pretty scenery, relaxing, plenty of places to stop over with some great pubs and good local shops,

also some lovely spots to moor up in the country away from anyone else,

 

 

 

It works really nicely for a Friday to monday hire period.

 

Friday:  Pick up boat and cruise north to Wheaton Aston (pub right next to the canal).

Saturday:  Continue north and finish at one of three places - 1.  Top of Tyrley Locks and walk down to the Four Alls Inn (10 minutes away).  2.  Goldstone Wharf and go the the Wharf Tavern next to the canal.  3.  High Offley and go to the Anchor (no food but one of the most famous canalside pubs).

Sunday:  Head south to Brewood (4 pubs in the village I think?)

Monday:  return to Autherley.

 

And there are other options for nice places with pubs including Gnosall and Norbury Junction.

 

The surrounding countryside is really pretty and there's some canal interest too, especially Woodseaves Cutting.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

7 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

It works really nicely for a Friday to monday hire period.

 

Friday:  Pick up boat and cruise north to Wheaton Aston (pub right next to the canal).

Saturday:  Continue north and finish at one of three places - 1.  Top of Tyrley Locks and walk down to the Four Alls Inn (10 minutes away).  2.  Goldstone Wharf and go the the Wharf Tavern next to the canal.  3.  High Offley and go to the Anchor (no food but one of the most famous canalside pubs).

Sunday:  Head south to Brewood (4 pubs in the village I think?)

Monday:  return to Autherley.

 

And there are other options for nice places with pubs including Gnosall and Norbury Junction.

 

The surrounding countryside is really pretty and there's some canal interest too, especially Woodseaves Cutting.

yes, similar thoughts. 
But there’s no longer winding at top of Tyrley so perhaps the furthest they could go is Goldstone Wharf. 
 

Edited February 8 by beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

[doratheexplorer]

1 minute ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

yes, similar thoughts. 
But there’s no longer winding at top of Tyrely, so perhaps the furthest they could go is Goldstone Wharf. 
 

There's a winding hole on the offside just above the top lock.  What's happened to it?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

4 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

There's a winding hole on the offside just above the top lock.  What's happened to it?

Usual thing, new owners have bought the property and dont want boats using the winding hole. 
They moored a boat across it and hung a rope across. 
 

Rumour also has it that the sound of using the paddle gear annoys them too 🤷‍♀️

 

Oh, it’s also said they only

live there occasionally, second home and all that, plus it’s their own boat across the winding hole. 
 

Edited February 8 by beerbeerbeerbeerbeer

[Guest]

Just now, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Usual thing, new owners have bought the property and dont want boats using it the winding hole. 
They moored a boat across it and hung a rope across. 
 

 

 

And what are CRT doing about that??

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 minute ago, MJG said:

 

And what are CRT doing about that??

Nothing they can do.

Its not a CRT winding hole. 
 

[Guest]

Just now, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Nothing they can do.

Its not a CRT winding hole. 
 

 

Ah right. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Lots of winding holes on the Shroppie are privately owned and we use them by their permission