Advice for newbies

[kohaladonah]

Napton offers a great choice of routes that match your original post (OP) wish list. 14 days will take you to Oxford and back, passing thro' Banbury (Cross) with time to spare if the weather is bad and to properly explore Oxford. The locks are single and well spaced and the route winds (literally) thro' classic English countryside. Otherwise you can head towards Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick (Castle) thro' double locks which seem more daunting but you'll nearly always be accompanied by another boat for advice, conversation and sometimes friendship. Downside is that it's a bit inaccessible except by Taxi/Uber from Leamington or Rugby - 10+ miles.

Thanks so much for this! Very helpful and sounds as if it will fit the bill just about perfectly. We can manage the connection from the nearest train station, I expect

 

If you are coming from London (Change Reading) or Heathrow (Air bus to Reading) check the train fairs to Rugby, Leamington Spa and Banbury. I find the fare from Reading to Banbury is far cheaper than Reading to Leamington Spa. I think it is because First GW terminate at Banbury and/or Banbury used to be at the end of the Network South East area. The cost of taxis seems to be similar (We go to Callcut) and we use Cross Country Trains, not FGW. Direct bus from Leamington Spa to with in maybe 200 yards of Napton Narrowboats (Kings Head, Napton). Hourly service but not on Sundays, departs about 5 minutes walk of Leamington station.

 

One or two hourly bus services from Banbury and Rugby to Southam but no decent connection for the bus to Napton (Kings Head) and taxis very hit and miss from Southam unless booked.

You are all SO helpful!! Mahalo!

[Victor Vectis]

Thanks so much for this! Very helpful and sounds as if it will fit the bill just about perfectly. We can manage the connection from the nearest train station, I expect

Only a small point but as you will be in England, where English is the language spoken, it is RAILWAY station.

 

[LEO]

Only a small point but as you will be in England, where English is the language spoken, it is RAILWAY station.

 

 

 

Err, sorry, English used to be spoken here, but now thanks to that 'must be avoided' TV prog. Eastenders, the BBC encouraging regional dialects and input from other countries, the English language is fast dis-appearing.

 

Train station is a fair description, but I would have preferred to call it 'a place where highway robbery has been legalised'.

 

Nowadays, we survive with a 24 or less letter alphabet........

 

So, you 'Shermans' git on over here, mosey on down the 'muddy ditches' and check you have enough 'gas' in the boat's tank and make sure you enjoy our new national dish - a nice 'Ruby'!.

 

Have fun.

 

L.

[Victor Vectis]

Train station is a fair description,

No, it isn't! It's just WRONG!

a place where highway robbery has been legalised

Really?

 

London to Brum for £3.95, with a Senior Railcard.

About the price of a pint.

[Tiggs]

Fly into Manchester. Get a (pre-booked) taxi to take you to Middlewich. Then go from there up the Llangollen.

[kohaladonah]

America and Britain, two countries divided by a common language! Railway Station it is!! (but a bonnet goes on your head, not your automobile....just saying...)

[stripey]

With hire companies, it's worth looking at the extras that are charged. Sometimes these can add up to quite a lot of money.

We've used a number of different companies in our time as hirers, and I can recommend three smaller non-national ones to you, who don't add on loads of extras (at least they didn't when we last used any of them). They are all family owned.

 

Portharb Boats, who are near Pershore, on the beautiful River Avon, all of which makes wonderful cruising, with Stratford and Tewkesbury at each end.

http://www.k52n.com/

 

Countrywide Cruisers, at Brewood on the Shropshire Union, quite near Wolverhampton. Loads of different routes possible, especially in two weeks.

http://www.countrywide-cruisers.co.uk/

 

Bettisfield Boats on the ever popular Llangollen Canal, quite near Ellesmere.

http://www.bettisfieldboats.com/index.html

 

You might need to combine public transport with taxis to get to these, but they are all good, and very friendly.

Edited August 21, 2016 by stripey

[pomkitanner]

America and Britain, two countries divided by a common language! Railway Station it is!! (but a bonnet goes on your head, not your automobile....just saying...)

And a Trunk goes in the Boot , should you be hiring a car also while here !

