Discovering Brindley's Grand Cross: January 2016

Three weeks in a Long Narrowboat

A blog of our adventures exploring the English Midlands aboard NB Eleanor. Our three week cruise commences from Clifton Wharf near Rugby. The planned route takes us north west past Coventry, Tamworth and Lichfield to Stafford then south to Worcester passing Wolverhampton and Kidderminster. The return voyage heads north east up the famous Tardebigge Flight of locks towards the outskirts of Birmingham before turning east down the Hatton Flight through Warwickshire passing Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa then returning to Rugby via Braunston - heart of the English canal system.

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Eleanor takes to the Water

Eleanor just prior to launching

NB Eleanor is one of the Clifton Cruisers newest narrowboats. Clifton Cruisers are based at Clifton Wharf on the North Oxford Canal on the outskirts of Rugby.

She was built in Clifton Cruisers own yard at Clifton-upon–Dunsmore during 2015 and became available for hire towards the end of the 2015 holiday season.

Click here to see a slideshow of Eleanor being built from concept to completion.

This ultra-modern narrowboat offers a deluxe cruising experience. Clifton Cruisers have promised that "the superior fixtures and fittings add an extra element of luxury, whilst the unique cruiser stern provides the perfect outside social space". I'll write all about the different "styles" of narrowboat stern in a future post.

I'll also post some of the internal publicity pictures taken by Clifton Cruisers shortly so you have an idea what home will be like during this adventure.

Eleanor's sister NB Golden Days

Clifton Cruisers operates eight narrowboats for hire:-

Brymar,
Sapphire,
Golden Days,
Wild Goose,
Eleanor,
Peggy,
Katy and
Betty

Clifton Wharf

Clifton Cruisers operates a fully equipped boatyard and marine engineering and boat chandlery facility at their Clifton Wharf base. They build and repair private vessels as well as build and maintain their own hire boat fleet.

NB Shirley Ann being launched at Clifton Wharf

More soon,

The Skipper.

The Route

From Clifton Wharf we'll travel northwest on the Oxford Canal to Hawkesbury Junction, then travel northwest on the Coventry Canal to Fazeley Junction, then northwest on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to Fradley Junction, then northwest on the Trent and Mersey Canal to Great Haywood Junction.

From Great Haywood Junction we'll travel southwest on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to Autherley Junction, then south to Aldersley Junction, then south to Stourton Junction, then south to Stourport (the entry to the River Severn).

We'll then head south on the River Severn to Worcester, then travelling northeast on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal to King's Norton Junction.

The Round Birmingham Ring then heads southeast on the Stratford Canal to Kingswood Junction.

Our cruise then follows the Grand Union Canal to Napton Junction before heading northeast to Braunston Turn.

Finally we travel north on the Oxford Canal back to Clifton Wharf.

Narrowboat Basics

Narrowboats are 6 feet 10 inches wide and modern vessels are all made entirely of steel. The maximum length is about 72 feet (22 m), which matches the length of the shortest locks on the majority of the system. Modern narrowboats tend to be shorter, to permit cruising anywhere on the connected network.

Modern narrowboats are generally defined by two design features, the type of stern and the location of the galley/saloon.

Type of Stern

There are three main types of stern on narrowboats, traditional, cruiser and semi-traditional.

The Traditional Stern is the smallest stern area offering the least external space, and stems from traditional working boats. Ideal for live aboard, as it gives more room inside for living.

The Cruiser Stern style of stern offer a large expanse of external space, ideal for recreational cruising. An ideal holiday boat has a back deck of between 4-8 Feet in length, providing ample space on the back for several people to stand or sit and take in the scenery together.

A Semi-Traditional Stern produces a compromise between traditional and cruiser; these boats have the looks of a traditional stern craft but with the space of a cruiser stern.

Location of the Galley/Saloon

The vast majority of narrowboats until a few years ago were designed with the kitchen/living area at the front, bathroom in the centre and the bedrooms at the stern. One possible explanation why boats generally have the bedroom/s at the rear and saloons at the front is simply because that layout is a evolution of the original working boats.

There are a number of practical reasons for having this traditional configuration including the protrusion of the swim in traditional stern vessels and the location of the gas tanks in the bow gas locker area, but in recent times the "Reverse Configuration" has become popular. Many hirers and owners prefer to have the kitchen closer to the tiller.

Three weeks in a Long Narrowboat

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Eleanor takes to the Water

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