Quietest canal for summer

[KezzerN]

 

 

For those of you with extensive experience of the canal system, which canal do you consider to be the quietest in the summer months?

Edited March 8 by KezzerN

[Tonka]

8 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

 

 

For those of you with extensive experience of the canal system, which canal do you consider to be the quietest in the summer months?

Wyrley & Essington

[Gybe Ho]

32 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

 

For those of you with extensive experience of the canal system, which canal do you consider to be the quietest in the summer months?

 

 

An interesting subject I will follow. No experience as you know but I suggest the question needs some caveats.

 

Some sections of canal are not attractive hence not popular, the Slough Arm springs to mind.

 

The Lancaster Canal is semi disconnected due to the challenging tidal Ribble Link.

 

My guess is the Pocklington Canal might qualify. Edit to say the locks on the Pocklington are not full length 70ft, so your LOA can be another constraint.

 

 

Edited March 8 by Gybe Ho

[LadyG]

14 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

 

 

For those of you with extensive experience of the canal system, which canal do you consider to be the quietest in the summer months?

Summer and winter, The Rochdale

[Alan de Enfield]

 

We had the Ffrwd canal run through our fields - I never saw a single boat on the canal for the 10 years we were there.

 

There is a painting of 'our canal' dated 1815 by william Pugh

 

 

 

History of the Ffrwd branch canal
The Ellesmere Canal’s 1793 Act authorised a main
line from Shrewsbury to Chirk, Ruabon, Wrexham,
Chester and on to what became Ellesmere Port, with
various branches. The summit level of the section
north of the crossing of the Dee was to be the same
as that south of the Dee, that is, 310 feet above sea
level, but this necessitated a tunnel over two miles
long at Ruabon. Within a year the proposals were
refined: instead of a tunnel, the canal would rise to
a level of 386 feet above sea level; this would take it
further away from Wrexham but past Bersham
ironworks. At the northern end of the new summit
level there would be a branch to coal mines, iron
works and other industries at Ffrwd and Ffrith in
the Cegidog Valley, at the top of which a reservoir
would be built. Slightly amended, this was approved
in the 1796 Act.
A contract was let promptly in May 1796 for
construction of the level section between the village
of Ffrwd and the intended junction with the main
line just south of Gwersyllt. However, the Ellesmere
Canal encountered financial difficulties, and work
on the Ffrwd branch was abandoned in June 1798
after just 2 miles had been built at a cost of £9,135.

 

 

The '2 mile length' was used to carry coals from the Ffrwd mine to the coal yard at the South end of the canal.

Edited March 8 by Alan de Enfield

[blackrose]

36 minutes ago, Gybe Ho said:

Some sections of canal are not attractive hence not popular, the Slough Arm springs to mind.

 

I guess attractiveness is subjective. Thought parts of it were fine. I stopped here to pick up some wood I spotted and carried it across the gangplank.

 

After I got going again I saw a fox swimming across the canal right in front of my boat. It obviously hadn't noticed the boat when it started its swim and it got a bit of a shock when it saw me bearing down on it.

 

 

Edited March 8 by blackrose

[Gybe Ho]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I guess attractiveness is subjective. Thought parts of it were fine.

 

 

Well yes and some parts of the Fen drains would rank as quiet. Someone posted a photo of their boat navigating up to the edge of New Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire, that is real frontier remote cruising.

 

The minor Lincolnshire drains are flooded for the summer and then drained for the winter to provide flood water run off capacity.

[Rob-M]

Northern reaches of the BCN or probably the northern canals if they are accessible from the south.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Summer and winter, The Rochdale

Or the Huddersfield Narrow...?

[LadyG]

35 minutes ago, IanD said:

Or the Huddersfield Narrow...?

Its pretty much inaccessible six months of the year, we just never know which six months

Edited March 8 by LadyG

[GUMPY]

Not a cart canal but

The Grand Western Canal is quiet.

Apart from the trip boat I've never seen another boat moving in it.

[MrsM]

If you include rivers, the Witham is usually pretty quiet but has the downside of few mooring places. We went to the end of the Kyme Eau (Cobblers Lock) off the Witham and were told by bemused villagers, when we stopped at a pub, that we were the first narrowboat they had seen in years. It is always possible to find beautiful and peaceful moorings - if that is what you are after - on the T&M because it is so long. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

12 minutes ago, MrsM said:

If you include rivers, the Witham is usually pretty quiet but has the downside of few mooring places. We went to the end of the Kyme Eau (Cobblers Lock) off the Witham and were told by bemused villagers, when we stopped at a pub, that we were the first narrowboat they had seen in years. It is always possible to find beautiful and peaceful moorings - if that is what you are after - on the T&M because it is so long. 

Likewise when I went there in 2013. The annual gathering had been cancelled because there's wasn't enough water depth. I didn't know this, so went there anyway. Lots of reaction passing through the village ! The Witham seemed crowded after that.

[MrsM]

22 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Likewise when I went there in 2013. The annual gathering had been cancelled because there's wasn't enough water depth. I didn't know this, so went there anyway. Lots of reaction passing through the village ! The Witham seemed crowded after that.

Good grief did there used to be gatherings on the Kyme Eau?! I recall a very low bridge between Kyme & cobblers that was so low I wasn't sure we would make it through. Trying to find a photo of it.

[magnetman]

Not a canal but come onto the Thames at Oxford Dukes cut and turn right. Within a few hours once you get above Pinkhill lock there is proper isolation.

