Whatsonwheretogo, 20 February 2023
‘Top 5 Easter 2023 Canal Boat Holidays’ https://www.whatsonwheretogo.co.uk/Top-5-Easter-2023-Canal-Boat-Holiday-Breaks
Tag Archive for: canal boat hire
Mirror.co.uk, 14 February 2023
‘UK’s longest and most impressive canal tunnels to visit on narrowboat holidays’ https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/uk-ireland/uks-longest-most-impressive-canal-29177097
Leicester Mercury, 8 February 2023
‘Tunnel Vision’ Nigel Thompson of the Daily Star navigates his way around British canals including the Standedge Tunnel in West Yorkshire
Sunday Mirror, 22 January 2023
‘Tunnel Vision’ Nigel Thompson of the Daily Star navigates his way around British canals including the Standedge Tunnel in West Yorkshire
Daily Star, 21 January 2023
‘Tunnel Vision’ Nigel Thompson navigates his way around British canals
Love Travelling, 2 January 2023
‘Day 5: Narrowboating to Oxford’ https://lovetravellingblog.com/2023/01/02/day-5-concluding-our-narrowboat-trip-at-oxford/
Woman’s Weekly, 1 January 2023
‘Our wonderful waterways…There’s nothing like messing about on the water surrounded by glorious countryside to restore your sense of calm’
Celebrate the King’s Coronation with some bank holiday boating
The King’s Coronation bank holiday weekend (6-8 May) offers the perfect excuse to plan a boating break on Britain’s beautiful inland waterways.
Our 250-year old network of navigable canals and rivers is steeped in history, with locks, bridges, tunnels, marinas, junctions and pubs named after various Kings across the centuries.
To celebrate the forthcoming Coronation of King Charles III, we’ve listed our Top 6 bank holiday boating breaks with a Royal connection:
1. Cruise from King’s Orchard Marina to Great Haywood
On a weekend’s break from our’ base at Kings Orchard in Staffordshire, canal boat holiday-makers can cruise to the pretty canal village of Great Haywood and back. The journey begins on the Coventry Canal, transferring onto the Trent & Mersey Canal at Fradley Junction, close to Fradley Pool Nature Reserve. From there, you’ll travel on through the Staffordshire countryside through the village of Rugeley. Then past Cannock Chase Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty and the National Trust’s impressive Shugborough Estate, before reaching Great Haywood. The journey to Great Haywood travels 15 miles, passes through four locks and takes around seven cruising hours.
2. Navigate to the King’s Lock Inn at Middlewich
On a weekend break from our base at Anderton Marina, you can navigate to the King’s Lock Inn at Middlewich. The journey travels nine miles along the Trent & Mersey Canal, passes through four locks and takes around five hours. Next to Middlewich Junction, the Kings Lock pub serves craft ales, offers fresh food and hosts regular live music events.
3. Pass through King’s Norton Junction & Tunnel to Lapworth
On a weekend’s break from Tardebigge on the Worcestershire & Birmingham Canal, you can reach King’s Norton Junction and Tunnel. The journey takes around four hours and travels nine miles, through a series of tunnels and the remains of the Forest of Arden. At King’s Norton Junction you’ll transfer onto the North Stratford Canal and then pass through Brandwood Tunnel, also known as King’s Norton Tunnel. There are moorings further along the Stratford Canal, perfect for exploring the village of Lapworth and local attractions.
4. Navigate to Bosworth Field where King Richard III lost his crown
On a week’s holiday from Braunston, you can cruise to moorings at Sutton Cheney, close to the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre. Here, the Battle of Bosworth Field, where King Richard III lost his crown to Henry Tudor in 1485, is explained with exhibitions and guided walks. The journey to Sutton Cheney travels 37 miles, passes through four locks and takes around 16 cruising hours.
5. Travel to King John’s Bridge on the River Avon
On a week’s holiday from Wootton Wawen you can reach King John’s Bridge on the River Avon near Tewkesbury. The journey, which travels 49 miles, passing through 34 locks, takes you along the Stratford Canal to Shakespeare’s Stratford. At Stratford-upon-Avon, you’ll transfer onto the River Avon and cruise on to King John’s Bridge via the historic market town of Evesham.
6. Cruise to the King’s Head pub at Napton
From our canal boat hire base at Stockton, it takes just one-and-a-half hours to cruise to Napton Junction. From there it’s a short walk from the popular King’s Head pub. This country pub in the picturesque village of Napton-on-the-Hill, serves food all cooked fresh and from scratch, using locally sourced ingredients. On a weekend’s break from Stockton, you can continue on to the pretty canalside village of Hillmorton. The journey from Stockton travels 15 miles, passes through six locks and takes just over six hours.
