CRT Showers/facilities

[junior]

I'm heading from Red Bull towards Braunston over the coming week. Can anyone tell me where i can find CRT facilities, primarily showers, on the T&M, Coventry and North Oxford showers? I've been in the North West for the past week and I've been blessed with a shower block almost every night. Now i can't think off the top of my head when I'm next likely to get one.

 

Thanks!

[Roadsteam]

Absolutely no CRT showers or toilets between Hawsbury and Braunston.

[Starcoaster]

Braunston marina has one that's £1 a go.

North Oxford, not so much. How desperate/disgusting are you going to be by the time you get to the North Oxord? You can use mine possibly, I am moored right by a tap.

[matty40s]

showers at fradley.

 

hawkesbury to braunston is only a days cruise anyway.

[Tim Lewis]

I'm heading from Red Bull towards Braunston over the coming week. Can anyone tell me where i can find CRT facilities, primarily showers, on the T&M, Coventry and North Oxford showers? I've been in the North West for the past week and I've been blessed with a shower block almost every night. Now i can't think off the top of my head when I'm next likely to get one.

 

Thanks!

There used to be showers at the North end of Harecastle tunnel in the tunnel keepers building. There are showers at Etruria.

 

Tim

Edited April 8, 2015 by Tim Lewis

[alan_fincher]

The old style boaters guides are still available, following protests about their discontinuation, though may not be fully up to date.

 

Link here.

 

Choose a canal, then uncheck every option except Facilities and Water Points.

 

We found these quite reliable a year or two back when talking about showers, but completely useless for working laundry facilities, many of which were still shown in the guides, but which apparently hadn't worked for years, and which there seemed to be no intention to fix.

[ditchcrawler]

I'm heading from Red Bull towards Braunston over the coming week. Can anyone tell me where i can find CRT facilities, primarily showers, on the T&M, Coventry and North Oxford showers? I've been in the North West for the past week and I've been blessed with a shower block almost every night. Now i can't think off the top of my head when I'm next likely to get one.

 

Thanks!

Have you tried looking at the new caRT map https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/crtlabs/boating.html#lat:52.4775,lng:-1.9094400000000178,zoom:15

 

Edited April 8, 2015 by ditchcrawler

[Cruising Mike]

Pardon my ignorance but do you not have water on board?

[FadeToScarlet]

Pardon my ignorance but do you not have water on board?

A shower can get to places a strip wash in a hand bowl can't. Edited April 9, 2015 by FadeToScarlet
A hand owl wouldn't hold water.

[Cruising Mike]

I suppose you never tried washing upside down?

[Lottiespal]

Hi Junior,

 

We travelled up the North Oxford a fortnight ago and although there are no CRT shower facilities on the stretch between Braunston and Coventry, I understand that the Barley Mow at Newbold offer bathroom hire and laundry facilities for boaters. Not had need to use them myself but there's more information on the website; :

www.barleymow-newbold.co.uk

[Starcoaster]

Bathroom hire! That's a new one on me. I wonder how much it is?!

[Lottiespal]

Don't know the price but according to the website, they provide 'soft white towels' and ghd straighteners! :-)

[Ray T]

Bathroom hire! That's a new one on me. I wonder how much it is?!

 

From reading the various books written by some of the "Idle Women" many of the public baths had slipper baths during the 1940's. Many of the canal side pubs made bathing facilities available to the boaters as well.

 

I can remember the Livingstone Road swimming baths in Coventry having slipper baths as well, in the 1950's.

 

The bus station at Pool Meadow had some too.

 

e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggerston_Baths

Edited April 9, 2015 by Ray T

[Starcoaster]

What are slipper baths?

[ditchcrawler]

What are slipper baths?

Most towns had them up until probably the 1950s http://www.plungingintohistory.com/ir-slipperbaths

[Ray T]

What are slipper baths?

 

Baths similar to the ones in houses. Many of the back to backs of terraced houses never had bath rooms. The loo was usually at the bottom of the back garden or attached to the outside of the house.

 

So if folks wanted a bath they went to the local swimming pool which often had baths for the public to use to bathe / clean themselves.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Baths

 

More here:

 

http://www.nlcaonline.org.uk/page_id__338.aspx

 

The opening of the North Road Slipper Baths was the result of the philanthropic movement organised to provide bathing facilities for the poor. Certain acts such as the Public Baths and Workhouse Acts and the Towns Improvement Clauses Act in 1847 were designed specifically to encourage their construction. These acts particularly emphasised the need for a large ratio of lower class baths to upper class baths:

Edited April 9, 2015 by Ray T

[Rob-M]

What are slipper baths?

A bath shaped like a slipper.

[ditchcrawler]

I was surprised there are no toilets or showers at the Fazeley service point considering its a CaRT office as well

[jenlyn]

10 quid at barley mow.

[Catrin]

We did hear of someone who used to use sports centre showers. An interesting idea, you'd probably need to pay an entrance fee. However, when I had a look at the idea, there weren't a lot of sports centres near to the canal where we were.

[ditchcrawler]

We did hear of someone who used to use sports centre showers. An interesting idea, you'd probably need to pay an entrance fee. However, when I had a look at the idea, there weren't a lot of sports centres near to the canal where we were.

Marlow on Thames and Whittalsey on the Middle Level are the only two that come to mind. If you pay to moor at Marlow then that includes the shower.

[junior]

Just caught up with this thread, thanks for the advice. I did enjoy a nice luke warm shower at Fradley last night. I can probably wait now until Braunston if i end up going that far.

[Catrin]

Marlow on Thames and Whittalsey on the Middle Level are the only two that come to mind. If you pay to moor at Marlow then that includes the shower.

There is a sports centre near to the canal in Berkhamsted, and another about 4 miles further south in Hemel. However, as we live in Berkhamsted, neither of them is much use to us.