A ring in a week - advice please?

[GC Mike]

I've just found and joined this forum - and seen a suggestion that people start threads and ask for advice - so here goes!

 

In April this year wife, daughter (13 yo) and I, along with two other couples hired a boat from Bradford on Avon and had a fantastic week on the K & A. Thoroughly enjoyed the Caen Flight on our second day, and found we enjoyed the actual mechanics of working the canal and the boat more than anything else. We negotiated an extra day of hire, and in our 8 days we cruised east to Hungerford, then back past the boatyard to Dundas before returning with big smiles all round.

 

Now - as the summer is over we're beginning to plan our next trip - and that's where the advice is needed. We want to spend a week cruising through interesting and varied surroundings, with enough locks and swing bridges et al to stop us getting too bored, although we don't need them full-on everyday. I quite fancied a ring so we had new scenery every day - but I've seen people here saying it adds stress if you get behind with the schedule. In some ways the Four Counties appeals because I've got a son at Stafford Uni and a father near Stone, both of whom could be invited to join us all for a day.

 

At the moment I feel overwhelmed with my lack of knowledge of the options, and am a long way way from the area to go and look at it!

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Mike

[David Mack]

I've just found and joined this forum - and seen a suggestion that people start threads and ask for advice - so here goes!

 

In April this year wife, daughter (13 yo) and I, along with two other couples hired a boat from Bradford on Avon and had a fantastic week on the K & A. Thoroughly enjoyed the Caen Flight on our second day, and found we enjoyed the actual mechanics of working the canal and the boat more than anything else. We negotiated an extra day of hire, and in our 8 days we cruised east to Hungerford, then back past the boatyard to Dundas before returning with big smiles all round.

 

Now - as the summer is over we're beginning to plan our next trip - and that's where the advice is needed. We want to spend a week cruising through interesting and varied surroundings, with enough locks and swing bridges et al to stop us getting too bored, although we don't need them full-on everyday. I quite fancied a ring so we had new scenery every day - but I've seen people here saying it adds stress if you get behind with the schedule. In some ways the Four Counties appeals because I've got a son at Stafford Uni and a father near Stone, both of whom could be invited to join us all for a day.

 

At the moment I feel overwhelmed with my lack of knowledge of the options, and am a long way way from the area to go and look at it!

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Mike

 

You can check out the distances, number of locks and times involved using Nick's Canal Route Planner.

 

David

[magpie patrick]

If you can manage Hungerford and Back from Bradford in 8 days then the four counties ring, the Cheshire Ring, The Stourport Ring, the Warwickshire Ring and possibly the Avon Ring aren't going to be a problem, and the West Midland Ring would be a doddle, there are a few big rings that really need two, or even three, weeks but the Four Counties isn't one of them.

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

If you like cruising more than mooring up (which we do) then the Warwickshire, with most of the Ashby as well, or the Avon ring are both doable in a week. Don't know about the others suggested because we haven't done them yet.

 

I would suggest once you have an idea where you would like to be, get hold of a Pearsons guide. The timings in here we have found to be really good, and give you a fairly accurate idea of how long it will take.

 

Sue

[alan_fincher]

The Four Counties is a splendid ring.

 

Not sure you have indicated at what time of year you might do it.

 

For anyone who prefers boating to mooring up and watching other go past, it should normally be easily done in a weeks hire.

 

Two things to consider....

 

1) Some of it is very popular. If you pick one of the most popular times you can spend quite a bit of time queuing for locks.

 

2) If you do it at a less popular time, don't forget that shorter daylight can also have a big impact on how much you can do in a day.

 

That said, I can't really think of a better "one week" ring for those prepared to put in moderately long boating days.

[saltysplash]

While one of my favourites is the Leicester Ring which we did in a week but with very early starts and late finishes idealy its a 2 week cruise.

 

Another good weeks cruise is the Stourport Ring, a couple of flights of locks, a river section and 4 tunnels (i think) all add variety

[WJM]

Hire a boat from Broxbourne on the River Lee, cruise down to London, do the London Ring, back up the Lee, cruise the Stort. A good week's trip.

[mikevye]

Four Counties every time. Hire from Black Prince Stoke telling them in advance that you'd like to do the Harecastle Tunnel on the Saturday (to get away on time)and you'll do the ring with time to spare.

[benfordboy]

Four counties would be a nice option , but Leicester Ring for me every time !

 

The Leics Ring will take longish days to accomplish in a week (But easily possible) & takes on plenty of variety , with Foxton & Watford Staircases, 4 Tunnels , 2 Rivers , & both Narrowbeam & Widebeam locks .

[mrsmelly]

Four counties would be a nice option , but Leicester Ring for me every time !

 

The Leics Ring will take longish days to accomplish in a week (But easily possible) & takes on plenty of variety , with Foxton & Watford Staircases, 4 Tunnels , 2 Rivers , & both Narrowbeam & Widebeam locks .