 

Osney bridge stops the gin palace brigade turning up. It is bit boring up there but really peaceful if thats what you like. 

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

5 minutes ago, MrsM said:

Good grief did there used to be gatherings on the Kyme Eau?! I recall a very low bridge between Kyme & cobblers that was so low I wasn't sure we would make it through. Trying to find a photo of it.

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!

[Rod Stewart]

2 minutes ago, MrsM said:

Good grief did there used to be gatherings on the Kyme Eau?! I recall a very low bridge between Kyme & cobblers that was so low I wasn't sure we would make it through. Trying to find a photo of it.

 

Me and Mrs Rod made the mistake of entering the witham navigable drains one hot summers day, through Antons gowt lock. Boy was that a mistake. We got about a mile in after struggling with mountains of blanket weed. The engine overheated,and try as I might, we could not get free of the weed. I ended up pulling the boat a mile backwards to the lock back to the safety of the Witham. 

 

Probably better off going earlier in the season before the weed. Still, it was very quiet in the drains.

[KezzerN]

Thanks everyone for your input. I should have qualified the question by saying for a 63 foot boat and definitely NOT on rivers: they terrify me!

 

I have discovered today one benefit of multiple boaters that don't slow down: they gave my boat a good rocking back and forth and got the water trapped in the bilges moving towards the back!  I had been rocking it myself as I realised that got the trapped water moving but I obviously wasn't rocking it well enough as there was still more water that needed freeing.

[MtB]

The Bridgewater is going to be pretty quiet this summer.

 

 

[Tony1]

 

You're in the northwest, right?

One area that is super quiet even in summer is the stretch between Chester and Ellesmere Port. 

Even in May and June, I recall there were only about 6-10 boats per day through there, if that many. It's only about 8 or 9 miles, but you can probably set up a CCing pattern that could last you through the summer, without getting into trouble with CRT. 

If you really need to escape the summer lunacy, that is a great stretch. 

 

Another stretch up there that is pretty good is the Weaver. Its not a full-on river, so there's no need to worry about fast currents etc, and never gets too busy because the only normal entry onto it at the moment is via the boat lift, which only allows two boats down every hour or so.

I'm not counting the entrances from the ship canal (assuming they are open), because very few narrowboats go that way.

But I'll have to go to the trouble of  mentioning them, because if I dont one of our pedants will feel obliged to mention it.

 

Another quietish spot I found was south of Nantwich - there's a stretch of a few miles before the locks where its not as busy as it around Nantwich itself. You get passing boats, but not too many of the summer boaters bother to moor up in that stetch (for more than a day or so anyway).

 

If you want peace and quiet, do not bother with the Llangollen- certainly not the upper part of it.

Its busy everywhere, but there's usually plenty of space to moor, as far as Ellesmere. Most boats tend to speed past the 'boring' bits at the start, so you'll find plenty of mooring spots in those areas- just make sure you use mooring chains, as there will be many boats who pass you at 4 mph or more (one woman I passed near Bettisfield had just had a mooring chain snapped by the force of a passing boat). 

As far as Ellesmere it was busy but tolerable, but once I got to Chirk and beyond (in the summer), I found it unbearable. It felt very claustrophobic, with scores of boats moored all over the place and not many spaces. 

But do yourself a favour, be sure to cruise it during the winter. Its an amazing experience once all the summer warriors have gone home, and it starts to quiet down. 

 

 

Edited March 8 by Tony1

[Naughty Cal]

Don't be scared of the Witham. It isn't that bad and the moorings are floating so if it does flood you are safe.

 

The Witham and Fossdyke are very quiet but beautiful in their own right.

[MrsM]

55 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Don't be scared of the Witham. It isn't that bad and the moorings are floating so if it does flood you are safe.

 

The Witham and Fossdyke are very quiet but beautiful in their own right.

Thoroughly agree and I'd extend that to the non-tidal Trent, which is probably my favourite bit of all the waterways. In fact being on a wide, non-tidal stretch of river can feel like a tranquil holiday* compared to canals. Clean(ish - it is the UK we are talking about), no crawling past moored boats on tickover and room to do figure-of-8s, if you are so inclined. Roomy locks that might even be manned if you are lucky, if not they are easy to operate. But don't tell anyone else because it would be a shame if the rivers got as busy as some of the canals. 

*a little more exciting when currents are running high.

[MtB]

The BIG drawback of river cruising is the absence of a towpath, meaning you can't just stop and moor up anywhere you like. You have to keep going to the next proper mooring location. 

 

I find this weirdly claustrophobic. 

 

 

[MrsM]

I would agree with this, and it can get a bit nerve-wracking towards the end of the day when you begin to wonder if you will find somewhere safe/permissable to moor up. The same on the Soar - which we found was considerably busier than the Trent - but well worth it.

[StevieN]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

Another stretch up there that is pretty good is the Weaver. Its not a full-on river, so there's no need to worry about fast currents etc, and never gets too busy because the only normal entry onto it at the moment is via the boat lift, which only allows two boats down every hour or so.

I'm not counting the entrances from the ship canal (assuming they are open), because very few narrowboats go that way.

But I'll have to go to the trouble of  mentioning them, because if I dont one of our pedants will feel obliged to mention it.

Not being a pedant..well...sort of, but ATM with the lift being out of action with very little confidence of it opening anytime soon and then closing for quite some time for major works, getting on the Weaver will only be possible by the MSC.

 

Just saying...!