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Escape into the countryside on a canal boat this Spring

6 March 2021

Canal boat holidays on the Grand Union Canal

By Emma Lovell, Anglo Welsh’s Reservations Manager

Spring and the chance to take a long awaited break, can’t come soon enough this year!

Narrowboat holidays offer a fantastic way to explore the countryside, with everything you need on board. You don’t need a licence to steer a canal boat, and tuition is included in all our packages. We’ve got hundreds of routes and destinations to choose from, and many are suitable for beginners.

So why not pack up and ship out for an adventure afloat this Spring. Travelling gently through the countryside, you can watch the natural world around you bursting with new life. From blossom on the hedgerows and new leaves on the trees, to birds busy nesting, and spring lambs playing in the fields.

To help you plan your waterway getaway, we’ve put together a list of our Top 8 Spring escapes:

1. Cruise through the Welsh Mountains to Llangollen

From our barge hire base at Whixall Marina, on the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal in Shropshire, it takes around 12 hours, passing through two locks, to reach the historic town of Llangollen. Perfect for a week away, this route will take you through Ellesmere and the Shropshire Lake District, and then across the UNESCO World Heritage Pontcysyllte and Chirk aqueducts, with incredible views of the Welsh Mountains and the Dee Valley.

2. Take a Thames boating holiday to Lechlade

Cruising along 23 waterway miles, and passing through seven locks, from our canal boat hire base near Oxford on the River Thames, it takes around nine hours to reach the pretty market town of Lechlade. This peaceful journey will take you through the Oxfordshire countryside into the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You’ll pass the historic village of Radcot and William Morris’s Kelmscott Manor. This holiday is perfect for a mid-week break.

3. Cruise gently through the countryside to Whitchurch

It takes around nine cruising hours to reach Whitchurch from our Bunbury base, perfect for a short break. The journey begins on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire, and transfers onto the Llangollen Canal at Hurleston Junction in Shropshire. There are 20 locks to pass through and miles of unspoilt countryside. Once at Whitchurch, you can take time to explore this historic market town and its choice of places to eat.

4. Complete the Birmingham Mini-Ring Circuit

From our narrowboat hire base on the Stratford Canal at Wootton Wawen, the Birmingham Mini-Ring can be completed on a week’s break. The route will take you through 83 locks and takes around 35 cruising hours. Highlights include: cruising through the remains of the Forest of Arden on the Stratford Canal; the village of Bourneville, home of Cadbury’s chocolate on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal; Gas Street Basin in central Birmingham; and the flight of 13 locks at Farmers Bridge on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.

5. Navigate through the Yorkshire countryside to Saltaire

On a short break from our base at Silsden on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, you can travel to Sir Titus Salt’s famous model town at Saltaire. The journey takes around seven hours, and passes through 11 locks. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sir Titus Salt built the textile Mill and entire village of Saltaire for his mill workers.

6. Travel round the Four Counties Ring

On a week’s break from our canal barge hire base on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Great Haywood, you can travel round the Four Counties Ring. The journey, which travels 110 miles and passes through 94 locks, takes around 55 cruising hours. The four counties you’ll pass through are Cheshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Shropshire. Highlights include: the 2,670-metre long Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent & Mersey Canal; the flight of 15 locks at Audlem on the Shropshire Union Canal; and the tranquil waters at Tixall Wide on the Stafforshire & Worcestershire Canal.

7. Cruise through the Worcestershire countryside to Lapworth

From our narrowboat hire base at Tardebigge near Bromsgrove, it takes around seven hours to cruise along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the village of Lapworth. With two tunnels but no locks along the way, it’s a great short break for beginners. Once moored up in Lapworth, you can visit the magnificent gardens at the National Trust’s Packwood House, and follow guided walks to explore the beautiful Warwickshire countryside surrounding it.

8. Travel through the Avon Valley to Devizes

On a short break from our canal boat rental base at Sydney Wharf on the Kennet & Avon Canal near Bath, you can cruise to the edge of Devizes. It takes around 10 hours to cruise the 18 miles to Foxhanger Wharf, passing through eight locks and over two magnificent Bath stone aqueducts along the way. There are overnight moorings available here at the base of the Caen Hill Flight of locks, one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways.

