Quietest canal for summer

[MtB]

16 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Im not too sure they are the best locks to learn on as they are quite deep and some people get stressed in queues especially with a new user? 

 

Can't help but agree. 

 

I did the Middlewich branch a few years ago in summer and one or two lock queues were epic, and it was the only place on the cut I've observed experienced boaters getting stressed and angry with newbies doing it too slow. Several times over - I was really quite shocked. 

[Lady M]

Those locks are very deep and you do need to raise the paddles 'sensibly' when ascending to avoid a 'rough ride'.  Otherwise, just the depth makes them slower to operate.  Longer lock landings would make queueing more convenient.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

17 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Im a bit confused as several posters mention the Middlewich branch being quiet. However Cholmondeston lock has been in the top 3 or so of highest recorded lock usages for the past few years. The only time we had a queue on the whole 4 counties was at  Stanthorne and Minshull locks. 
Doesn’t that make it busy? 
 

Im not too sure they are the best locks to learn on as they are quite deep and some people get stressed in queues especially with a new user? 

well like I say, yeah the locks are busy,

some of the very busiest,

but I’ve found it’s a peaceful stretch to moor with a few isolated spots,

lovely place to keep out of mischief for a few days and catch up on jobs,

 

 

 

 

[Momac]

I have been to Brecon today and walked by the canal. 

Only seen two privately owned boats plus hire boats in the basin. None of them moving.

Loads of moorings empty. Water crystal clear But there is a catch.

[KezzerN]

2 minutes ago, Momac said:

I have been to Brecon today and walked by the canal. 

Only seen two privately owned boats plus hire boats in the basin. None of them moving.

Loads of moorings empty. Water crystal clear But there is a catch.

 

 

My boat is too long and the canal is separated from other canals?

 

 

[magpie patrick]

49 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

 

 

My boat is too long and the canal is separated from other canals?

 

 

 

Certainly the second is true so unless you have access to a crane it's not for you - it is delightful though. Picture is yesterday near Crickhowell 

 

if you want summer quiet that you can get to the northern BCN is for you, not as pretty but surprisingly rural 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

Certainly the second is true so unless you have access to a crane it's not for you - it is delightful though. Picture is yesterday near Crickhowell 

 

if you want summer quiet that you can get to the northern BCN is for you, not as pretty but surprisingly rural 

 

You mean the Curly Wyrley e.g. around Pelsall?

 

[Tonka]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

You mean the Curly Wyrley e.g. around Pelsall?

 

Keep up at the back. I think his first reply was me suggesting that

[IanD]

13 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

You mean the Curly Wyrley e.g. around Pelsall?

 

 

7 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Keep up at the back. I think his first reply was me suggesting that

 

Yes, but I was replying to his post and asking for his opinion about which bits were "surprisingly rural", not yours from 5 pages back -- which everyone including the OP has probably forgotten about now, and also didn't specify which bits... 😉

 

It's not all about you, as somebody said to me recently... 😉 

Edited March 13 by IanD

[magpie patrick]

14 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

You mean the Curly Wyrley e.g. around Pelsall?

 

 

Yes 

 

My point is that the northern BCN is more rural than one might expect - if all you know is the New Main Line then much of the Curly Wyrley will be a pleasant surprise 

[IanD]

13 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

Yes 

 

Thanks. I was planning to go up there a couple of years ago, but that was when it was made almost impassable by floating weed so we went elsewhere. Time for another look, maybe... 😉 

 

Is mooring up near the Fingerpost OK?

Edited March 13 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

37 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Keep up at the back. I think his first reply was me suggesting that

Yes, I remember, I was replying but having trouble spelling it and by time I’d worked it out you’d got in there first 😃. 
I can just about manage

B C N

[Hudds Lad]

6 minutes ago, 5239 said:

I can just about manage

B C N

Beer, Canals & Narrowboats?  

[cuthound]

11 hours ago, David Mack said:

"Marriage triples risk of obesity in men – but not women, study reveals"

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/12/marriage-triples-obesity-men-women-study

 

 

They used to say that "the way to a man's heart was through his stomach"...

 

[Stroudwater1]

8 hours ago, 5239 said:

well like I say, yeah the locks are busy,

some of the very busiest,

but I’ve found it’s a peaceful stretch to moor with a few isolated spots,

lovely place to keep out of mischief for a few days and catch up on jobs,

 

 

 

 

Yes that’s certainly true. Where DO all the boats using the locks go though, back into Venetian Marina,  Moor by the Barbridge Inn (if it’s open) Nantwich or go up the Llangollen? 
 

