More Hire Companies Leaving

[Unicorn Stampede]

Following Pennine Cruisers (wisely) stepping away from anything more than day hires last year, and the closure of the Boat Co North (weekly hire company) on the Leeds and Liverpool, I spotted today that Bear Boating on the L&L are going also. This is probably old news but it surprised me as they were always actively hiring (and training on helmsman courses) when we could get on the L&L.

 

Bear Boating are heading up to Scotland from their website, so maybe it's just a change in scenary, but it did make me wonder due to the closures on the L&L.

 

That's 3 companies along the stretch - and the Drum lot were bought out by a larger hire company if I remember correctly? 

 

Just makes me wonder if we're seeing a bit of the canary in the coalmine, with all the hire boaters leaving, or this is simply just them not making things profitable to stick around (which is totally valid).

 

With the ever persistent rumours I've heard over the years of Nigel from Shire Cruisers looking to sell up if he got the right price, are we due to have no hire boaters companies in the north?

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Unicorn Stampede said:

Following Pennine Cruisers (wisely) stepping away from anything more than day hires last year, and the closure of the Boat Co North (weekly hire company) on the Leeds and Liverpool, I spotted today that Bear Boating on the L&L are going also. This is probably old news but it surprised me as they were always actively hiring (and training on helmsman courses) when we could get on the L&L.

 

Bear Boating are heading up to Scotland from their website, so maybe it's just a change in scenary, but it did make me wonder due to the closures on the L&L.

 

That's 3 companies along the stretch - and the Drum lot were bought out by a larger hire company if I remember correctly? 

 

Just makes me wonder if we're seeing a bit of the canary in the coalmine, with all the hire boaters leaving, or this is simply just them not making things profitable to stick around (which is totally valid).

 

With the ever persistent rumours I've heard over the years of Nigel from Shire Cruisers looking to sell up if he got the right price, are we due to have no hire boaters companies in the north?

 

I think the L&L has been more badly hit by closures in recent years than almost any other popular waterway, and it's effectively isolated from the rest of the system for hirers so you don't have any alternative places to go if there's a problem -- so it's not surprising that the hire companies there have been hit harder than elsewhere, where there is usually at least one alternative route from base to choose from.

 

Shire Cruisers are in the same position, except there are no other hire bases anywhere nearby so they're a lone voice in the wilderness if there are problems -- so it would be doubly a shame if Nigel sells up, unless somebody else takes over Shire as a working concern rather than closing it and selling off the assets. Which would unfortunately probably be rather attractive financially compared to carrying on against the odds... 😞 

 

Having said that, all the closures this year must have massively affected the hire business, and given that nobody ever got rich by hiring out canal boats and quite a few of the long-established companies have ageing proprietors it wouldn't be surprising to see more closures soon, maybe even before next season starts... 😞 

[David Mack]

I seem to recall that the Shire Cruisers business was actively for sale a year or two back. Not seen mention of that for a while so maybe the sale is on hold in hope that market conditions improve.

[matty40s]

Wyvern sold quite a few boats last year and more this year, will gradually be reducing to zero unless someone comes along with a good offer. 

The lower GU is getting in a parlous state maintenance wise, and heading South from LBuzz just gives you miles of moored boats...along with the difficulties of mooring in London.

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

I seem to recall that the Shire Cruisers business was actively for sale a year or two back. Not seen mention of that for a while so maybe the sale is on hold in hope that market conditions improve.

I doubt it, he's probably at retiring age, and it's not an easy business to hand over ....

[Mike Tee]

2 hours ago, matty40s said:

Wyvern sold quite a few boats last year and more this year, will gradually be reducing to zero unless someone comes along with a good offer. 

The lower GU is getting in a parlous state maintenance wise, and heading South from LBuzz just gives you miles of moored boats...along with the difficulties of mooring in London.

Yes, I'd heard that about Wyvern from another source a while back. Shame, they have been around for a good while.

[Ken X]

Silsden Boats on the L & L were taken over by Anglo Welsh a few years ago. 

 

We have had a few trips on the L & L but have concluded its too risky to visit in the current climate, particularly as it's a somewhat difficult canal with its numerous swing bridges.  Great scenery though.

