Waterways Exploration Opportunities

Planning for our narrowboat adventure has been my personal obsession for many months. Initially the research focussed on selecting which part of the canal network we would spend our time visiting.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Arguably the most popular canal destination for most tourists is the Shropshire Union Canal (more commonly known as the Llangollen Canal). In addition to the extremely picturesque countryside this canal features the 1,000ft long Pontcysyllte Aqueduct,  the longest and highest aqueduct in Great Britain and a World Heritage Site. The disadvantages of this canal are primarily it's massive popularity (boat traffic) and that it ends near Llangollen ie, returning involves travelling the same route in reverse.

Canal network of England and Wales

Many circular routes (rings) have been investigated and then discounted as being either too long or too short. Some rings (like the Birmingham Canal Navigations) pass through predominantly dilapidated and derelict industrial landscapes. Other routes are potentially too rural with few opportunities to explore historic and quintessentially English canalside villages and market towns.

Fortunately there is a huge volume of online resources available to help potential visitors and locals alike. One web site in particular has become my favourite go-to reference. The site is called Rick's Canal Route Planner — CanalPlanAC. The detailed database of canal features allows visitors to plan a journey and will provide estimated travel times based on the typical average speed of a narrowboat and the number of locks to be turned.

Bratch Locks near Wolverhampton

The Canal & River Trust and the Canal Route Planner sites are also fantastic resources that have helped me develop a modest understanding of the names, locations and features of the various rings and canals on the network. Unfortunately all this information had the opposite effect. The more I examined all of this detail, the more confused I became. For a while I was beginning to feel a bit like I was playing a continuous the "how many squares can you see" puzzle game (click to expand). As soon as I thought "now I've got it" a whole bunch of other cruising route options become apparent requiring further research.

Towpath bridges at Braunston Junction

Kings Norton guillotine-gated
Stop Lock on the
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

So, what are some of the other factors make a great canal cruising ring. The number of engineering features (locks, tunnels, tow path bridges, aqueducts, lift and swing bridges) are for me and some of our cruising guests a big attraction. A generous sprinkling of canal side pubs must surely be a good thing and if they supply free WiFi we'll on a winner.

Canal Side Pub - The Boat Inn

Periodically we'll also expecting to encounter historic engineering artifacts including a couple of pumping stations (steam) that were once employed to recycle water back to the top of a flight of locks and stop locks which were built simply to retain the precious water and prevent it from being "lost" into the competitor's canal.

More soon,
The Skipper.