Spring time on the River Thames

9 May 2017

Spring is a great time to go canal boating. The countryside is alive with new life – spring lambs, ducklings and goslings, hawthorn in the hedgerows and bluebells in the woods.

At 3pm on Friday afternoon, we – my nine-year old son Archie, husband Jonathan and fox terrier Patchey – picked up our four-berth boat ‘Romney’ from Anglo Welsh’s Oxford narrowboat hire base on the River Thames near Witney.

Nick showed us everything we needed to know about handling and maintaining the boat, and gave us a tour of its facilities.

The 48ft long ‘Romney’ has a double cabin and two single beds in the saloon.

She has central heating, a hot shower, flushing toilet, bedding, towels, and a well-equipped kitchen with an oven, microwave, fridge, plus plenty of pots, pans, crockery, cutlery, glasses and mugs. There’s also WiFi and a TV/DVD player.

Nick also gave us some advice on where to moor and, most importantly, the best pubs.

We decided to head east up the River towards Oxford.

The river was calm and quiet, winding through meadows and farmland. The first lock at Eynsham was unmanned, but as part of their handover and tuition, novices are taken through the first lock.

Three miles on we reached King’s Lock just after 5pm so the lock keeper had gone off duty – at this time of year, they start at 9am and finish at 5pm. But we shared the lock with another Anglo Welsh boat, crewed by a couple who were on their first canal boat holiday.

A mile later, we found moorings alongside the ruins of Godstow Abbey, just above Godstow lock and walked across the bridge to the Trout Inn.

This hugely popular 17^th century gastropub, which appeared in many episodes of TV’s ‘Inspector Morse’, has masses of indoor tables, as well as a pretty riverside terrace for outdoor dining with a friendly resident peacock. The food and service were very good, so it’s definitely worth booking-ahead.

The next morning, after being greeted by cows checking us out from the field alongside the boat, and the sounds of a large gaggle of geese, we set off and made our way through Godstow Lock.

We travelled on a further two miles, taking turns to steer the boat.

Archie loved learning how to navigate and work the locks, and wanted to be involved in every aspect of looking after our narrowboat, including greasing the rudder and filling up with water.

Soon after passing the River’s junction with the Oxford Canal, we moored-up just above Osney Lock and set off to explore Oxford on foot.

We reached the main shopping area in just 10 minutes and continued on to Broad Street to take a look at the beautiful Bodleian Library buildings, including its stunning 17^th century Schools Quadrangle.

On the walk back, we stopped to pick up some lunch from a café and walked to the top of the mound of Oxford Castle – an 11^th century motte-and-bailey castle built by the Norman baron Robert D’Oyly the elder.

Back on the boat, we set off for Abingdon, passing along the edge of Oxford and sharing the river with lots of rowers.

After four miles and three locks we were back out in open countryside. At Radley, we spotted a kingfisher darting across the river and passed a beautiful bluebell wood.

All along the way we saw herons fishing, swans, families of ducks and ducklings, and geese and their goslings swimming along in the Spring sunshine. And cruising alongside the meadows at Abingdon, we heard the beautiful sound of a cuckoo.

From Osney to Abingdon Lock, it’s a nine-mile, three-lock journey, which takes around three hours.

At Abingdon, we moored alongside the parkland just below the lock and took a stroll around the town. This charming market town really makes the most of its Thames setting with riverside walks, parks and eateries, including the popular Nag’s Head, where we ate on Saturday evening.

Sunday morning we woke to bright sunny weather and noticed a series of very tired looking people walking along the towpath. We soon found out they were tackling the final stages of the Thames Path 100 mile trail race from London to Oxford, which had started in Richmond the morning before – a very different way to enjoy the river!

We turned the boat and headed west back to Eynsham, sharing all the locks with another Anglo Welsh boat.

For our last night, we moored up close to Eynsham Lock and took a 10-minute stroll up to the Talbot Inn in the village.

The next morning, we completed the last mile of our journey to return the boat by 9am, and spent the car journey home reviewing the highlights of our trip and planning our next micro-adventure afloat.

Click here to book a holiday or call our friendly booking team on 0117 304 1122.

Tags: Anglo Welsh, River Thames, short break canal boat holidays, Thames boating holidays