Search the Community

Colliers Arms, Aspull. Just up the Wigan Road from Bridge 59A, Springs Bridge. Re-opened in November '23 having been closed 2 yrs. Found it purely by chance out walking. Not on any guides as far as I'm aware, although it's been there since 1700. Owned by: https://www.escapebrewery.co.uk/ Lovely beer. Well worth a visit. For info.

We have new map, while building the other maps, we had found lots of other interesting places, our collection of Pub, Restaurants and Coffee/Tea shops has now reached 500 locations, so here is the first version released. https://floydtilla.co.uk/canal-and-riverside-pubs-and-restaurants/ I suspect we may have missed your favourite Pub, Bar, Restaurant, or coffee shop so please let me know using our online form, or using this forum, please include the name and Postcode or Coordinates or What3words location and we will hunt it down. This is a totally free to use resource, it does not cost to use or be listed here, it is done out of my interests, and it keeps my mind working, sometimes it is far more active that I am 🙂 David

Hi. I am looking for advice on best places to moor overnight, pubs, shops and just any general advice you can give on the route between Barnoldswick & Liverpool. I understand there are dodgy areas around Burnley, Blackburn & Wigan so would appreciate suggestions for overnight stopping places/marinas in these areas. Thanks in advance. J

Hi there. We're aiming to do The Ashby in late May as we've never done it yet. We're hiring from Great Haywood (70') and might even get to Coventry if time permits as we've never been there either. Can anyone tell me where the current head of navigation on The Ashby Canal is ? I've heard that it is Faulkes Circular Winding Hole, but I don't think you can wind anything over 56-60' there, and we're 70'. Where can we wind a 70' ? Also, any recommendations for good pubs ?

Hi all In case this is useful to anyone else planning something similar, here's what we got up to on the HNC and Rochdale over 10 days last week -- starting and finishing at Shire Cruisers in Sowerby Bridge. Many thanks to everyone for their useful suggestions and advice beforehand about stopping places, pubs and places to eat, it all went very much to plan :-) Friday -- got away before 2pm, no problems (except for *very* leaky gate at Salterhebble top lock, water over my boots on the stern deck -- and handspike lock gear is *crap*), stopped at Cooper Bridge just above Lock 1 (nice mooring just round the bend) just after 6pm, much quicker than the 6h Canalplan suggested. Dinner on the boat then beer at the excellent White Cross, highly recommended for a drink and chat (no evening food). Saturday -- 9am start, easy run to Slaithwaite (moored below 22E) by 5:30 including about 40mins pause while the inverter batteries were replaced (ran out overnight, no further trouble), 2 1/2 hours quicker than Canalplan -- but with a crew of 6 with 4 doing locks. Very good curry at the Monsoon Tandoori, followed by excellent and cheap beer at the Commercial. Sunday -- Excellent breakfast (and loaves of bread) at the Handmade Bakery, then a slower run than expected up to Marsden due to low pounds, CART having to run water down and staggering boats between locks -- delayed by a couple of hours but no problem, still arrived before gin o'clock (6pm). Very good dinner (last orders 7pm on Sunday) and beer at the Riverhead Brewery Tap. Monday -- First boat through Standedge (whoopee!), then easy run down to Uppermill with plenty of water this side of the summit. Planned evening at the Waggon Inn scuppered by it being the one day per year they close for staff training, fortunately managed to get the last table at the Navigation in Dobcross -- excellent food (last order 8pm) and beer as expected. Tuesday -- Another easy day (6h?) down to Stalybridge, early arrival at visitor moorings outside Phoenix City above lock 5. Popped into Bridge Beers (micropub, closes 7pm) for some pre-prandial drinks (excellent, bought a boxful to take away!), dinner at Phoenix City (strange interior like a warehouse but food OK), then strolled up to the White House -- decent beers but nothing special. Wednesday -- Trouble free short day (6h?) into