[Scholar Gypsy]

And a Trunk goes in the Boot , should you be hiring a car also while here !

 

And if you drive along the pavement, this may happen to you (there's a more recent incident but I cannot find it just now...)

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pensioner-following-satnav-takes-wrong-3942337

[john6767]

And if you are in a pub and someone says that they are just going outside for a fag, it's not what you think

[Mantaray]

I can reccommend Napton narrowboats, have used them twice. Very helpfull, and well looked after boats.

 

Another nice ring from thier base at Autherley Junction, is to go down the Saffordshire & Worcestershire canal to Stourport and then on to the River Seven to Worchester, then back up to Birmingham on the Worchester and Birmingham Canal.

This ring is a nice mix of countryside and industrial and will take you passed the Caburys factory on your way to Gas Street basen in the haert of Bimingham

[Mrs Trackman]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that you will have longer hours of daylight in may. I love spring with new leaves and flowers everywhere. weather could be warm or wet and cold at either.

I'd look at suggestions from hire bases for cruising routes. Note that while the Thames can be beautiful, you can't just stop anywhere on a river. on a canal you can stop much more easily to explore the area.

I imagine all hire boats now have heating, many of us love our stoves but I'm sure boats are quite warm enough with central heating.

If you hired from Napton, you could boat towards Stratford on Avon, shakespeare's birthplace. this would be a very pretty cruise. With a very slight detour you could walk to Packwood house and baddesley Clinton. Both are beautiful national trust properties with lovely refreshments served, baddesley Clinton is moated.

on the south Stratford you can moor at Wilmcote, an attractive village with thatched Mary arden's house. Mary was Shakespeare 's mother. Though busy, Stratford is a great place to visit by boat but if you didn't fancy the last 16 locks to the basin, you could catch a train from Wilmcote and be in Stratford in a few minutes. There are plenty of pubs on that trip. You would have masses of time to explore on a 2 week cruise and could plan side trips, for example go back to Napton and on the stunning south Oxford and/or enjoy a lock free potter to the historic canal village of Braunston.

Once you decide on a base, buy pearson 's guides to the area you are in. You will find them entertaining and informative as you plan your cruise.

enjoy!

oh, and let us know what you decide and how it goes.

[kohaladonah]

Thanks for all the suggestions (and linguistic guidance!) We haven't settled totally on it as yet, but are thinking about starting from Napton and going up the Ashby, with some time to explore Rugby, visit the Bosworth Battlefield, turning at the next to last winding hole on the Ashby, then making our way to Fenny Compton, and from there taking the bus to either Stratford and/or Gaydon for the British Motor Museum, then back to Napton. I've worked it out on the canal planner, and looked at the virtual cruise and it seems to be a pretty route with enough stopping places in nice villages with good pubs and restaurants and not too challenging for a bunch of senior citizen novices. I want to map out Mrs. Trackman's suggested route, too. I really liked where we could go in the direction of Stratford but found the locks pretty daunting - I didn't think of doing a mooring and land exploration before we had to deal with the locks, though. Great suggestion! Thank you all for your continuing assistance and suggestions!

[john6767]

That sounds like a good plan, and not too many locks. Going from Napton to Stratford and back is a tough route unless you really do want to do a lot of locks.

 

The only thing I would say is that if you have time in the UK outside the boat hire period, why not go to Stratford then, even the day you will have taken the boat back first thing in the morning. Is there a decent bus service fron Fenny Compton anyway?

[Mrs Trackman]

Thanks for all the suggestions (and linguistic guidance!) We haven't settled totally on it as yet, but are thinking about starting from Napton and going up the Ashby, with some time to explore Rugby, visit the Bosworth Battlefield, turning at the next to last winding hole on the Ashby, then making our way to Fenny Compton, and from there taking the bus to either Stratford and/or Gaydon for the British Motor Museum, then back to Napton. I've worked it out on the canal planner, and looked at the virtual cruise and it seems to be a pretty route with enough stopping places in nice villages with good pubs and restaurants and not too challenging for a bunch of senior citizen novices. I want to map out Mrs. Trackman's suggested route, too. I really liked where we could go in the direction of Stratford but found the locks pretty daunting - I didn't think of doing a mooring and land exploration before we had to deal with the locks, though. Great suggestion! Thank you all for your continuing assistance and suggestions!