The last time we queued there this poor ABC boat happily chugged past  five boats  without seeing we were all in a queue.
 

They spent the rest of their time in the queue entertaining all with attempts at reversing. It made us feel better about my reversing efforts. 

[Rob-M]

I was surprised how rural the northern BCN was when I first boated round there.  The Anglesey branch sees very little traffic, open space along Pelsall Common and no locks if coming from the Wolverhampton level.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 hours ago, 5239 said:

Yes, I remember, I was replying but having trouble spelling it and by time I’d worked it out you’d got in there first 😃. 
I can just about manage

B C N

 

Here you are, keep this safe and use it next time you need to .....................

 

 

The spelling is near enough for 'Government work'.

Edited March 13 by Alan de Enfield

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

12 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Here you are, keep this safe and use it next time you need to .....................

 

 

The spelling is near enough for 'Government work'.

At last Terry Scott!!

took me all morning to recall that name,

 

..remember?

[oboat]

On 09/03/2025 at 02:56, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I know the bridge you mean. There is a navigation society. They tried to run a gathering every so often, but the silting at the first lock off the Witham was so bad it had to be cancelled. It was dredged the following year, if I remember. Had to reverse all the way back from Cobblers, as the winding hole there was unusable. No idea what it is like now, but proper adventure boating then!

It's a great gathering (been several times we are 58'6" no problem) and almost all the village turns out for the great duck race.

see braggaboutlife.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/sleaford-navigation/

[magnetman]

The Royal Military Canal is quiet in the summer 

 

Not sure if it is accessible though. 

 

 

[Tonka]

5 hours ago, magnetman said:

The Royal Military Canal is quiet in the summer 

 

Not sure if it is accessible though. 

 

 

The Basingstoke Canal isn't that busy in the summer either

[LadyG]

On 13/03/2025 at 10:08, MtB said:

 

Can't help but agree. 

 

I did the Middlewich branch a few years ago in summer and one or two lock queues were epic, and it was the only place on the cut I've observed experienced boaters getting stressed and angry with newbies doing it too slow. Several times over - I was really quite shocked. 

Why don't those in the queue ask the newbies if they can help them through?

 Just go to the other paddle and wait for their instruction.

If they have no idea  then give a verbal cue..

We all have to start, sometime. I found it was  a bit of pressure when other boats are nearby and I've not got a clue how to operate a particular lock. I remember my first lock, not having a clue, singlehanded, double lock, powered, and a road bridge. I called the CRT, two vans turned up just as I was reading the instructions! 

[Ronaldo47]

On 10/03/2025 at 20:02, KezzerN said:

 

No, I haven't done Heartbreak Hill though I have done some locks.  I was absolutely terrified of doing a lock on my own but realised when I did the first one that it wasn't along the lines of The Trollenberg Terror and I would actually escape alive from it.

I well remember seeing the Trollenberg Terror on TV as a child in the 1950''s. I am pretty sure it was shown in weekly episodes then. 

 

I see that TPTV [Freeview channel 82] is showing it on Saturday 29th March,   5.20 to 7.00 pm:  not sure if this is the same thing I saw on TV, or a film of the same name. 

[KezzerN]

21 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

I well remember seeing the Trollenberg Terror on TV as a child in the 1950''s. I am pretty sure it was shown in weekly episodes then. 

 

I see that TPTV [Freeview channel 82] is showing it on Saturday 29th March,   5.20 to 7.00 pm:  not sure if this is the same thing I saw on TV, or a film of the same name. 

 

 

Yes, it was weekly episodes.  My late partners father refused to let him watch it as he said it was too terrifying for any child and would leave them with bad dreams. Instead he sat them down to watch the videos of the concentration camps and all their accompanying horrors: not at all terrifying for a child!

 

 

[IanD]

1 hour ago, KezzerN said:

 

Yes, it was weekly episodes.  My late partners father refused to let him watch it as he said it was too terrifying for any child and would leave them with bad dreams. Instead he sat them down to watch the videos of the concentration camps and all their accompanying horrors: not at all terrifying for a child!

 

 

Do you mean the terrific "World at War" TV series? A proper unvarnished look at WW2, devoid of jingoism or sentimentality -- I watched it as a young teenager and have never forgotten it, it drove home the horrors of war in a way that no history textbook ever did...