Manchester pausing to pump out at Portland Basin (tight access due to stupid moored boats), stopped in Thomas Telford basin -- very nice, got exit code from residents. Dinner on the boat then off to the Jolly Sailor in Ducie Street for beer and cards, "quiet" in the reviews is an understatement -- the six of us trebled the number of customers when we arrived, for the last couple of hours we were on our own with the (very friendly) landlord. Still, he was happy (we bought plenty of beers), we were happy (quiet pub to play crib and Wordthief in). Thursday -- Up the Rochdale to the Rose of Lancaster, no problems unless you don't like the dope smoke from the (friendly) bridge trolls -- still much more pleasant than the run in on the Ashton. Best mooring is just past the aqueduct where you can get right in, all the others are too shallow. Food and drink perfectly fine (Lees chain pub) as expected but nothing special. Friday -- Moved on up to Littleborough, later on paired up with a German family on another Shire boat who know what they were doing. Some very low pounds in spite of the rain. Water point not where we expected it, about 300m above lock 47 on the offside where you can't moor. Another very good curry at the Bay of Bengal, then lots of good and ridiculously cheap beers (£1.80!!!) in the splendid Red Lion -- we needed them to replace the lost sweat, it was roasting in there! Saturday -- over the summit and down to Todmorden VM in less than 6 hours, paired up again (breasted up on some stretches) and going like sh*t off a shovel (3h quicker than Canalplan!). A couple of teatime beers at the delightful Bare Arts brewery shop, liked them so much we bought a boxful. Delicious and cheap Thai food at the Golden Lion which then turned into a reggae venue, we stayed in the back room so as not to go deaf, left about midnight but couldn't hear a thing from the boat 50 yards away. Sunday -- another easy day, stopped for lunch at Stubbings Wharf (great sarnies and beer), moored in Sowerby Bridge at the bend before Tuel Lane (got there after it closed at 5pm). Excellent tapas and pizzas (and beer) at the Firehouse, then walked up to the Shepherd's Rest at the other end of town for a last evening in the pub -- fantastic place, probably my favourite pub (as opposed to gastropub) of the whole trip, dominoes, crib, music session, conversation. Monday -- down through Tuel Lane when it opened, then a couple of locks back to the boatyard and home after breakfast at Gabriels round the corner. Apart from food and beer in the evening, the sheer energy to get us through 197 locks came from massive bacon and egg sandwiches every morning (we had 15lb of Slack's best dry-cured smoked with us...) and a 10 gallon selection of beer in mini-barrels from Rebellion Brewery -- anything else was purely incidental in comparison. All the warnings about problems in rough areas came to nought, and we didn't even have to open the weed hatch once in the entire trip. Water shortages and low pounds held us up a bit but this was expected and we'd planned in enough slack time on the likely problem sections for these to be no big issue. Both canals are now two of my all-time favourites, lovely scenery and stopping places, super food and beer ( I estimate about 50 different ones on tap during the trip, maybe 40 of which I've never tried before) in the pubs, friendly locals everywhere. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a bit less rain, but then this was August in England... Of course having a large fit crew (with 4 windlasses) who love locks helps, but we never felt rushed -- we never stopped later than 6:15, usually well before this. All the pre-trip planning with Canalplan and the invaluable advice from the members of this forum (thanks again!) paid off, we never had any real concerns about getting stuck or missing a critical deadline (like Standedge). A terrific trip, highly recommended to people with similar tastes (locks, food, beer) to us. Don't let Standedge put you off, it was the biggest highlight of the trip for us -- but also don't forget you need to book it well in advance, unlike one of the boats we travelled up to Marsden with who were faced with a 2 week wait for a free slot...

