Canadians need advice

[rivarunnamomma]

Hi experts! I hope you can set us straight. We are a family of four from British Columbia, Canada, coming to England for a month in July. We want to do a canal boat tour as a way to slow down, rather than race from place-to-place the entire time.

 

At home, we live in a rural area, and so endless countryside is not what we're looking for. Also, we have two boys aged 13 and 15, a "high energy" father, and of course, mom who tries her best to keep up but sometimes just waves goodbye to the men and settles down with a good book and glass of … well, I'm not fussy.

 

We're looking for a week with a variety to keep us all happy. A good selection but not endless parade of locks, lifts, aqueducts etc., smaller villages with great pubs, fiddle music (we play), perhaps farmers markets, and ideally a side trip to a cool castle or anything with a dungeon. Did I say lots of pubs, fiddle music and great food? Perhaps a bit of industrial history for the boys too. The occasional wooded glen or farmer's field is lovely, but our focus would be more on town life. Mostly smaller is better, but a nice bustling destination one night would be great too.

 

As we want to explore as we go, we'd rather not be on a schedule where we have to spend 7-8 hours/day underway. I can see 4-6 being about right. Given our "onward" mentality, a circle tour or one-way trip is our idea of a good time but I'm not sure if there are any routes that would meet our needs that can be done in a week without considerably more time "underway". Ideally, perhaps a short-break (one way) route that most would take 4-5 fairly busy days to complete, that we could spread out over a week.

 

We are not set on any specific area of England and so are flexible about location. I would greatly appreciate some recommendations as to what routes to consider, or if we need to consider an out-and-back route. I know … it looks completely different coming from the other direction. ;-)

 

BTW - Great forum! Thanks very much!

[Alan de Enfield]

Welcome - a good detailed holiday specification.

 

The only problem with a 1 week boat hire is :

 

You pick up the boat day 1 at around 3pm - 1 hours training and hand-over so you dont get away much before 4pm - assuming you are the first one - there may be several boats doing hand-overs at the same time and only one or two staff.

 

On the last day the boat needs to be back at the marina by 9:00am.

 

Efectively your week has become 5 days.

 

You will proably average not much more than 2 miles per hour, so for your 5 hour days you will travel about 10 miles. If you do an 'out & back' trip you are looking at 25 miles (each way) and it may be difficult to get in :-

 

A good selection but not endless parade of locks, lifts, aqueducts etc., smaller villages with great pubs, fiddle music (we play), perhaps farmers markets, and ideally a side trip to a cool castle or anything with a dungeon. Did I say lots of pubs, fiddle music and great food? Perhaps a bit of industrial history for the boys too. The occasional wooded glen or farmer's field is lovely, but our focus would be more on town life. Mostly smaller is better, but a nice bustling destination one night would be great too

 

I'm struggling to think of anywhere that would meet all your requirements - maybe around the outskirts (South) of Birmingham will give you City, industrial heritage and a bit of country - I'm sure some more experienced 'travellers' will come up with some suggesions.

[rivarunnamomma]

Thanks very much Alan. I appreciate the input. My husband mentioned Birmingham for some interesting industrial heritage.

 

I get the message that a week is not really a week and you obviously don't get very far unless you put the hours in. Instead of side trips, perhaps my boys can just run the towpaths between locks for eight hours? That should keep them occupied. ;-)

 

I see you're up early … it's now 10:45 p.m. in western Canada so I'm off to bed. I'll check back in the morning.

[Scholar Gypsy]

I was going to suggest the Warwickshire ring - Warwick Castle has a good dungeon though I found it a bit synthetic.

 

Or what about a trip based around London - there is at least one company that will let you take a boat through the middle of London (Tower Bridge etc) and then you could pootle up to Windsor. The lower Grand Union (once you get to Uxbridge) is rather fine.

 

http://canalplan.org.uk/ may help you with cruising hours etc..

[Tuscan]

Google stourport ring this takes in Birmingham , Worcester a bit of the River Severn as well as a famous flight of locks to wear the boys out, more like 8 hours a day but easily done with your crew.

[john6767]

The Warwickshire ring would be my suggestion too, you can take in the centre of Birmingham and you have Warwick castle. The problem is perhaps the time taken, it is an energetic hire week, which is basically 6 days and a bit, but is done by many hirers each week in the summer. There are not many options for rings that can be done in a week.

[Mike Tee]

Check out Alvechurch marina, I believe they still do boat hire here. From here to Gas Street in Birmingham is about 5 easy hours cruise. That will then give you 4-5 days to explore Birmingham by canal, and will include everything you ask for except, I think, a castle! You will need to research stopping places in Brum, many safe, some need to be avoided, but that could be a separate question if you decide to go for this.