Top 5 Easter 2023 Canal Boat Holidays
Canal boat holidays are great for families, offering the chance to set off on an adventure together out in the open air, learning how to work the locks and speak the boating lingo, as well as spotting wildlife, exploring traffic-free towpaths and visiting waterside attractions along the way.
To celebrate the coming Easter holidays, we’ve published our top five narrowboat holiday destinations for Easter 2023:
1. Join the annual Easter Boat Gathering at Ellesmere Port
Over the Easter Weekend (7-10 April), the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire celebrates the start of the Summer boating season with a large boat gathering, live music, workshop tours, historic boats and museum activities. From our canal boat hire base at Bunbury on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire, it takes 10 hours to reach Ellesmere Port – perfect for a week afloat. The journey, which takes you through the Ancient City of Chester, travels 21 miles and passes through 12 locks.
2. Navigate to the old mill town of Hebden Bridge, home of ‘Happy Valley’
On a short break from Sowerby Bridge, you can travel along the Rochdale Canal to Hebden Bridge, made famous by the hit BBC drama ‘Happy Valley’. The journey to Hebden travels seven miles, passes through 10 locks and takes around 5.5 hours. On the way, the route passes through Mytholmroyd, birthplace of Ted Hughes. Once at Hebden Bridge, yous can choose from a series of scenic waymarked walks, and a great variety of shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs.
3. See the Tiger Who Came To Tea at Theatre Royal Bath
From our narrowboat hire base at Hilperton in Wiltshire, you can travel gently along the beautiful Kennet & Avon Canal to the edge of Bath. The journey there and back travels 25 miles, passing through six locks (three each way) and takes around 13 cruising hours. Along the way, the route passes through the historic town of Bradford on Avon with its fascinating 14th century Tithe Barn. And over the beautiful Avoncliff and Dundas Bath stone aqueducts. At Sydney Wharf, boaters can moor up and take a 15-minute walk into Bath City Centre to visit a choice of attractions, including the The Tiger Who Came To Tea at Theatre Royal Bath, 9-10 April.
4. Stop off at the World’s biggest Cadbury shop
You can travel lock-free to Birmingham in just five hours from our Tardebigge base on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, stopping off along the way for handmade Easter eggs at Cadbury World. With more canals than Venice, you can travel right into the heart of the City of Birmingham, where there are over-night moorings at Gas Street Basin. There’s plenty for families to see and do, including a visit to the National Sea Life Centre at Brindleyplace or the Planetarium at Birmingham’s Science Museum Thinktank.
5. Float across ‘The Stream in the Sky’ to Llangollen
From our base at Chirk on the Llangollen Canal, the pretty town of Llangollen on the edge of the Berwyn Mountains can be reached on a short break. Along the way, you’ll cross the UNESCO World Heritage Status Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, towering 38 metres above the Dee Valley. On reaching Llangollen, you can enjoy visiting the town’s independent shops, pubs and restaurants, as well as its Steam Railway and Horseshoe Falls.
95% of holiday-makers say canal boat holidays are value for money
According to research carried out by the Canal & River Trust, the charity that works to protect and preserve the nation’s historic canals, 86 per cent of people who took a hire boat holiday would definitely recommend it to others, while an impressive 95 per cent felt their holiday was value for money.
Once people have discovered the delights of spending time on the water, they are very likely to come back, with 80 per cent of respondents to the Trust’s ‘Hire Boat Customer Survey 2022’ being return visitors.
Matthew Symonds, national boating manager at Canal & River Trust, says:
“Our unique British canals are enjoying a second golden age. Still navigated by boats just as they were hundreds of years ago, these days people recognise that spending time on the water is a tonic for mind and body.
“Boating holidays are a way people can step back in time and connect with our nation’s living heritage, and it’s fantastic to see that people find them so rewarding.
“At a time where we’re becoming more aware of our impact on the world, exploring the varied landscapes of Britain aboard a narrowboat is a holiday that is great for our wonderful historic canals and better for the environment than jetting overseas.”
Drifters’ 2023 hire prices start at £590 for a short break (three or four nights), £815 for a week on a boat for up to four people.
To check availability go to www.drifters.co.uk or call 0344 984 0322.
For more information about the work of the Canal & River Trust, including how you can volunteer or donate visit canalrivertrust.org.uk.