I set off in May from Netherwich Basin with the intention of competing in the BCN Challenge then heading round something best described as a combination of the Warwickshire, Black Country and Stourport rings to arrive in Stourport to go into dry dock for blacking on 1st September. As it has turned out I have over the last three weekends I have also managed to sneak in a trip down the Grand Union main line to Marsworth Junction and return. Moorings I have used a combination of paid moorings, CRT long term sites with permission, visitor moorings and towpath. The reciprocal arrangements for use of vacant CRT long term moorings has worked well and enabled me to leave the boat for more than 14 days when I needed. I also spent three weeks at Saltisford Canal Trust in Warwick while RLWP of this parish finished off an overhaul of my engine. This is a good place with plenty of activity and good value moorings in a secure environment. Pubs Naturally many pubs have been visited and in broad order they have been;- Queens Head, Stoke Pound - average, over priced and therefore full of people with more money than taste. Unfathomably popular as my Australian guests commented upon. It is though very handily placed at the foot of the Tardebigge flight (if only there was proper pub at the top). Weighbridge, Alvechurch Marina - take out pint before setting off from the marina where I often leave Vulpes for a week or so while in transit to and from the wider network. Beer is good. Wetherspoons, Merry Hill - can't remember the name but they are all the same so what does it matter? Quick stop for evening meal with Rob-M on way to start point for BCN Challenge. Pint and meal for some very precise but obscure amount like £7.38. Tells you all you need to know about their business model. The Vine/Bull & Bladder, Brierley Hill - Pre-BCN Challenge pint or two at Batham's brewery tap. Nuff said. Bottle & Glass, Black Country Museum - Sneaked into museum for celebratory pint after legging Dudley Tunnel. Serves Banks's beers these days. Had the summer brew which was fine. Pork scratchings excellent. Manor Arms, Rushall - quick pit stop on BCN Challenge because it's one of the things to do on the Challenge. This is the pub with no bar. Marston's beers but well served. Titford Pumphouse, Oldbury - Makeshift bar at BCNS HQ at end of Challenge. Beer was good (Ma Pardoes from Netherton) but ran out waaaaay too soon. The Wharf, Hockley Heath - awful chain pub. Avoid if possible. Tom o'the Wood, Rowington - lunch time stop. Appears to sell more gin than beer. Probably the kind of place the Queens Head aspires to be when it grows up. I prefer the Navigation at Lapworth in this area. Cape of Good Hope, Warwick - good beer, original food, mixed clientele and staff. All is good here. The Boat, Birdingbury - evening meal in the company of RLWP and Mrs Tawny Owl of this parish. A bit chaotic but beer and food were fine. Admiral Nelson, Braunston - never eaten here but almost always hve a swift half of Landlord in passing. Boat, Stoke Bruerne - chose to eat at Spice of Bruerne (which was OK and about all you would expect of an Indian in a village in Northamptonshire) and had a pint at the Boat. Can't even remember what the beer was. Think it was Proper Job from St Austell. Nothing wrong with that but what about local beer? Three Locks, Soulbury - an OK pint in passing. The Globe, Linslade - looks great but is a Greene King house. Had a take out pint in passing. Nuff said (in the opposite sense to the Bull & Bladder). Red Lion, Marsworth - local free house in a beautiful village setting. Good local beers and decent enough food. Proper meals but via catering suppliers rather than home cooked. Very quiet though. Unfortunately the punters are probably at the gastropub down the road. Got rained on all day and if hadn't been so tired by the time we tied up at 2030 and just made last food orders I could have spent a lot of time in the Red Lion. Black Horse, Great Linford - eating pub. Predictably food was better than the beer. Wouldn't avoid it but wouldn't seek it out again either. Probably better for families. I was with Pegg Jr and we were in and out in less than an hour. Barley Mow, Cosgrove - moored up at nine last Friday and had a take out pint (Pegg Jr is 15). Nice to visit a local(ish) brewery pub. It's an Everards house and I am not massively familiar with their beer but I had a decent pint. Railway Inn, Droitwich - not part of my cruise but I had a pint here with Rob-M when he passed through on his boat. It's a Marston's drinking pub wth no cooked food. It's 5 minutes walk from my house but I hadn't been there for over 10 years. It will be closed before I go again. Sent first pint of Banks's Bitter back and was offered Wainwright in return. Just as bad so ended up drinking one when otherwise would have had three. It's doomed. People I have introduced my wife's half brother and his mother to canal boating (they are Australian). Rob-M crewed the BCN Challenge with me including moves from Alvechurch to BCLM to Delph and then Titford to Bournville. I also had help from my work colleague Richard and his brother on the Challenge. As it turned out I think Rob and myself could have legged Dudley Tunnel on our own. I had two days boating with Richard and Sue (RLWP and Mrs Tawny Owl) to share locks from Warwick for Braunston ahead of the Braunston historic festival. Obviously nether of us are allowed to put our new boats in the show. I have also had help from Steve of Goosander (fellow moorer at Netherwich and BCN Challenge veteran) and his friend also Steve on the trip from Fenny Stratford to Marsworth and return. My main help has been Daniel (Pegg Jr) who is a natural helmsman but doesn't do mornings which casues a little bit of conflict. Charlie dog has also 'enjoyed' the Grand Union and even Mrs P has spent one night on the boat. From CWDF I have passed Andrew Tidy (Capt Ahab) and the jam butty three times including at the Cosgrove and Linslade festivals; Sickle at Linslade and then both Sickle and Flamingo at High House where Alan Fincher stuck his head out of Flamingo's engine hole to wave. I suspect his attention was drawn by the excellent sounding but sensibly cooled and reliable PH2W in Vulpes. A few moments after that I passed Matty40s and Kath moored up on Old Friends enjoying an early Saturday evening drink. Then last Sunday I passed billybobbooth on Towy in the Braunston flight. Always good to see a wooden boat in working order. Grand Union It must be the slowest canal on the network. Loads of moored boats south of Milton Keynes and locks that never seem to want to make a level. I passed two widebeams in motion but neither was a problem but I did run a Hudson aground at Bridge 41 at Bugbrooke. It approached too quickly round the bend on approach and finding me in the bridge hole slammed it into reverse and careered into the bank and stemmed up. I was expecting a line of moored boats from Cosgrove to Fenny Stratford but although there were a lot of moored boats around MK they tend to be grouped at certain locations with plenty of good cruising in between. There seemed to more boats moored between MK and Leighton Buzzard. The channel looks to be 40'+ wide by design and the depth is marked as at least 5' 6" so it should be capable of accommodating wide beam craft if maintained for such. They may never have worked there in any great quantity but surely it was built for such? Saw some nice barges that looked lost on a canal though. I met a series of folks heading for London in newly purchased craft and even managed to share locks with a 50' widebeam from Horton to Ivinghoe crewed by an Irish guy and Australian girl. Still to look forward to I have the trip to Sutton Stop which was been one of my objectives since buying Vulpes (I grew up in Longford) and then up the rest of the Coventry, then the T&M and Staffs & Worcs. I am hoping to pay a quick visit to the Alvecote historic festival on the Sunday evening and if possible take the detour down to Coventry basin. The Greyhound will be an evening stop but the Swan at Fradley might be a fleeting visit. To finish here's a few photos.