[Scholar Gypsy]

Dudley Castle? http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk/

[Mac of Cygnet]

Google stourport ring this takes in Birmingham , Worcester a bit of the River Severn as well as a famous flight of locks to wear the boys out, more like 8 hours a day but easily done with your crew.

 

Another vote for the Stourport Ring. Our first canal holiday 30 years ago was the Stourport Ring from the centre of Birmingham (there is no hire base there now, but you can hire from other points on the ring) and we have been hooked ever since - but watch out - you will be too!

[eightacre]

I would suggest the West Midlands is the most likely area to meet your needs, and the Stourport ring is a good suggestion. You could do worse than talk to these people (I have no connection): http://www.abcboathire.com/Boating-Holiday/england/alvechurch-marina/9.aspx

[keble]

If you do decide on the Stourport ring, look out for us! We're planning to do it in early July.

[JessicaBOO]

The Leeds/Liverpool gets my vote. Saltaire - World Heritage Site ticks the Industrial Heritage box http://saltairevillage.info

Bingley 5 Rise Locks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingley_Five_Rise_Locks Skiptons fantastic market http://www.skiptonmarket.net/

Skipton Castle http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/ Loads of real ale pubs along the route as well as local brewery's http://www.copperdragon.uk.com/ http://saltairebrewery.co.uk/saltaire/

Oh and if you are coming in July you definitley need to be in Yorkshire for this! http://letour.yorkshire.com/

[lewisericeric]

What about a hire boat company based on the Trent and Mersey Canal (Black Prince Boats are on the Trent and Mersey if I recall ) and then doing the Bridgewater canal into Manchester - great city and Castlefield Basin is a great place to moor in the middle of a city with museums (Museum of Science & Industry for one, which really is fantastic), plenty of heritage and industrial architecture, bars, restaurants, history.... And no locks on the Bridgewater Canal into Manchester and the link onto the Trent and Mersey is seamless.

 

Overall on the Trent, theres not many locks either so cruising times can be reduced, meaning you can get from place to place much quicker and use your short time to the best of your advantage.

Edited April 6, 2014 by lewisericeric

[OldGoat]

I keep banging on about the joys of Birmingham - we don't seem to be able to keep away, but that's probably all we can do in a fortnight from our base. We also live in the country and a change from cows 'ruminating', Nightingales shouting at 4:00 a.m. is welcome. However, perhaps mooring on the New Main Line may not be our choice.

 

An other good reason for centering on Brum is that there are a number of rings around the city that you could choose and minor variations that you could include or not depending on whether you are short of time or not.

 

I am continually frustrated about how poorly we advertise our attractions and consequently visitors miss some of the good bits, so here's my plug:-

 

• Moor for a couple of days in the centre, by the NIA is best
• Visit the concert hall complex (there might be a show or concert on)
• The new funky library building
• The city centre is (pretty well) pedestrianized now
• The national Trust 'Back to Backs' houses
• Pen museum
• jewellery quarter and museum (guided tour round a Victorian jewellery workshop)
• Off the main drag, the side streets are quiet(er) and the architecture "interesting"
• Black Country Living Museum - a day trip away, you can moor overnight outside

Be advised, though that the area is very urban and apart from the centre where it is a delight to moor, some of the other parts are very scruffy, even depressing in places.

 

A complete alternative is to hire a boat from, say, Oxfordshire Narrowboats, go down to Oxford and take a couple of days on the Thames. Going East it's not totally rural, and there are towns on the way which are pleasant to visit.

 

Whatever you do, do some RESEARCH. for example:-

Spend some time on http://canalplan.org.uk/

Look at Google Earth at the area around Brum (or whatever)

Cross reference sites you find interesting e.g. http://www.bclm.co.uk/ (black country museum) and dig deeper.

 

It's a shame you've only got a week - could you extend it??

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Machpoint005]

Birmingham may be England's second city but don't forget the first - Manchester - also has canals. And culture. And spectacular countryside nearby. And industrial heritage.

 

 

And decent beer!

[OldGoat]

Birmingham may be England's second city but don't forget the first - Manchester - also has canals. And culture. And spectacular countryside nearby. And industrial heritage.

 

 

And decent beer!

 

 

Yes, but where does a non experienced visitor moor

 

A serious question - we haven't been there for many years but anything in the centre was a no-go at that time.

[Neil2]

....................A complete alternative is to hire a boat from, say, Oxfordshire Narrowboats, go down to Oxford and take a couple of days on the Thames. Going East it's not totally rural, and there are towns on the way which are pleasant to visit.

