Suggestions for Two Visitors Please

[Birdman]

Two school buddies (ex Brits) trying to plan our 2nd river trip in September, around the 12th.

Cliff lives in the States, I'm in Canada (Georgian Bay), both now retired. We will have up to a week for the trip, want to rent a Narrow boat.

 

We previously did a trip on the Wey in 2011, from Guildford, loved it.

 

Our previous boat rental place is now apparently out of business (Guildford Boat House).

We're having trouble finding a boat to rent and a good route, from afar. Tried calling places but not easy to get through .. seems everyone is very busy.

 

Were thinking about south England in hopes of warmer weather .. don't know if this really matters or makes much difference though. We were looking at the Stratford on Avon canal .. love the idea of the aquaduct.

We also looked at the Llangollen Canal.

 

At this point we're thinking that we should concentrate on finding a boat that would suit us as they seem mostly booked up, then HOPE there will be a good trip to go with it.

 

Prefer a relatively small boat, - last one was great at 44ft.

 

If anyone knows of an available boat and a good route, be great to hear about it! Open to any suggestions. We're good reliable customers.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Jonn and Cliff

Edited August 5, 2015 by Birdman

[Timx]

Look up ''latelink'' better prices and gives you lots of options . Everywhere is good on a narrowboat so depends what you want out of your time,that website gives you good info on your boat and the cruising route options.

[Woodstock]

We did the Llangollen from Bunbury in an Anglo Welsh boat

[Corixa]

Brookline at Dunhamstead for Worcester, River Severn, Droitwich and Stourport rings

 

College Cruisers at Oxford, great location for the southern Oxford Canal

 

Foxhangers on the K & A at the bottom of Caen Hill - easy trip to Bath with a smattering of Caen Hill if you fell so inclined

[Tim Lewis]

Two school buddies (ex Brits) trying to plan our 2nd river trip in September, around the 12th.

Cliff lives in the States, I'm in Canada (Georgian Bay), both now retired. We will have up to a week for the trip, want to rent a Narrow boat.

 

We previously did a trip on the Wey in 2011, from Guildford, loved it.

 

Our previous boat rental place is now apparently out of business (Guildford Boat House).

We're having trouble finding a boat to rent and a good route, from afar. Tried calling places but not easy to get through .. seems everyone is very busy.

 

Were thinking about south England in hopes of warmer weather .. don't know if this really matters or makes much difference though. We were looking at the Stratford on Avon canal .. love the idea of the aquaduct.

We also looked at the Llangollen Canal.

 

At this point we're thinking that we should concentrate on finding a boat that would suit us as they seem mostly booked up, then HOPE there will be a good trip to go with it.

 

Prefer a relatively small boat, - last one was great at 44ft.

 

If anyone knows of an available boat and a good route, be great to hear about it! Open to any suggestions. We're good reliable customers.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Jonn and Cliff

 

'The' Aqueduct is on the Llangollen, not the Stratford, not that the Stratford canal hasn't got it's share of aqueducts it but they do pale by comparison with Chirk and Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen.

 

You shouldn't have trouble hiring in September - it is outside of the school holidays. Chas Hardern have a couple of short boats if you fancy the Llangollen.

 

http://www.chashardern.co.uk/canalboat.htm

 

 

 

Tim

Edited August 5, 2015 by Tim Lewis

[john6767]

If you fancy the Stratford, then there are 2 hire companies in the immediate vicinity, Valley Cruises at Stratford, and Anglo Welsh at Wootton Wawen, a quick looks does show that they have limited availability particularly if you want a smaller boat. If you are hiring for a week then Anglo Welsh at Tardebigge and ABC Boat Hire at Alvechurch would be possible for an out and back to Stratford.

 

You will find more availability near the end of September and remember the Rugby World Cup starts here on 18th Sept, so you could lend you support to the USA and Canada if you are here over that time.

[OldGoat]

There's a huge large choice of routes and everyone on here will disagree if anyone else makes a specific recommendation. So it would help if you could say what you like for example:-

1. Lots of locks
2. Locks opened for you by a flunky
3. No locks at all
4. Countryside
5. A mix of urban and countryside
6. Industrial heritage
7. A mix of most of the above

If you enjoyed the Wey, then what about the Thames? You cover more ground in a given time on the River. You get 2,4,5 and visit Oxford by boat.

 

Tardebigge / Stratford are in class 1 above and then some....

[Heffalump]

College Cruisers at Oxford, great location for the southern Oxford Canal

 

Would you really recommend them?

[Corixa]

 

Would you really recommend them?

Yes,

 

We hired twice from them last year, once well planned in advance and the other was a last minute break.

 

Everything worked well, boats were as good as any we have hired elsewhere and better than some. One call out for a battery problem was dealt with very quickly.

 

Only caveat is: I hear they may have a space problem this year with a major part of their facility either lost or about to be lost due to the non renewal of a lease they had.

[Heffalump]

Yes,

 

We hired twice from them last year, once well planned in advance and the other was a last minute break.

 

Everything worked well, boats were as good as any we have hired elsewhere and better than some. One call out for a battery problem was dealt with very quickly.

 

Only caveat is: I hear they may have a space problem this year with a major part of their facility either lost or about to be lost due to the non renewal of a lease they had.

 

Ooh. Thanks

[Birdman]

Many thanks for all these good ideas and suggestions!

 

Have checked out some, working on others.

 

I think we are pretty open to a variety of options/scenery .. don't want to spend all our limited time going up a lock chain so probably wouldn't put Caen Hill at the top of the list.

