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Suggestions for storing boat May–July?


AftApeth

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Hello chaps. I'm hopefully off on a motorbike trip for three months this year – May, June, and July – and am looking to find somewhere to put my boat while I'm away. It's a 57ft narrowboat. The idea is that my parents would be able to use it for a few days every now and then (they'd realistically only take it out two or three times in three months I think), so ideally:

– somewhere not too far from them (jnc 27 of M6, near Wigan), but south of them
– somewhere where they could park their car for a few days
– somewhere not too expensive for me
– a stretch where they can cruise a bit without doing too many locks

I thought good spots might be (in no particular order of preference):
– somewhere on the Trent & Mersey above Stoke
– south end of the Macclesfield
– Trent & Mersey above Middlewich
– Middlewich Branch
– anywhere on the Shroppie between Chester and Audlem
– the Llangollen

A marina would be handy for parking, and I'm resigned to paying £600–700 to store the boat for 3 months based on initial research. Any recommendations for an affordable marina in a reasonably pleasant location are welcome.

I'd also greatly appreciate any suggestions for other spots that might be available for May–July, e.g. on the edge of private land. The boat will mostly just sit there, and has solar panels to keep the batteries topped up so no need for hookup. Parents would need access once a month to take it out for a few days and need to be able to park a car nearby.

There's a chance I'd be away August and early September as well, so the option of extending would be good.

All suggestions and advice very welcome!

Edited by AftApeth
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2 hours ago, AftApeth said:

Hello chaps. I'm hopefully off on a motorbike trip for three months this year – May, June, and July – and am looking to find somewhere to put my boat while I'm away. It's a 57ft narrowboat. The idea is that my parents would be able to use it for a few days every now and then (they'd realistically only take it out two or three times in three months I think), so ideally:

– somewhere not too far from them (jnc 27 of M6, near Wigan), but south of them
– somewhere where they could park their car for a few days
– somewhere not too expensive for me
– a stretch where they can cruise a bit without doing too many locks

I thought good spots might be (in no particular order of preference):
– somewhere on the Trent & Mersey above Stoke
– south end of the Macclesfield
– Trent & Mersey above Middlewich
– Middlewich Branch
– anywhere on the Shroppie between Chester and Audlem
– the Llangollen

A marina would be handy for parking, and I'm resigned to paying £600–700 to store the boat for 3 months based on initial research. Any recommendations for an affordable marina in a reasonably pleasant location are welcome.

I'd also greatly appreciate any suggestions for other spots that might be available for May–July, e.g. on the edge of private land. The boat will mostly just sit there, and has solar panels to keep the batteries topped up so no need for hookup. Parents would need access once a month to take it out for a few days and need to be able to park a car nearby.

There's a chance I'd be away August and early September as well, so the option of extending would be good.

All suggestions and advice very welcome!

 The T&M above Stoke has the Cheshire locks the Llangollen i would think busy South end of the Maccky would be OK regarding few locks

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I think there's a vacant 60 foot mooring on Upper Hulme Farm farm where I moor just south of Congleton on the Macc at Astbury.  The farmer lets us park for a few days at a time in the yard (up o a week is usually OK).  There are no facilities, but the Heritage marina is half an hour down the canal and it's lock free (apart from the stop lock) from the junction up to Bosley.  You can't live on the boat at he mooring, but staying a night or two is no problem.  All of us very friendly.  PM me if you want phone details.

  • Greenie 1
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44 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I think there's a vacant 60 foot mooring on Upper Hulme Farm farm where I moor just south of Congleton on the Macc at Astbury.  The farmer lets us park for a few days at a time in the yard (up o a week is usually OK).  There are no facilities, but the Heritage marina is half an hour down the canal and it's lock free (apart from the stop lock) from the junction up to Bosley.  You can't live on the boat at he mooring, but staying a night or two is no problem.  All of us very friendly.  PM me if you want phone details.

This sounds like it could be perfect! Will PM you. Thanks Arthur.

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Why not put the boat somewhere much nearer to your parents so they could use it more easily?

Either Pennington Wharf on the Leigh Branch or Scarisbrick Marina are about ten minutes from J27 and both offer quite a lot of lock free cruising - either from Poolstock to the other two ends of the Bridgewater canal or Appley Bridge to Liverpool on the L&L.

There are of course many other options around West Lancashire and Greater Manchester, but those are the easy two fitting your criteria.

If they don't mind doing 7 locks then either St Mary's Marina or Fettlers Wharf at Rufford are good candidates.

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14 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Plenty of space at Park Farm where we are and you can go from Dutton (that is only about a 2" fall) to Middlewich with no locks, down the lift the the Weaver where all locks are maned and its a reasonable price http://www.parkfarm-marina.co.uk/

Interesting marina you're in, Brian. Quote from their website: "Rubbish bins for domestic water are provided."

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Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Park Farm looks very good and a reasonable price, but I think I'm leaning towards the farm where Arthur is. Minimum twelve month contract but probably worth it for freedom of extending my trip if I find I can keep working (remote freelance) from the road after three months.

 

15 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Why not put the boat somewhere much nearer to your parents so they could use it more easily?

Either Pennington Wharf on the Leigh Branch or Scarisbrick Marina are about ten minutes from J27 and both offer quite a lot of lock free cruising - either from Poolstock to the other two ends of the Bridgewater canal or Appley Bridge to Liverpool on the L&L.

There are of course many other options around West Lancashire and Greater Manchester, but those are the easy two fitting your criteria.

If they don't mind doing 7 locks then either St Mary's Marina or Fettlers Wharf at Rufford are good candidates.

It's a good question. Initially I looked at the CRT network map and thought the L&L was only accessible from the Leeds end, which would have been too far to go (I'm starting from Oxford in a couple of weeks when the clocks go forward, moving evenings and weekends around work). It now looks doable with a bit of help, but there were other reasons for avoiding the L&L and looking for somewhere south of parents. They're actually based in Appley Bridge (where I grew up) and we had a little boat when I was a lad, so they've seen quite a bit of those stretches. Also, Dad will be single-handing mostly and the wide locks are much more demanding.

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