Ashby Doubts.

[Frog Man]

Good evening and a Happy St Georges Day to all!

I've had a great deal of help and advice over on another thread re: a good route for a first timer on a short-break, avoiding lots of locks, and on that thread The Ashby Canal was a clear favourite for many.

So I've been doing some research and it does indeed look a lovely stretch of water and certainly ticks all my boxes.

However, there are no locks at all, and whilst keen to limit the amount of lock-wrangling on my first time, I'm having doubts that none at all would defeat the object a somewhat, and I saw on another thread that someone who had travel that route enjoyed it the least of all their trips. :-(

I wonder if it would be possible to join a further stretch of canal from the Ashby that did include some locks within the 3 - 4 days that the break would limit me to?

 

Thanks in advance

[Paul C]

You'll have to remind us where the hire base or start point is.

[Frog Man]

Beg 'pardon! Ashby Boat Co. was who I was considering, they are in Stoke Golding. Cheers.

[OldGoat]

AArrgghh -

wot I said earlier (your last thread)

You said you didn't want to travel too far from Kent, yet everyone points you to the Midlands....

It would be great to know when you intend to hire (to avoid the popular routes)

Whether you are willing to pay the going rate - or want a cheapy deal.

 

For starters I suggest -

The upper-upper Thames; few locks lock keeper attended (if you're lucky) and a dream to operate. A very rural there and back route if you go upstream with few pubs but some lovely walks - you could go don below Oxford if you want.

 

OR the Oxford canal, there and back from Oxford - College Cruisers or a bit further up from Oxfordshire Narrowboats. Some locks, mostly shallow (one very deep one) and easy to operate.

 

After that you're in the midlands proper where are a lot more locks.

Both will show you how to operate a lock and OX NB work you through two.

 

Perhaps you could say what you want to do on the holiday -

pubs,

visit places,

Explore on foot

Do you want a focus - a place to get to or pass through en-route.

 

Gie us some feedback....

 

I see you've said Ashby as a start - that doesn't give a lot of routes with no locks and I wouldnt want you to start with a whole load (a flight).

[Lysander]

http://canalplan.eu/cgi-bin/canal.cgi

Select the fourth option "Find out how far you can travel from Stoke Golding Wharf in a certain time" and you will get several ideas.

[Frog Man]

Cheers OG, I remember your post well, you were the only one who didn't point me North! :-)

 

1. I'm thinking September.

 

2. Quite happy to pay the going rate.

 

3. Not after a "destination" route.

 

4. Would like it to be rural with places of interest to visit / walks.

 

5. Of Course there MUST be pubs! :-)

 

Apologies if I'm being an awkward so n so.

Thanks too, Lysander.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Frog Man

[ditchcrawler]

I would suggest Napton Narrowboats and go to Cropredy and back

[Paul C]

I didn't see the other thread but I don't know why you've concluded Ashby is the place to be. The only real way of knowing is to do canal boating. I guess the first time, anywhere is okay so long as its not so bad to completely put you off. Then do some variety. That's why I suggest the 4CR to people, it has variety. Of course, being a week long ring, it has 4x as much distance as is possible in a half week out and back trip.

[john6767]

I would suggest Napton Narrowboats and go to Cropredy and back

If you don't mind the Midlands then from Napton down the South Oxford is always good. You could choose from, Napton Narrowboats, Black Prince at Wigrams Turn, or Calcutt Boats. If it is just a weekend Fri to Mon, then Cropredy would be too far, and Fenny Compton would be a better bet. When you get back down Napton locks and find you have time you can go to Braunston, before returning to base.

[OldGoat]

Frog Man, on 23 Apr 2016 - 6:38 PM, said:

Cheers OG, I remember your post well, you were the only one who didn't point me North! :-)

 

1. I'm thinking September.

 

2. Quite happy to pay the going rate.

 

3. Not after a "destination" route.

 

4. Would like it to be rural with places of interest to visit / walks.

 

5. Of Course there MUST be pubs! :-)

 

Apologies if I'm being an awkward so n so.

Thanks too, Lysander.

No you're not, just need something to trigger route(s) that would be appropriate

With any route I suggest you should have a look at it on Canalplan -

http://canalplan.org.uk/index.html

It'll give you lots of details - and pictures (invariably of locks) along the route

 

1. River Thames (with proper locks) Anglo Welsh at Eynsham to Lechlade and back - 2 and a bit days - could pop down and visit Oxford (my usual plug...)
2. Oxfordshire NB at Lower Heyford to Oxford and back - ditto
3. Ox NB to Banbury and back 2 days - a bit short
4. College Cruisers (Oxford) to Banbury and back - 4days, pushing it a bit

Have a play with the above on canal plan and you'll see how much of a challenge you may have. Ideally you need a mix of the occasional lock and just motoring along and that's difficult to do with only four (well 3 /12) days unless you have loads of locks OR just cruising.

Ignore folks (sorry) who say go down the Oxford from Napton. You'll have the Napton and Marston Doles flights straight away - that's not what you said you wanted.

[Frog Man]

I didn't see the other thread but I don't know why you've concluded Ashby is the place to be. The only real way of knowing is to do canal boating. I guess the first time, anywhere is okay so long as its not so bad to completely put you off. Then do some variety. That's why I suggest the 4CR to people, it has variety. Of course, being a week long ring, it has 4x as much distance as is possible in a half week out and back trip.

