Short tester holiday

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, MJG said:

 

And what are CRT doing about that??

Nothing, CRT don't own it the house holder does.

[mrsmelly]

One tip I can offer is dont go on a weekend when most people are dictated to going by bosses at work places. The cost of most short breaks are identical and usualy are friday till monday morning or monday till friday morning thus an extra night for not going weekends. It will be better for restaurants too, hence we went out last night and going out tonight for a meal rather than friday or saturday with the great unwashed!! 

[SUIGENERIS]

Hi. Check out North Kilworth Wharf, Narrowboat hire on the Leicester section of the Grand Union. Great boats, very peaceful section with few locks, great pub at Welford, and at Foxton and much choice at Market Harborough.  Boats are excellent and they are well known for making you very welcome. Enjoy! Cheers, Mick

[magpie patrick]

When doing my grand cruise from Manchester to Bath on Lutine Bell I found the most agreeable section was the Southern Oxford canal between Banbury and Thrupp - so good I did it three times on a one way trip!* a lock every mile or so, pubs in each village....

 

*actually I had to do this because of engine trouble, but if there was a bit of that grand voyage to be stuck on, it was that bit!

[MrsM]

As your children are in their 30s and 40s and are outdoorsy I'd say don't be constrained by limiting the number of locks. They are fun and will be easy peasy with 4 adults on a boat. Hubby and I regularly did 30+ in a day and the sense of achievement is superb - nothing like feeling you have really earned a pint at the end of a day's busy boating! So much of the network is stunningly beautiful so you will be spoilt for choice. Hope you all have a great time.

Edited February 8 by MrsM

[Stroudwater1]

14 minutes ago, MrsM said:

As your children are in their 30s and 40s and are outdoorsy I'd say don't be constrained by limiting the number locks. They are fun and will be easy peasy with 4 adults on a boat. Hubby and I regularly did 30+ in a day and the sense of achievement is superb - nothing like feeling you have really earned a pint at the end of a day's busy boating! So much of the network is stunningly beautiful so you will be spoilt for choice. Hope you all have a great time.

I  agree, and I wouldn’t be concerned about cities either. Apart from Manchester I wouldn’t discount them. Birmingham is really rather pleasant on many canals and surprisingly rural coming up from the Kings Norton way. Anglo Welsh have a hire base in Tardebigge which makes a nice trip into Birmingham with a couple of tunnels too. Cruising up to the Black Country living museum then around the area or a detour down the Stratford canal is a nice trip. 
 

A moderate amount of locks could mean considering a trip from Wootton Wawen to Stratford or some time on the Llangollen (can be busy at peak season) 

[agg221]

I suggest looking at Norbury Wharf as somewhere to hire from, on the Shropshire Union. If you are thinking of going out of season they may well be amenable - they do winter hires for example. If you want to minimise locks, I would head south, then turn right at Autherley and head down a bit of the Staffs & Worcs. There are some nice places with good pubs not that far down. If you find you want to travel for longer then it continues to be a pleasant route as far as you would reasonably get. There are also some nice places to stop on the southern Shropshire Union itself - Brewood and Gnosall spring to mind. it is a sensible trip back from Gnosall on the final morning if you moor there on the last night and there is a good choice of pubs for food.

 

Another option would be to hire from Chas Hardern and head north to Chester, with the option of going on up to Ellesmere Port. This is not very far and not particularly ambitious, so if you found you were back early you could head down to Barbridge in the opposite direction. I think you would fairly easily do pick up on day 1 and head towards Chester. Head on the next day and go to Ellesmere Port for an afternoon at the museum, then head back late afternoon and moor in Chester. Day 3 would be either a walk around Chester and back up to the general vicinity of the boatyard, or a shorter walk around Chester and up as far as you get (Bunbury or Barbridge) and Day 4 would be head back, depending on whether it is a full day or a short day would determine where you wanted to moor.

 

Both are pleasant, fairly easy routes. Slightly more locks on the latter but they are not difficult with a crew of three or more.

 

Alec

[BEngo]

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Excellent boats. Family run company that has been in business for years and years.  Nice stretch of canal up into the  Chilterns or north to Stoke Bruerne where there is a tunnel, the Waterways Museum and a pictureskew village centered on the canal. Decent 0oselection of pubs either way.

 

N

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, BEngo said:

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Excellent boats. Family run company that has been in business for years and years.  Nice stretch of canal up into the  Chilterns or north to Stoke Bruerne where there is a tunnel, the Waterways Museum and a pictureskew village centered on the canal. Decent 0oselection of pubs either way.

 

N

And though the route passes through the City of Milton Keynes, the canal surroundings are pretty rural/semi-rural throughout this length.

[Jerra]

I was going to suggest Chas Harden as well.

[Jak]

2 hours ago, BEngo said:

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Excellent boats. Family run company that has been in business for years and years.  Nice stretch of canal up into the  Chilterns or north to Stoke Bruerne where there is a tunnel, the Waterways Museum and a pictureskew village centered on the canal. Decent 0oselection of pubs either way.

 

N

Yes. I was going to suggest them too. Really nice people and excellent well maintained fleet of boats. I am moored a few hundred yards away on a permenant leisure mooring. So do pop by and say hello if you hire one. 

[Pelican]

18 hours ago, BEngo said:

Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard.  Excellent boats. Family run company that has been in business for years and years.  Nice stretch of canal up into the  Chilterns or north to Stoke Bruerne where there is a tunnel, the Waterways Museum and a pictureskew village centered on the canal. Decent 0oselection of pubs either way.

 

N

We did this trip very sucessfully when our children were little (and with a set of grandparents). Our children had specified they wanted locks, an aquaduct and a tunnel and this met that requirement as well as being not too far from home. The canal through Milton Keynes is not very urban and I seem to remember plenty of pubs.

[Charles Payne]

On 08/02/2024 at 15:20, blackrose said:

 

When are you planning on doing this?

April or May

 

[HillWalker]

There are plenty of boatyards that will offer shortbreaks generally starting on a Friday or Monday.  I would start by using one of the agency booking sites to see what is available. If it was me, for a shortbreak I would be looking at a start point that was not too far from home or maybe in the middle of where you are all based!   That will also give you an idea of the different boats.  Most hirebases also suggest routes from their base.
 

And by the way don’t worry about locks they’re all part of the fun.