 

That would be my choice, canal wise I think you have a bit of everything on the South Oxford, and then the Thames is a total contrast. I know you said it would be July but what might interest you is the Cropredy Folk Festival which is second week in August, (Cropredy is on the South Oxford.)

 

Music wise, there used to be a lot more pubs where you could sit in with other musicians, but a) there just aren't as many pubs in the UK these days and b ) so many music orientated pubs have fallen by the wayside simply because they only make money these days from selling food c) it only takes a few people to complain about the noise to get a venue closed down d) it seems to be dropping out of our culture. I used to play in a pub band but packed in after our last gig where we played almost the entire set to an empty room and no, we weren't that bad. Having said all this, I know from talking to other boaters that there are still pubs where it might be worth taking a fiddle or an accoustic guitar, (but please, not a banjo) on the cut, but you'd be lucky to happen on one in a week's holiday.

 

I agree with the comments about a week being too short.

[Machpoint005]

 

 

Yes, but where does a non experienced visitor moor

 

A serious question - we haven't been there for many years but anything in the centre was a no-go at that time.

Not any longer. Mostly gentrified now.

[OldGoat]

Not any longer. Mostly gentrified now.

I'm obliged to you, young Sir;

I'll put Manchester back on the list.

[rivarunnamomma]

I was going to suggest the Warwickshire ring - Warwick Castle has a good dungeon though I found it a bit synthetic.

 

Or what about a trip based around London - there is at least one company that will let you take a boat through the middle of London (Tower Bridge etc) and then you could pootle up to Windsor. The lower Grand Union (once you get to Uxbridge) is rather fine.

 

http://canalplan.org.uk/ may help you with cruising hours etc..

Thanks very much Scholar Gypsy. I'll l check out the Warwickshire ring. Even a synthetic dungeon is great for boys from such a young country that we just tied criminals to trees for lack of anything stronger. ;-)

 

My brother lives in London so he'd be insulted if we spent our time on a narrow boat. Thanks for the Canal Plan link too. That will be helpful.

Google stourport ring this takes in Birmingham , Worcester a bit of the River Severn as well as a famous flight of locks to wear the boys out, more like 8 hours a day but easily done with your crew.

Thanks Tuscan! Stourport Ring is on the list to check out today. And I have quite a list given all the great suggestions that came in while I slept last night. This is a really impressive forum.

[rivarunnamomma]

The Warwickshire ring would be my suggestion too, you can take in the centre of Birmingham and you have Warwick castle. The problem is perhaps the time taken, it is an energetic hire week, which is basically 6 days and a bit, but is done by many hirers each week in the summer. There are not many options for rings that can be done in a week.

Thanks John6767. We will check the Warwickshire Ring out.

 

I suspected that there might not be a lot of options for one week ring routes, and this forum is definitely making that clear. We will check out the suggested routes and then if there doesn't seem to be one that meets our needs, we'll look for some more advice on a great out-and-back. It's so great to get advice from "been-there-done-that" people that are not trying to sell you something.

Check out Alvechurch marina, I believe they still do boat hire here. From here to Gas Street in Birmingham is about 5 easy hours cruise. That will then give you 4-5 days to explore Birmingham by canal, and will include everything you ask for except, I think, a castle! You will need to research stopping places in Brum, many safe, some need to be avoided, but that could be a separate question if you decide to go for this.

Thanks very much Mike Tee. That's a good suggestion. And I'm sure there are castles elsewhere in England?

 

"Brum"?/? Huh? Oh! Got it. ;-)

[rivarunnamomma]

Dudley Castle? http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk/

A zoo at a castle? Cool! I know the boys would love both. I checked out the website and even a castle ruin would be great because my boys live in a country that is too young to have ruined anything yet. Stone building-wise anyway. Thanks!

I would suggest the West Midlands is the most likely area to meet your needs, and the Stourport ring is a good suggestion. You could do worse than talk to these people (I have no connection): http://www.abcboathire.com/Boating-Holiday/england/alvechurch-marina/9.aspx

Thanks eightacre. With the amount of info I've gathered so quickly from the great folks who've replied to my question, I think I'm ready to talk to the hire companies now. But there are so many routes and so many companies! So great to get recommendations from people first.

If you do decide on the Stourport ring, look out for us! We're planning to do it in early July.

 

Thanks keble! If we decide on the Stourport, we will definitely let you know. I've got "Kwaheri" on the chip already.

 

Another vote for the Stourport Ring. Our first canal holiday 30 years ago was the Stourport Ring from the centre of Birmingham (there is no hire base there now, but you can hire from other points on the ring) and we have been hooked ever since - but watch out - you will be too!

Thanks for the "warning"! And the vote for the Stourport.

 

I'm very curious to check it out but want to reply to all the great posts here before I turn to Google.