Or you could take a Holiday and relax a little..........

[Pie Eater]

Another vote for the four counties.

 

Steve

[magpie patrick]

and a vote against the Leicester Ring. If you want to cruise ten-eleven hour days fine, but do it by starting somewhere where there is a diversion near the end of your trip, just in case you get a hold up. The worst I've had was arriving at Aston Bottom Lock at 3pm on Tuesday and not getting through it until 3pm on Wednesday while BW fixed a cracked gate on the Farmers Bridge Flight. (Perry Barr and Garrison were also closed). We'd started from Calcutt and all we had to do was forgo a planned trip to Fenny Compton at the end of the holiday.

[Guest]

and a vote against the Leicester Ring.

 

and another - no doubt do-able for extreme narrow boaters but hardly a holiday...

 

took us two weeks and whilst we hardly hung around neither did we gun it...and as a result enjoyed it immensely..

[alan_fincher]

and another - no doubt do-able for extreme narrow boaters but hardly a holiday...

 

took us two weeks and whilst we hardly hung around neither did we gun it...and as a result enjoyed it immensely..

 

CanalPlanAC on default settings requires around 77 hours to do the Leicester Ring, that's 7 full 11 hour days, and you don't get 7 days if you hire for a week.

 

Given that you can have long delays queuing at Foxton and Watford, (and no doubt elsewhere, like Atherstone), I think one would need to be very brave to try this as a weeks hiring!

 

That said, unless I'm doing something wrong, CanalPlanAC wants over 62 hours at default settings for the Four Counties - even that now sounds a bit ambitious to me for a weeks hiring, although I know it to be easily possible.

 

Depends how hard you want to work, and when doing it, (as number of daylight hours can become important), but I'd certainly make the Four Counties a maximum challenge. Leicester - possible certainly with right conditions and no hold ups, but not I'd say guaranteed!

[JohnEW2912]

I'd say that the 4 counties is excellent if you want lots of rural scenery as it's almost completely rural apart from the quick nip through Stoke. I would however say that the Cheshire ring has more variety and more dramatic scenery. You need to be comfortable with some urban bits, which I find adds welcome variety but is not everyone's choice and also have some reasonably fit crew as there are some heavy locks.

[magpie patrick]

CanalPlanAC on default settings requires around 77 hours to do the Leicester Ring, that's 7 full 11 hour days, and you don't get 7 days if you hire for a week.

 

Given that you can have long delays queuing at Foxton and Watford, (and no doubt elsewhere, like Atherstone), I think one would need to be very brave to try this as a weeks hiring!

 

That said, unless I'm doing something wrong, CanalPlanAC wants over 62 hours at default settings for the Four Counties - even that now sounds a bit ambitious to me for a weeks hiring, although I know it to be easily possible.

 

Depends how hard you want to work, and when doing it, (as number of daylight hours can become important), but I'd certainly make the Four Counties a maximum challenge. Leicester - possible certainly with right conditions and no hold ups, but not I'd say guaranteed!

 

Alan, I find canal plan way over estimates at lock flights, and the vast majority of the locks on the four counties are in flights.

[Guest]

CanalPlanAC on default settings requires around 77 hours to do the Leicester Ring, that's 7 full 11 hour days, and you don't get 7 days if you hire for a week.

 

Given that you can have long delays queuing at Foxton and Watford, (and no doubt elsewhere, like Atherstone), I think one would need to be very brave to try this as a weeks hiring!

Leicester - possible certainly with right conditions and no hold ups, but not I'd say guaranteed!

 

We met a family going clockwise as we were going anti last April - they were less than a day away from the base at Napton Narrowboats and were on time to do the Liecester ring in a week. But it was a big boat and enough crew to whizz them through the locks, especially if the only boat going through the big double locks between the Soar and Foxton.

 

and the guarantee bit is important as you will likley get hit with a finamcial penalty if the boat is late back...

Edited September 28, 2010 by MJG

[alan_fincher]

Alan, I find canal plan way over estimates at lock flights, and the vast majority of the locks on the four counties are in flights.

Yes,

 

I tend to agree, and we tend to treat the default timings in CanalPlanAC as "worst case".

 

That said, when we did the Four Counties, (it was in August!), I could scarcely believe the queuing in some of the flights, and, on occasions, I doubt Nick Atty's timings would have covered our waiting times, let alone actually locking through.

 

We actually like to speed along pretty fast, but previous debate on this forum tends to come down in favour that even at busy times people should be able to set their own agenda, not be rushed, and if they want to do every lock on half a paddle and with much rope throwing whilst they stop and try and pick up granny, granddad and the dog on every lock landing, then they should be allowed to do so.

 

Unfortunately if you are hire boating, that all important "have to get it back by" time comes into play, and I think you need to be a bit cautious with rings, where there is no get out clause once you are past the half way point.

 

I personally wouldn't have qualms about trying to do the Four Counties in a week on a hire boat, but many might not wish to put in the days it could end up being.