 

 

sounds like a very suitable plan. you are taking a sensible approach to your trip and not planning on too many locks. The ones you will do are relatively easy. The route to Stratford is much more arduous.your route is possibly not quite as pretty but always interesting and you will find many attractive spots. One of the many joys of canals is that you can just stop if somewhere appeals.

[kohaladonah]

That sounds like a good plan, and not too many locks. Going from Napton to Stratford and back is a tough route unless you really do want to do a lot of locks.

 

The only thing I would say is that if you have time in the UK outside the boat hire period, why not go to Stratford then, even the day you will have taken the boat back first thing in the morning. Is there a decent bus service fron Fenny Compton anyway?

Seems to be decent bus service from Fenny Compton, although, as we get closer to the actual trip time, I will double check that. We've been very happy with the bus service in the UK on prior visits - seems to go everywhere and with a decent amount of frequency, even to seemingly really rural areas. Yet another thing that the UK has over the Colonies! I'm not sure at this point what else we might do while we are there, but at least my husband and I are likely to spend another couple of weeks knocking around before or after the canal portion of the trip. We've visited the Lake District and the Cotswolds, and spent some time in London on prior trips. We might go north into Yorkshire or perhaps to Cornwall or Wales this time. We don't really care to take on driving, though, so we're pretty dependent on there being good rail and/or bus service wherever we decide to visit.

[LEO]

Seems to be decent bus service from Fenny Compton, although, as we get closer to the actual trip time, I will double check that. We've been very happy with the bus service in the UK on prior visits - seems to go everywhere and with a decent amount of frequency, even to seemingly really rural areas. Yet another thing that the UK has over the Colonies! I'm not sure at this point what else we might do while we are there, but at least my husband and I are likely to spend another couple of weeks knocking around before or after the canal portion of the trip. We've visited the Lake District and the Cotswolds, and spent some time in London on prior trips. We might go north into Yorkshire or perhaps to Cornwall or Wales this time. We don't really care to take on driving, though, so we're pretty dependent on there being good rail and/or bus service wherever we decide to visit.

 

Hi,

Note your desire to visit parts of the UK, but to avoid driving.....there are some good organised coach trips which take in places of interest and plan all the overnight accommodation.

 

They are not expensive and cover Scotland, Ireland and England.

 

We have toured Europe by train (Great Rail Journeys) and found these good, but over the last few years have toured the UK and Ireland by car, staying in B&Bs and Premier inns, we found lots to see.

 

Areas you mention (Yorkshire and Cornwall) are good, but so are most areas in the UK - don't try and do too much - one American friend took a day trip on a coach,(setting out and ending in London), to see - Oxford, Woodstock (including Blenheim Palace), Stonehenge and Bath all in one day!!.

 

Have fun, May/June is the best time to explore the UK.

 

L.

[Mrs Trackman]

Seems to be decent bus service from Fenny Compton, although, as we get closer to the actual trip time, I will double check that. We've been very happy with the bus service in the UK on prior visits - seems to go everywhere and with a decent amount of frequency, even to seemingly really rural areas. Yet another thing that the UK has over the Colonies! I'm not sure at this point what else we might do while we are there, but at least my husband and I are likely to spend another couple of weeks knocking around before or after the canal portion of the trip. We've visited the Lake District and the Cotswolds, and spent some time in London on prior trips. We might go north into Yorkshire or perhaps to Cornwall or Wales this time. We don't really care to take on driving, though, so we're pretty dependent on there being good rail and/or bus service wherever we decide to visit.

 

 

we were pleasantly surprised how easily we could get around by train and bus in Cornwall though it was difficult to get buses after 6 at night. In Cornwall buses have the advantage over cars in that you sit much higher so can see over the high hedges which characterise much of Cornwall. its a very pretty county and likely to be drier than Wales but it does get very busy. pretty villages have a lot of visitors.

Wales has several rail lines that stop at many stations and is also beautiful.