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1st boating holiday - some planning questions


Garyevs

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On 15/03/2018 at 23:36, Athy said:

Welcome, Gary. I do not know that canal, but there are plenty on here who do, so I'm sure you'll get information and advice from them.

 

Welcome Gary.

I too do not know the answer to your question :giggles:

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Thanks for the replies and information, all very helpful.

cuthound:  We thought the same and planned to moor before the Grindley Brook locks, then get up early to go through them and fill up on water on the other side.

llanD:  We have had a look at he locks on a canal near us, so get familiar with how they work, but the canal is very quiet so didn't actually see it in action.

mrsmelly:  Ideally, it would be nice to moor up at lunchtime, but as John6767 mentioned we want to make the most of having the boat for a week and see as much as possible. 

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Can recommend mooring at the bottom of Grindley for the horse and jockey - as said above, it’s a lot nearer than from the top. Have done the trip many times, (though not in a week, but it seems to be very common practice to do the full trip ina week so you should have no problems.

often stopped at the bottom of Grindley and then gone up in the morning - once you have gone up the staircase their is a nice café where we usually stop and have a coffee (+ cake :) ). Top of Grindley is also a good spot to stop and empty rubbish etc. befor carrying on to the moorings. 

 

Have a great time

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On 16/03/2018 at 08:22, john6767 said:

Before we had our own boat we hired from Anglo Welsh at Banbury on the SU, and had no problem going to Llangollen and back in a hire week.  That was in July I think, so earlier in the year there should be less traffic, I remember we took hours to get up Grindley Brook.  You can moor before you get to the locks.

If you haven’t, as others have said, get a guide book, you can get them on Amazon.  That will help with planning.  In my opinion it is well worth putting in the effort to get to the end.

That's good going in a week!! I expect you meant Bunbury.  Just teasing. :giggles:

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I’ve been looking at Canalplan.eu and come up with the plan below.  I know that the timings will depend greatly on the amount of traffic on the canal and how long it takes to get through the locks, and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct etc, but I was looking for a general plan with overnight stopping points near a pub if possible.  I'll need a drink after all that driving, and my wife will definitely need one after opening all those locks lol.

 

If anyone has any suggestions or comments, they would be greatly appreciated as I may have missed something glaringly obvious :)

Thanks

 

Partial first day of trip

Moor overnight at Grindley Brook Visitor Moorings (Below Locks). Go to the Horse & Jockey for food and drink.   This is 5 miles, 5 furlongs and 4 locks of narrow canals and will take 3 hours 23 minutes.

First full day of trip

Moor overnight at Ellesmere 14-Day Moorings. (We may not get this far, dependant on Grindley Brook Locks).  Go to Ellesmere for food and drink This is 13 miles, 4 furlongs and 6 locks of narrow canals and will take 7 hours 9 minutes.

Second full day of trip

Moor overnight at Poachers Pocket for food and drink.  This is 13 miles, 1½ furlongs and 2 locks of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 41 minutes.

Third full day of trip

Moor overnight at Llangollen Basin. This is 6 miles, 5¾ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 2 hours 52 minutes. We should have an afternoon and evening in Llangollen.

Fourth full day of trip

Moor overnight at Hindford Bridge No 11. Go to Jack Mytton for food and drink.  This is 13 miles, 1¼ furlongs and 2 locks of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 49 minutes.

Fifth full day of trip

Moor overnight at Platt Lane Visitor Moorings. There does not seem to be anywhere near to go for food, so will stay on the boat.  This is 13 miles, 7¾ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 5 hours 45 minutes.

Sixth full day of trip

Moor overnight at Wrenbury Lift Bridge No 20.  Go to the Cotton Arms for food and drink.   We may not get this far, dependant on Grindley Brook locks, but I didn’t want to have to go too far the following morning to return the boat.  This is 11 miles, ¼ furlongs and 10 locks of narrow canals and will take 6 hours 59 minutes.

Last morning of trip

Return to Wrenbury Mill Boatyard. This is ¼ furlongs of narrow canals and will take 11 minutes.

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When we went on our first and only narrowboat hire holiday to Llangollen , we didn't plan a blooming thing. Didn't know how to steer a boat, do a lock or anything. We just got on with it,and had a great time. I guess things have changed. Still, there were no internet forums back then. Happy days

Edited by rusty69
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3 hours ago, rusty69 said:

When we went on our first and only narrowboat hire holiday to Llangollen , we didn't plan a blooming thing. Didn't know how to steer a boat, do a lock or anything. We just got on with it,and had a great time. I guess things have changed. Still, there were no internet forums back then. Happy days

We don't know how to steer a boat or do a lock either, so I thought some sort of plan may help :)

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On 16/03/2018 at 02:32, Boater Sam said:

Starting at Wrenbury is a good move, the lower end of the canal is the hard part.

An easy week but bear in mind, committing to 6 hours a day means that you may have to cruise in the rain. Be prepared to cut the trip short- early- and go the the end by road, its easy.

Battering on through a blizzard just to get the boat back on time is a sure way of putting partners off boating for ever, seen it happen.

and the dog won't like it.

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Nobody has mentioned it, but if you don't get as far as Grindley Brook you can always stop at the Willey Moor. It's not far from Grindley Brook and you can tie up on the towpath just above the lock. They do food and if it's warm enough you can sit outside and watch the world go by.

The Cotton Arms is usually a good stop before you hand the boat back, Tie up before the lift bridge and just go through it and into the boat yard the next morning.

The Corn mill in Llangollen does good food and real ale 

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