 

We did try and do the Leicester ring in a week once, with a hired big Woolwich, but that was in the 1970s, when things were much less crowded. Had we not encountered drought conditions, I'm sure we would have made it, even with a boat drawing well over 3 feet, but I'm not convinced you could easily do so now without making yourselves highly unpopular. We have had people tell us that their allotted time for an ascent of Foxton was a full day after they arrived and got on a list - that's a lot to loose out of an already very tight week!

[Naughty Cal]

The other problem with the Leicester ring is that the Soar can be prone to very quickly turning to flood conditions and you can not guarantee you will get decent weather for the week.

[Pete of Ebor]

one thing you haven't said is when you intend to do it. If you are talking about something like October half-term then early dark nights will have an impact. Assuming you mean to do it next spring/summer, my vote would be for The Stourport Ring. It's got a bit of everything. Rural greenery of Worcestershire, urban buzz and industrial dereliction side by side in central Birmingham, narrow canals and big rivers, flights of locks, including the Black Delph 9 or 10, Stourbridge 16 and Tardebigge 35. The length can also be varied by going via Wolverhampton & The Bratch (longer) or via Netherton Tunnel & Stourbridge (a bit shorter) to suit your time and available energy. We've done it twice, both times we started from Tardebigge and went anti-clockwise - so Birmingham first and the Tardebigge flight (35 locks) on the Friday.

[churchward]

If you don't want to go to mad in terms of hours per day cruising. I would recommend the Warwick ring. Nice mix of scenery wide and narrow locks.

 

Other doable but hard work in a weeks hire would be

 

Four counties ring

Cheshire ring

[Pariah]

I was intending to pose a similar question regarding our 2011 holiday. Like the poster, we enjoyed a week on the K & A last year, and we then had a fabulous week on the Stourport Ring this year, starting from Worcester. A very varied and interesting route which I would heartily recommend.(and do-able in a week)

 

We have just booked with Valley Cruises for a week in July 2011, and are looking to do either the Black Country ring or the Warwickshire ring. Neither of these have thus far been mentioned on this thread. Any of you more experienced boaters have any views on these routes?

[churchward]

I was intending to pose a similar question regarding our 2011 holiday. Like the poster, we enjoyed a week on the K & A last year, and we then had a fabulous week on the Stourport Ring this year, starting from Worcester. A very varied and interesting route which I would heartily recommend.(and do-able in a week)

 

We have just booked with Valley Cruises for a week in July 2011, and are looking to do either the Black Country ring or the Warwickshire ring. Neither of these have thus far been mentioned on this thread. Any of you more experienced boaters have any views on these routes?

Erm I did just above your post!

 

I haven't done the black country ring as such but cruised parts of the BCN several time and for the first time in many year just this summer. I really like it and it has a surprising variety of scenery. A visit to the Black country museum I think is a must and you can get to it by boat.

Edited October 1, 2010 by churchward

[PiRSqwared]

Hello,

Better half and I did the 4 Counties ring in the May half term, starting at Stone and going clockwise. We did not hang around - in fact on a couple of days, except for lunch, we were moving pretty much non stop from 08.30 til 19.00. Not much of the ring is what you call high-speed - lots of moored boats, shallow stretches with natural banking etc.

 

The people at the boatyard where we hired the boat suggested that M Drayton was about half way so if we were not there in about three and a half days we should turn back. Well we got to M Drayton on time so decided to carry on. However , the second half of the ring is quite a bit more involved - more locks - and we were really pushing time to get back to the boatyard on schedule.

On the same day we started, a family (parents and 2 children) also started on the same journey - we kept bumping into each other (not literally) - they decided to turn back because the didn't think they could put in the hours. Their dog also went walkabout which didn't help.

Personally, I wouldn't attempt it in a week again. Ten days to 2 weeks would have been more pleasurable, especially if it was during summer - even in May it was quite busy in some places. It is, after all, supposed to be a holiday!

 

Ian

[Evo]

one thing you haven't said is when you intend to do it. If you are talking about something like October half-term then early dark nights will have an impact. Assuming you mean to do it next spring/summer, my vote would be for The Stourport Ring. It's got a bit of everything. Rural greenery of Worcestershire, urban buzz and industrial dereliction side by side in central Birmingham, narrow canals and big rivers, flights of locks, including the Black Delph 9 or 10, Stourbridge 16 and Tardebigge 35. The length can also be varied by going via Wolverhampton & The Bratch (longer) or via Netherton Tunnel & Stourbridge (a bit shorter) to suit your time and available energy. We've done it twice, both times we started from Tardebigge and went anti-clockwise - so Birmingham first and the Tardebigge flight (35 locks) on the Friday.

 

That would be the one I would suggest aswell. It was our first ring in the 90's on an Alvechurch hire boat, excellent ring, Well described by above. Great night in Gas Street basin, Lovely trip down the Severn, serious locking day going up Tardebigge.