 

We managed to find a route which was unaffected by the water levels this year but we have decided not to have our usual winter cruise due to the current parlous state of the network. 

 

Next year is still an unknown factor so we will be deciding what to do around February.  Our local navigations are the Rivers Wey and Thames so we have options which are more drought resistant.

 

We do feel for the hire companies as they seem to be on a hiding to nothing.  The past few years have been progressively more difficult to plan due to infrastructure failures and we have dodged a few bullets.  First timers must be really keen to put up with the problems to continue boating and us old'uns are gently fading away.  I can see a time when its just not worth the hassle which is really disappointing given the many years of holidays we have had.

[BEngo]

Wyvern are sat on a piece of land which must be worth serious money for house building.  Combine selling that with realising the value in the boats and there is a nice retirement package.

 

Would be a shame, but the  world moves on.

[alan_fincher]

12 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

Yes, I'd heard that about Wyvern from another source a while back. Shame, they have been around for a good while.

 

Yes, since the mid 1950s, and all under the ownership of the same family.

 

Not many can beat that, I suspect.

[Chris Lowe]

Looks like I need to get back on the cut not only before I get too decrepid, also before we run out of hire companies.

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm amazed Heritage on the Macc is still renting boats out. I wouldn't be surprised if they just ran their marina and a dayboat or two soon. Last time I contacted them half the staff, including their engineer, had left.

[Naughty Cal]

It's the same on the Broads, not just limited to the canals.

 

Lots of hire yards have put a lot of boats for sale this winter.

 

I think hire yards have had their busy years during Covid and travel restrictions and now people are back to travelling abroad the yards are struggling.

[jonathanA]

48 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

It's the same on the Broads, not just limited to the canals.

 

Lots of hire yards have put a lot of boats for sale this winter.

 

I think hire yards have had their busy years during Covid and travel restrictions and now people are back to travelling abroad the yards are struggling.

I was thinking the same, coupled with the costs and difficulties of running a uk based hire fleet.  Peoples expectations on facilities are now much higher, its no longing 'camping on a boat'. 

 

Really sad about the issues on the L&L (east of Wigan) - we loved cruising to and around Skipton, but every year it was will it close or won't it.... I think CRT have to bear some responsibility for the likes of Pennine and Bear Boats stopping Hire on the L&L.  i'm sure we were not the only boaters to vote with our feet and move off largely due to CRT's lack of proactive management and poor communication.  Its the knock on affect on other canal side businesses too.   

 

I know there are no easy answers. 

[jpcdriver]

I'm sure there are other factors in play with Bear Boating in addition to the difficulties on the L&L this year. Andy, the owner, is an excellent and experienced sail/boating trainer and that was an integral part of the business. A few years back he also had an amazing house built up on the West Coast of Scotland (featured on Grand Designs). So it makes sense for him.

[Mike Todd]

A number of indie boat hire businesses (especially family ones) have 'interesting' arrangements to finance the capital in the apparent fleet - this may make selling the business a difficult issue.

[Alway Swilby]

On 13/11/2025 at 18:00, jpcdriver said:

I'm sure there are other factors in play with Bear Boating in addition to the difficulties on the L&L this year. Andy, the owner, is an excellent and experienced sail/boating trainer and that was an integral part of the business. A few years back he also had an amazing house built up on the West Coast of Scotland (featured on Grand Designs). So it makes sense for him.

A few years ago we did a weekend helmsman course with Andy from Bear Boating. He was great. Very knowledgeable and friendly. We went from Apperly Bridge down to Leeds and back and had a great time.

We watched that Grand Designs and wondered how long it would be before they moved on from Bear Boating. Didn't Andy join the lifeboat crew up in Scotland? 

[TheShipsCat]

On 13/11/2025 at 06:29, jonathanA said:

I was thinking the same, coupled with the costs and difficulties of running a uk based hire fleet.  Peoples expectations on facilities are now much higher, its no longing 'camping on a boat'. 

