crispy

Chas Hardern at Beeston hire out all year round. Cruising before Christmas is on the Shroppie only due to stoppages.

I though I better add, as it has been mentioned in a previous post -diesel charges. we do not include diesel, it is paid for at the end of your holiday based on your own use. One benefit being that in the current climate we have reduced our diesel prices by over 20p litre in the last year. Not sure if those companies who have it included in their prices give you a refund when prices go down.! Mind you they can also go up!! Present rate for a Llangollen return is approx. £70. There are lots of very good hire companies providing boats for the Llangollen and you are unlikely to go wrong whoever you choose for that canal.

Hi Chas Harderns here. Yes, we do provide all bedding and towels for visitors from abroad or arriving by public transport so if you are from Australia no worries there. To get to Llangollen and return from our base takes a total of 46hrs, this is our most popular route and is achieved by the majority of people who want to do it. A lot depends on the number of crew -two people will be working every lock, a bigger crew has more rest time. Our larger boats have discounts available for lower occupancy. I dont think I would call our boats ' 'basic', they might have been 45 years ago when we started trading but times change and we have changed with them. Where ever you go you will have a wonderful times -Llangollen is a beautiful canal and well worth a look. You will get lots of helpful advice from canal folk, they are in the main all keen to see the 'newbies' have a great time. ,

We (Chas Hardern Boats) have been running a small family hire company for over 40yrs so have, as they say, been around the block until we are quite dizzy. Advice for a newbie : make sure you are a practical person who can turn your hand to numerous mundane tasks. You need to be able to construct a quick and functional repair in the middle of nowhere at times. The ability to dismantle a toilet to remove blockages being a good start -with a smile on your face! Sunday evening 7.00p.m ,you are dressed and ready for a meal out with friends. A customer calls, the only toilet on the boat is blocked and full to the brim. Do you a) get back in your overalls and jolly off to sort it out for them hoping you will be offered a cup of tea. Tell them to run for the bushes and cross their legs till morning? Ditto : a customer expected at 3.00p.m is late and will not be with you until 9.00pm. Of course you are there to greet them with a smile. It is a life style and not a job. There are no set hours of work and you are available 24/7 when your boats are out. Better fewer boats well turned out than loads looking tatty . Your reputation will be earned through hard work & attention to detail and the customer rightly expects the things provided on the boat to work. Whatever people say -and on this forum sometimes you would think hire company owners wear gold plated overalls it is not a job with huge financial rewards, especially at the family end of the business. But all all it is a brilliant lifestyle and we love it.

At Chas Hardern Boats we use Barrus Shires engines on all except one boat. All have hospital silencers, soft engine mounts, flexi drive and soundproofing. However even though two boats can have identical engines and installation one will always sound different from the other. No idea why. One of the main reasons we do not take part in the star grading scheme run now by A.P.C.O rather than Visit England is because their inspections make no reference to the fact that the boat has an engine at all. You can have a 5 star boat with bells and whistles internally but the deck boards are not lifted, the engine not started and no inspection made of steering and engine noise. They are judged only as stationary accommodation. Not fair on the customer at all. If I was looking at a star grading system when choosing a holiday I would expect it to cover everything used.

Thank you to all for your advice -much noted and followed. Following our usual cruising pattern it was up and out by 8.00a.m and boating till dusk. Just the two of us with one on the bike between the locks -which basically means hardly on the boat at all. Almost didn't make it as we were told there was a stoppage at 31 on the HN due to a sink hole . However the CaRT staff were there to see us through and also through Huddersfield after some charmer had drained several pounds. Can anyone explain why there were padlocks on all gates in the middle of nowhere and hardly any in Huddersfield!! Found the Aston much improved from our last visit 6 yrs ago and some sections almost scenic. The farside of the lock at Failsworth -the working side! was inaccessible by foot as some bright folks had been trimming the trees and blocked the entrance with branches. Just at that moment a CaRT inspector passed by on foot -very opportune. Its a good thing the captain is excellent at shinning up and down the lock ladders as he was doing an awful lot of it. Been telling people that if you cannot see a lock it is probably because there is a bend in the canal. So apart from the huge amounts of rubbish- but fortunately no dead dogs etc on parts of the HW it gets a big thumbs up from us. Also only saw 4 moving boats in the time we were there, saw more in a morning on the Bridgewater.

Any recommendations for good safe moorings or those to be avoided? Best places to moor for train access to Manchester about half way round.. One we have not done & opinions vary from 'b....... hard work , never again: to b........... brilliant & fantastic. Do able in 10 longish days by well experienced semi fit crew of two & unhelpful dog? Thank you . All views happily received.