Nail on head there PaulC, I don't want to make an uninformed choice of route and have a bl**dy awful time (not on my first go anyway! )

 

Thanks to everyone else who's posted so far, some really helpful pointers. :-)

 

Edit: Thanks OG, didn't see your post til after I posted my post (..?) Informative and to the heart of the matter as always. :-)

Edited April 23, 2016 by Frog Man

[captain birdseye]

If you don't mind the Midlands then from Napton down the South Oxford is always good. You could choose from, Napton Narrowboats, Black Prince at Wigrams Turn, or Calcutt Boats. If it is just a weekend Fri to Mon, then Cropredy would be too far, and Fenny Compton would be a better bet. When you get back down Napton locks and find you have time you can go to Braunston, before returning to base.

That's not the Midlands, that's the south

[___]

That was me who made the remark about the Ashby in relation to our family holidays when I was young. We did five holidays as a family all from the Napton base in its previous guise before it became Napton Narrowboats.

 

The trips were Coventry and return in four nights followed by week long hires to Oxford and return, Snarestone and return, Warwickshire Ring and Aylesbury and return. You can see that we did much more in the other trips than the Ashby and had covered the route to Hawkesbury previously. We were a family of five with kids energy to burn off which was part of the issue on the Ashby. It suits others and I am sure I will enjoy a couple of days without locks when I get my boat there one day.

 

I believe you were looking at travelling by train so Oxfordshire Narrowboats at Heyford - pretty much next to station - may be somewhere to consider. Oxford Canal is lovely although I mostly see it from a train not a boat.

 

JP

[Frog Man]

Cheers JP that info about the trains is worth bearing in mind. :-)

[Athy]

I believe you were looking at travelling by train so Oxfordshire Narrowboats at Heyford - pretty much next to station - may be somewhere to consider. Oxford Canal is lovely although I mostly see it from a train not a boat.

 

JP

Yes, only a few yards away from the hire base - good idea. They're good-looking boats too. On a long weekend you would get to Cropredy (lovely village, good pub) and back.

[john6767]

That's not the Midlands, that's the south

I guess everyone's views are different, but to me the south starts at Banbury, as you get the TV from the Oxford rather than the Sutton Coldfied transmitter!

 

I guess everyone is interpreting the OPs requirements differently, but there are no "bad" routes.

[gazza]

Do you absolutely have to be on a canal?

 

I'm not supposed to do this as I'm likely to get a leathering off Phil Ambrose when we are next up the Lark.....

 

http://www.bridgeboatyard.com/

 

Good rail links to Ely too....

[Frog Man]

Cheers Gazza (you anarchist!) :-D

[gazza]

Cheers Gazza (you anarchist!) :-D

It's a bit like fight club, the first rule of fenland boating is you do not talk about fenland boating.

 

Lock wise you can have none and keep yourself entertained.

Some and keep yourself more entertained - take in the Cam, the Lark and the relief channel - forget Brandon lock on the Little Ouse if you hire a narrowboat, none of the bridgeboats will get thru, their cruisers will though.

Or lots and be a bit knackered if you head to Bedford and back.

 

Either way you look at it it's a fabulous place to explore.

 

There, I done it, I will take me punishment like a man

Edited April 23, 2016 by gazza

[ditchcrawler]

I personally like out and back routes, they look so different on the return, just been to Runcorn today.

[kingswood]

ashby boat co are an excellent hire boat company years ago we hired on a couple of occasions and the boats were great, my young son was sick in the car just as we arrived and when we came back they had laundered his clothes and cleaned the car out .how about that for a service. ,ps love the ashby canal but yet to do it in my own boat due to time restraints

[Frog Man]

Ok, so Oxfordshire Narrowboats at Heyford - anything anyone can recommend seeing en route? - and then of course visit Oxford itself, see the sights and do the return journey... sounds good so far. :-)

 

Edit: sorry kw, clash of posts. Thank you though.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Frog Man

[The Bearwood Boster]

Love the Ashby but think we'd be bored if we hadn't done locks to get there.Last did it 5 yrs ago when I was getting over 2 broken wrists (cat is still alive...)Nice,easy trip ...as was the trip when I fell over the cat ?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Ok, so Oxfordshire Narrowboats at Heyford - anything anyone can recommend seeing en route? - and then of course visit Oxford itself, see the sights and do the return journey... sounds good so far. :-)

 

Edit: sorry kw, clash of posts. Thank you though.

Of course wherever you go there may be snags, the one that I think you ought to be aware of on the Oxford Canal between Lower Heyford and Oxford is that for about half a mile you will be on the River Cherwell. This is normally a benign river (we've just come up it today) however if we have a wet summer it could make that section a bit more 'exciting' than you may perhaps want . By the same token one suggestion is to go onto the upper Thames which is normally fine but if we have a wet spell it could be 'red boarded' and out of bounds. (We have been around Oxford for the past month and failed to get onto the Thames precisely because of this ).

 

We went up the Ashby during the winter and it is certainly a lovely canal with the opportunity to visit the scene of the Battle of Bosworth (Visitor Centre) and the Battlefield Steam railway (if either of these match your interests). You also have the pleasure of an easily managed tunnel (Snarestone) but as you rightly say there isn't any realistic opportunity to go through any locks.

 

If you want to do some locks on a pleasant piece of canal I'd second Ditchcrawler's suggestion to go from Napton Boats to Cropredy and back. A few locks to deal with, a few canalside pubs, all good really (and no rivers ).

[Bunny]

How about the wey navigation . Nice locks , interesting, pretty varied scenery . Farncombe boat house for hire boats near Godalming . Bunny.