The Leeds/Liverpool gets my vote. Saltaire - World Heritage Site ticks the Industrial Heritage box http://saltairevillage.info

Bingley 5 Rise Locks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingley_Five_Rise_Locks Skiptons fantastic market http://www.skiptonmarket.net/

Skipton Castle http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/ Loads of real ale pubs along the route as well as local brewery's http://www.copperdragon.uk.com/ http://saltairebrewery.co.uk/saltaire/

Oh and if you are coming in July you definitley need to be in Yorkshire for this! http://letour.yorkshire.com/

Tour de France?! What a coincidence! I used to race for Canada … seems like 400 years ago now. This would be brilliant! Thanks JessicaBOO. Oh and I will definitely check out the Leeds/Liverpool suggestion. Can't beat local beer! Bikes and beer. Wow! This is going to be tough to beat. ;-)

What about a hire boat company based on the Trent and Mersey Canal (Black Prince Boats are on the Trent and Mersey if I recall ) and then doing the Bridgewater canal into Manchester - great city and Castlefield Basin is a great place to moor in the middle of a city with museums (Museum of Science & Industry for one, which really is fantastic), plenty of heritage and industrial architecture, bars, restaurants, history.... And no locks on the Bridgewater Canal into Manchester and the link onto the Trent and Mersey is seamless.

 

Overall on the Trent, theres not many locks either so cruising times can be reduced, meaning you can get from place to place much quicker and use your short time to the best of your advantage.

Thanks lewisericeric. I'll definitely check out the Trent & Mersey and Bridgewater canals. The museum sounds really fantastic.

 

However, I don't want to give the impression that we want to avoid locks because they will definitely entertain my boys (and give me more time to read and sip undisturbed ;-) but it does seem to come down to more locks = less distance covered, so we'll have to consider which we want more. Thanks again for good suggestions.

[Alan de Enfield]

So - just how many weeks was it you were coming for ??

[Machpoint005]

I'm obliged to you, young Sir;

 

 

B*gger me! Compliments now!

A raised glass to you, too!

[rivarunnamomma]

I keep banging on about the joys of Birmingham - we don't seem to be able to keep away, but that's probably all we can do in a fortnight from our base. We also live in the country and a change from cows 'ruminating', Nightingales shouting at 4:00 a.m. is welcome. However, perhaps mooring on the New Main Line may not be our choice.

 

An other good reason for centering on Brum is that there are a number of rings around the city that you could choose and minor variations that you could include or not depending on whether you are short of time or not.

 

I am continually frustrated about how poorly we advertise our attractions and consequently visitors miss some of the good bits, so here's my plug:-

 

• Moor for a couple of days in the centre, by the NIA is best
• Visit the concert hall complex (there might be a show or concert on)
• The new funky library building
• The city centre is (pretty well) pedestrianized now
• The national Trust 'Back to Backs' houses
• Pen museum
• jewellery quarter and museum (guided tour round a Victorian jewellery workshop)
• Off the main drag, the side streets are quiet(er) and the architecture "interesting"
• Black Country Living Museum - a day trip away, you can moor overnight outside

Be advised, though that the area is very urban and apart from the centre where it is a delight to moor, some of the other parts are very scruffy, even depressing in places.

 

A complete alternative is to hire a boat from, say, Oxfordshire Narrowboats, go down to Oxford and take a couple of days on the Thames. Going East it's not totally rural, and there are towns on the way which are pleasant to visit.

 

Whatever you do, do some RESEARCH. for example:-

Spend some time on http://canalplan.org.uk/

Look at Google Earth at the area around Brum (or whatever)

Cross reference sites you find interesting e.g. http://www.bclm.co.uk/ (black country museum) and dig deeper.

 

It's a shame you've only got a week - could you extend it??

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks OldGoat. "Brum" is definitely getting votes so don't despair! It seems that others agree with you about its many virtues. However, we will be climbing onto the narrowboat not long after a week in London and so a route that is a bit quieter and less urban will be in order by then. My country boys definitely wilt after time spent in the city. However, the Black Country Living Museum looks fantastic and is on our "must do" list whether by boat or car. We are really looking forward to that, so thanks in particular for that suggestion.

 

I was thinking more of a string of busy villages as long as they aren't separated by hours and hours of "ruminating cows" and trees (we are surrounded by both at home). We were quite keen on the Llangolen route initially because it kept appearing at the top of "Best Canal Routes" lists, but a bit more reading suggested that it's very lovely, but very rural and so we started to widen our search for something with more variety.

 

And yes I agree about research, but there are just so many options that I needed some help narrowing the range of what to consider. Joining this forum was a brilliant move, if I do say so myself. ;-)