 

Really sad about the issues on the L&L (east of Wigan) - we loved cruising to and around Skipton, but every year it was will it close or won't it.... I think CRT have to bear some responsibility for the likes of Pennine and Bear Boats stopping Hire on the L&L.  i'm sure we were not the only boaters to vote with our feet and move off largely due to CRT's lack of proactive management and poor communication.  Its the knock on affect on other canal side businesses too.   

 

I know there are no easy answers. 

I've said this before in other threads, but I'm very sad about the state of the L&L and the emigration of hire companies from there.  Our first boating experience was there.  We fell in love with Skipton and the Yorkshire Dales.  At this point I don't know if we'll ever boat the L&L again given its isolation from the rest of the network, the departure of hire companies, etc.

 

Seems to us that the problem is not only water supply, but the state of repair of some of the locks, and most of the non-electric swing bridges. Our last trip (Sept. '24) we simply couldn't move several of the bridges with one of us on the lever side and another levering from the towpath side.  We had other boaters come to help with the push, and four of us couldn't budge one of them.  We finally got it to move by furiously jumping up and down along with synchronized pushing.  I'm sure this was amusing to some onlookers but it's a real impediment to navigation.  I don't know how single handers cope.

 

Sorry that Bear is moving.  We really wanted to try one of their boats.  Looks like they're selling them off.

Edited November 15 by TheShipsCat
New info

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, TheShipsCat said:

I've said this before in other threads, but I'm very sad about the state of the L&L and the emigration of hire companies from there.  Our first boating experience was there.  We fell in love with Skipton and the Yorkshire Dales.  At this point I don't know if we'll ever boat the L&L again given its isolation from the rest of the network, the departure of hire companies, etc.

 

Seems to us that the problem is not only water supply, but the state of repair of some of the locks, and most of the non-electric swing bridges. Our last trip (Sept. '24) we simply couldn't move several of the bridges with one of us on the lever side and another levering from the towpath side.  We had other boaters come to help with the push, and four of us couldn't budge one of them.  We finally got it to move by furiously jumping up and down along with synchronized pushing.  I'm sure this was amusing to some onlookers but it's a real impediment to navigation.  I don't know how single handers cope.

 

Sorry that Bear is moving.  We really wanted to try one of their boats.  But then, another visit to Scotland wouldn't go unwelcome, and we didn't get to boat up there.  I would assume they're planning to operate on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route?  Out of Falkirk like everyone else?

We tried one of Bear's boats (57' widebeam) and were impressed in some ways but not others...

 

The boat was lovely inside but it was like steering (via a wheel) a greased pig on roller skates.

 

When we returned the boat they tried to charge us £500 for damage to the table in the stern supposedly caused by sitting on it -- in spite of the fact that we hadn't, and had a photo to prove that the damage was there when we collected the boat. And when we returned it to base, they charged us for a pumpout.

 

Not impressed... 😞 

[Mike Todd]

9 hours ago, TheShipsCat said:

I've said this before in other threads, but I'm very sad about the state of the L&L and the emigration of hire companies from there.  Our first boating experience was there.  We fell in love with Skipton and the Yorkshire Dales.  At this point I don't know if we'll ever boat the L&L again given its isolation from the rest of the network, the departure of hire companies, etc.

 

Seems to us that the problem is not only water supply, but the state of repair of some of the locks, and most of the non-electric swing bridges. Our last trip (Sept. '24) we simply couldn't move several of the bridges with one of us on the lever side and another levering from the towpath side.  We had other boaters come to help with the push, and four of us couldn't budge one of them.  We finally got it to move by furiously jumping up and down along with synchronized pushing.  I'm sure this was amusing to some onlookers but it's a real impediment to navigation.  I don't know how single handers cope.

 

Sorry that Bear is moving.  We really wanted to try one of their boats.  Looks like they're selling them off.

Not a new phenomenon. Over ten years ago we arrived, the middle of nowhere, at a swing bridge marked on most maps then and now as 'normally open' but it was across the canal. I cannot quite recall how we managed in the end but it was not just by me pushing! After leaving - and closing - the bridge we did see a tractor being driven at some speed across a field to the bridge. My guess was that it was, still is?, available to the farmer on the basis that it is normally left open with, perhaps, the onus on them to maintain it. Whatever, if it is difficult today then it is not the fault of recent policies . . .