Narrow Boat Holiday Hire
Copyright Canal Boat Cruising 2008
Cruising from Henry’s base in Church Minshull provides a great choice of routes to choose from, depending on your experience and the length of your holiday. Some people are simply looking for a relaxing break from a hectic life at work, some look to achieve as much sightseeing or cruising as possible.
Choose between a completely rural cruise, or travel though the middle of towns and cities ( or a combination of both ! ). Decide whether you want to work your crew hard with many locks, or allow them to relax with just a few.
Where to Cruise
There are canal ‘rings’ that can be cruised, and whilst they can be completed in a week, some can be quite lengthy, and it is often better to take longer and relax more !
Newcomers to canal boat cruising could try a more relaxing there-and-back cruise, when timing for returning at the end of the holiday can be more easily judged - plus the canal looks completely different travelling the other way !
Located on the Trent & Mersey Canal near Northwich in Cheshire, this iconic structure was built in 1875 and served to transport working boats through a vertical height of 50 feet between the Trent & Mersey Canal and the River Weaver for 108 years before closure. It was fully restored at a cost of £7m and reopened in 2003. The cruise passes through Middlewich - famous for its salt mining industry.
Total distance 33 miles with 12 locks.
Famous for its medieval shops and magnificent cathedral, historic Chester is a leisurely cruise form the hire base, with convenient moorings under the city walls close to the centre. It’s worth taking the time to explore the city on foot and visit the ‘Rows’ - 13th century half-timbered buildings joined with long galleries reached by steps from street level. The cruise to Chester is on the northern part of the Shropshire Union Canal. By contrast to the southern section, it is a wide waterway following the gentle rolling landscape of western Cheshire through Chester and ultimately on to Ellesmere Port.
Total distance to Chester and return is 39 miles with 26 locks.
Audlem and return
The Shropshire Union canal was built between 1827 and 1835 and was the last major project of the famous canal engineer Thomas Telford.
The most southerly village in Cheshire, Audlem is famous for its flight of fifteen easy to operate locks which lift boats 93 feet from the Cheshire Plain to the higher Shropshire Plain. The locks are set in beautiful countryside, and the village has three excellent pubs, the Shroppie Fly and the Bridge next to the canal and the Lord Combermere in the village centre.
19 Miles, 10 locks, 12 hours (22 miles, 38 locks,17 hours if you climb to the top of the locks)
ONE WEEK CRUISES
The Peak Forest Canal and Bugsworth Basin
From the hire base, the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union Canal takes you to the Trent & Mersey canal, and on to the Macclesfield Canal, which runs for 26 miles to Marple. It is renowned for its engineering elegance and spectacular views.
The Macclesfield is part of the Cheshire Ring, a popular cruising circuit. The only locks on the canal are at Bosley, grouped attractively together in a single flight- so boaters can enjoy several hours' lock-free cruising either side. The Peak Forest Canal is reached at Marple and is one of Britain's most scenic waterways, with tremendous views across the River Goyt valley to Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Peak district. The canal terminates at Whaley Bridge and the fascinating basin at Bugsworth.
Bugsworth Basin was built in 1796 as a key transhipment point between the Peak Forest Canal and its tramways for the transport of limestone from quarries around Buxton to Manchester. It quickly grew to become one of the largest ports on the English canal network. Today, it is a world class site of industrial archaeology, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
At Bugsworth is the Navigation Inn pub with lots of inland waterways artifacts - well worth a visit.
106 Miles, 92 locks, 60 hours cruising
Caldon & Leek Canals and Froghall
One of the most beautiful and quiet canals of them all.
The cruise to reach the beginning of the Caldon Canal is an adventure in itself, passing as it does through Harecastle Tunnel, which is actually two tunnels - though only one is navigable today. They are located, side-by-side, on the Trent & Mersey Canal just north of Stoke-on-Trent.