We live at Beeston and there has never been a pub opposite the castle! However The Beeston Castle pub by the cattlemarket closed a while ago and has been demolished to - guess what -build houses. The quickest walk to the castle is on the Sandstone trail path from Whartons lock, at the road turn left follow round till you get to the castle entrance -will take about half hour each way plus going up the castle. It is English Heritage, you will have to pay,also has an interpretation centre but no food. On the Shroppie: The Davenport Arms at Calvely is also closed. Pub wise you have The Jolly Tar and Barbridge Inn at Barbridge and your next pub is the Shady Oak just past Whartons lock unless you take a walk into Bunbury where The Nags head will drive you back if they have staff available. Also the Tollemache Arms on the A51 a 10min walk from Bunbury Locks. Food shops -you can go up the embankment near Countrywide on Wardle straight to the garage shop across the A51 otherwise there are no food shops within quick walking distance until Egg Bridge. The café at Beeston has just reopened - 7.00a.m to 3.00p.m. Bunbury Mill is open Sundays -café and interesting to look at. Its a lovely stretch of canal and usually pretty quiet.

Returning again! A 200 berth marina in Wrenbury with facilities for hire boats /boat share ( just in case there are not enough on the Llangollen already) café , laundry etc ect. Should anyone want to comment: Application number 14/1579N Cheshire East Council. Comments by noon 7/5/14

The River Wey is beautiful and well worth taking your time over. I was born in Bramley and the bit around St Catherines near Guilford is lovely, Shalford and Shalford Mill worth a look too. If you are not going to be there again do try to take time, our boating now mostly consists of moving boats on a mission -countless times I have though ' would like to stop here Ahh well another time maybe' . I used to live at Ash Island by Hampton Court Palace on a houseboat and the boated from there along the Oxford. Again a brilliant route. Go for it if you can!

No offence taken Bettie Boo. ! But I am feeling a bit embarrassed by the kind comments from boating folks. we just try to treat people in a way we would want to be treated ourselves. I will not be posting on this thread again as busy busy in the sun painting boats ( yes indeed we have sun today). and when that's done there's loads of new curtains to be made. Looking forward to all the working boats on their way to Ellesmere Port for the rally- a sure sign that spring is underway. Give us a wave as you go by. Sadly our own boat Dorset has no working engine at present after undergoing a major rebuild over the winter. At least the back half no longer leaks now -the joys of a wooden boat.

Hi I was not intending to advertise which is why I did not put our name in the original post but was asked who I was. I have noticed several times that some named companies hire offers are posted but no idea wether by them or others. Just want people too be aware that deals are not always as good as they seem. For us we are very lucky that we are by both a winding hole and a lock. We only send out two boats at a time and everyone that needs it is accompanied for a quarter of a mile to the winding hole , shown how to turn the boat and then instructed through their first lock. If they are still uncertain they are also accompanied through the next lock. I have been known to drive up to the staircase locks to check on them as well! Complaints are always dealt with fairly. If we feel as customer has acted unwisely or dangerously we will tell them &offer advice.. I think it is worth noting at the beginning of the season that it is not always the fault of a hire boat -at least they should have received decent instruction and it is not in our interest to send out boats with inadequate instruction. The customers get stressed and will not book again and the boats get trashed and we would have to repair them. Private boats can be sold to someone and require no instruction at all - we have already had a newly sold private boat through the locks here who had no idea how to work a lock and spend ages flushing water through until Chas took pity and went to help them. Boating should be an enjoyable, social activity with responsible behaviour on all sides.

We own Chas Hardern Boats. As we like to be as priced as fairly as possible without compromising the quality of boat offered I was interested to see how 25% or similar discounts are achieved. It all depends on where you start from! There are all sorts of other considerations of course. We do not include fuel. Far fairer to pay for what you use personally & not a hire companies estimation. Any decent company should be able to give an accurate average for fuel usage for a given route. We do not include non -returnable damage waivers of £50 (and if you look closely they often do not include the things customers are most likely to do, cill or lock damage, paintwork damage (especially signwork). We have a returnable £150 damage deposit. Do no damage and you get your money back. Pets go free -however many. Others will charge £25-30 per pet. Some companies will add 2% for using your credit card (we do not) There is really nothing standard at all about the details of booking canal holidays and if we find it a bit of a minefield no doubt the customer does. The one thing we are all after is that they feel they have had an enjoyable holiday, would like to go again and had value for money.

There are lots of discounts on canal holiday bookings at present. Some at rates of up to 25% or several hundred pounds off. However it pays to still look around and check out plenty of companies. After a quick look through I reckon it depends on where you are starting the discount from! There are plenty of the smaller family owned companies ( who are offering smaller or no discounts) who are cheaper or around the same price as those advertising huge discounts.!

Chas Hardern Boats www.chashardern.co.uk is a small family run firm that has been established for over 40years and we are one of the very few family firms still run by the original family. The easiest ring route from us is the 4 Counties ring but this still requires 9 hrs a day. This is fine during the summer although still pretty active. Most ring routes are quite large and require a commitment to a lot of boating. There are shorter rings within the B.C.N which may not be for everyone and usually have plenty of locks. As we say -it always looks different from the other way if you do a there and back route! We can advise you on the most interesting route depending on what you would like to see & do.