 

Both active old fogies though .. Cliff runs every morning, I still stagger around a soccer pitch, so we are happy to be as active as we can. Enjoy walking, would love to have a small bike on board. Certainly do our own locks.

 

As suggested, the later weeks in Sept seem cheaper than earlier.

 

Latelink site has some great options .. mostly long boats though ~60'.

 

Did find one at 42' for 17th, a Nene Class, good rate £599 for the week, based at Gailey.

'The Gailey base is located near the northern end of the delightfully rural Staffs and Worcester Canal just south of Stafford. The site is well placed for a variety of one week scenic cruises including the highly popular Four Counties Ring.'

 

Any comments on this boat or the route options?

 

[Athy]

There you go then, Gailey on your way!

[OldGoat]

Many thanks for all these good ideas and suggestions!

 

Have checked out some, working on others.

 

I think we are pretty open to a variety of options/scenery .. don't want to spend all our limited time going up a lock chain so probably wouldn't put Caen Hill at the top of the list.

 

Both active old fogies though .. Cliff runs every morning, I still stagger around a soccer pitch, so we are happy to be as active as we can. Enjoy walking, would love to have a small bike on board. Certainly do our own locks.

 

As suggested, the later weeks in Sept seem cheaper than earlier.

 

Latelink site has some great options .. mostly long boats though ~60'.

 

Did find one at 42' for 17th, a Nene Class, good rate £599 for the week, based at Gailey.

'The Gailey base is located near the northern end of the delightfully rural Staffs and Worcester Canal just south of Stafford. The site is well placed for a variety of one week scenic cruises including the highly popular Four Counties Ring.'

 

Any comments on this boat or the route options?

 

Strange - every time I (or others) suggest 4 counties, folks come back and say - " you can't do that in a week..." We used to do that, hiring from Penkridge; 'twas many years ago.

Mostly rural with some great views. Nice trip up through Stone, the Potteries less so, scary tunnel (low roof)

Think you could do better, but a good start.

Before I go further - and hoping for more routes to come, use Canal Plan to experiment with ideas:-

http://canalplan.org.uk/cgi-bin/canal.cgi

It'll plan your route, give you a map show you photos of places en-route (often just locks and bridges) and 'more besides'

 

I just planned the 4 counties and it said 7 full days at 8 hours per day, a bit tight mebe - you need to / should stop for pubs, sights, museums etc.

Remember that you don't get 7 days - more like a bit under six.

 

I'd love for you do a ring around Birmingham (?eh). CP says it's 4 1/2 days so it gives you time to visit the Black Country Museum, stop in Birmingham to see the centre of the City, The Pen museum, jewellery quarter (1930's workshop) Concert Hall and more - most without interfacing with cars. Lots of Indian restaurants.

Just to get you started key the following into CP's planner-

Start and finish at Gailey Visitor's moorings.

intermediate places - Old Turn Junction, fazeley Junction.

It presents you with 'Birmingham ring starting and ending at Gailey...'

[Alan Saunders]

I'd love for you do a ring around Birmingham (?eh). CP says it's 4 1/2 days so it gives you time to visit the Black Country Museum, stop in Birmingham to see the centre of the City, The Pen museum, jewellery quarter (1930's workshop) Concert Hall and more - most without interfacing with cars. Lots of Indian restaurants.

Just to get you started key the following into CP's planner-

Start and finish at Gailey Visitor's moorings.

intermediate places - Old Turn Junction, fazeley Junction.

It presents you with 'Birmingham ring starting and ending at Gailey...'

I agree with OldGoat's recommendation. Nowhere else will fascinate you equally with a true taste of the history of the canal system. So much to 'discover', a month would not be enough.

 

If you just want to meander through long contours of English fields with rare villages and Pubs the Southern Oxford is ideal but for a rare visit you could better hire a cottage, car and bicycles.

 

There are a hundred miles of canal in Birmingham, more than in Venice. You may find quiet cuttings, spot a Kingfisher or Heron in an industrial wasteland and then rise through a lock to the noise of the City. Go for the 'Birmingham Experience', it may all be 're-developed' before your next visit.

 

Alan

[Guest User]

http://www.farncombeboats.co.uk/

 

http://www.ontheweynarrowboathire.co.uk/

 

LCx

[Timx]

From Gailey I would go to stourport and back in a week, really nice trip .

[Birdman]

THanks so much to everyone who made suggestions here ... most helpful. Really helped us to narrow things down for our trip.

 

It appears that our best boat option is to go for the Nene 76 from Gailey (42') listed on Latelink and, as mentioned, there are many route options around Birmingham that we can decide on during the time remaining (did look at the route planner .. very helpful).

 

We found that the Nene seems to be owned by ABC Boat Rentals and they have 3 of them, - the 76, 84 and 78. Does anyone know these boats or what the numbers refer to? Year of birth? Perhaps they assign one of them to the Latelink group who offer it at a discount. Although that price doesn't include fuel.

Thought we might try to call ABC tomorrow to see what they say.

[Birdman]

By the way, this deal is only available from Sept 18-25th. Reg price or earlier price is £999.

But we can now build our trip and flights around these dates.

Hopefully the weather will also cooperate ...

[OldGoat]

ABC rentals sounds a bit like Alvechurch boats. Methinks they are using various locations and sub operators to maintain their older boats.

I've always had a soft spot for ABC and hired from them many years ago.

Very competent boats, somewhat plain - but do the job!