Both are nearly 3000 yards in length. The first tunnel was engineered by James Brindley, took eleven years to construct, was completed in 1777, and was more than twice the length of Britain's longest tunnel at that time. The second was required to relieve congestion in the first, and was built by Thomas Telford. It took just three years to complete, and opened in 1827.
Passage is only permitted under instructions of the tunnel keeper. The brown water denotes the presence of leached minerals as the canal heads through the heart of The Potteries.
The Caldon Canal is reached at Etruria near Stoke, and after passing first through the outskirts of the city, you encounter progressively more picturesque countryside as you enter the Churnet Valley. The Leek branch contains no locks from the junction, whereas the Froghall branch descends to the River Churnet, and ultimately terminates at the tranquil and picturesque Froghall Wharf which can be reached by foot - a low bridge prevents most boats passing.
83 Miles, 100 locks, 55 hours cruising
Llangollen Canal
The Llangollen Canal is one of the most popular waterways in Europe, and rightly so. It boasts both scenic beauty and breathtaking engineering in equal measure.
The magnificent Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (above) across the River Dee is worth the cruise alone and cannot be missed.
The canal is 46-mile long, and beautiful throughout and is understandably very busy in the high season. Understated rural countryside, including the market towns of Whitchurch and Ellesmere, gives way to the majesty of the Chirk and Pontcysyllte Aqueducts - two of Britain's greatest waterway landmarks.
The final few miles of canal into the town of Llangollen follow the River Dee valley. Beyond the moorings at Llangollen, the canal continues to the water feeder at Horseshoe Falls. The canal was originally designed as a supply from the River Dee to ensure a supply of water to the Shropshire Union Canal.
97 Miles, 46 locks, 52 hours cruising
From our base on the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Four Counties Ring includes cruising through Cheshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and returns via the Shropshire Union Canal. It is a mainly rural cruise passing through some beautiful English countryside.
Cruise to Middlewich through quiet countryside towards Wardle Lock, where the canal meets the Trent & Mersey canal after a very short section of canal, the Wardle Branch. The locks here can be busy in summer, but fun. Middlewich grew as a result of the discovery of brine in the area - the salt industry continues today.
Turning right at Middlewich the Trent & Mersey continues the rural theme soon reaching ‘Heartbreak Hill’, a long flight of locks requiring the crew to put some effort in before reaching Harecastle Tunnel. Passage is only permitted under instructions of the tunnel keeper. The brown water denotes the presence of leached minerals as the canal heads through the heart of The Potteries. At Etruria the Caldon Canal branches off towards Froghall and its famously low tunnel, however we continue on the Trent and Mersey.
Great Haywood Junction with a beautifully proportioned roving bridge takes the Stafford & Worcester Canal through Tixall Wide, an expanse of water created to overcome objections of the owners of Tixall Hall who did not want the view spoilt. Past Shugborough Hall and the scenery remains tranquil as the canal wends its way lazily through villages and interspersed locks. Approaching Autherley Junction near Wolverhampton, the canal narrows for about half a mile, with room for one boat only. At Autherley Junction the Shropshire Union Canal starts at a stop lock and then continues to Wheaton Aston, before a series of locks including flights of 5 at Tyrley, 5 at Adderley and 15 at Audlem lower the canal down to the Cheshire Plain. At Hurlston junction to the left the Llangollen Canal starts its journey, however we continue to Barbridge Junction, and return to base.
110 Miles, 94 locks, 60 hours cruising
This is a popular holiday narrowboat canal circular cruise taking a good week to complete, and taking in several different canals. You travel the Macclesfield Canal, the Upper & Lower Peak Forest Canals, the Rochdale Canal, the Ashton Canal, the Bridgewater Canal, and a part of the Trent & Mersey Canal on ‘Heartbreak Hill, a long flight of locks. It is a cruise of many contrasts, and not for the faint hearted, taking in most of the county of Cheshire, skirting the Peak District National Park towards Whaley Bridge, as well as running right through the heart of Manchester.
109 miles, 96 locks, around 55 hours cruising time.
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