Jump to content

Yank looking for trip ideas.


tipton1947

Featured Posts

In July of 2016 my wife and I and another couple attempted to make the round trip from Middlewich to LLangollen in 10 days. I received input from folks on this forum that I might be biting off more than I could chew for a trip during the height of summer. They were right! We made it as far as Ellesmere and decided to turn around for a leisurely, pub to pub, return to Middlewich. While we did. While we did not get to LLangollen and cross the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct we had a great time! So we are planning to return in June of 2018 for another cruise. I have two basic ideas:

1. Hire boats (each couple drives their own boat, a better way to remain friends) from Trevor or Chirk and spend a very leisurely week covering the area that we missed in 2016.

2. Go somewhere else, new to us. I am looking for suggestions. With no more than 6 hours a day on the water (give or take. One or two long days might be ok.) we would be interested in a trip with the following:

  • Castles
  • Gardens
  • Historical small towns
  • Pubs!!
  • Steam trains
  • ???

We are coming from the USA. We are retired so time is not too much of an issue. I am looking at June because my wife has a cooking class in Ashburton, Devon that starts on June 25.

Any suggestions?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great Haywood to the Caldon Canal. Shugborough Hall at the start/finish of the trip Trentham Gardens, Wedgewood Pottery. Excellent pubs especially on the Caldon Steam trains from Cheddleton to Froghall, including the lovely mooring at The Black Lion where you sit in the beer garden next to the railway line watching the steam trains and the boats whilst drinking beer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, captain birdseye said:

Great Haywood to the Caldon Canal. Shugborough Hall at the start/finish of the trip Trentham Gardens, Wedgewood Pottery. Excellent pubs especially on the Caldon Steam trains from Cheddleton to Froghall, including the lovely mooring at The Black Lion where you sit in the beer garden next to the railway line watching the steam trains and the boats whilst drinking beer

This gives you a flavour (or should I say flavor!) of what Captain Birdseye is describing

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0396778,-2.0018689,3a,75y,111.99h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOljGsLiuIMwbCmfzwJuVUtj3Eupf1F2srKCtYF!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOljGsLiuIMwbCmfzwJuVUtj3Eupf1F2srKCtYF%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya267.89032-ro0-fo100!7i4650!8i1510

Have a great trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing wrong with the above suggestion but if you want to consider a different part of the country how about something like this for a 10 night trip;-

Day 1 - pick up boat early afternoon at ABC at Alvechurch. Very central location, 5 minutes from motorway and with a well served train station adjacent to the boatyard. Maybe start with a meal and a drink at the Weighbridge pub which is on site. Get a good start and work down Tardebigge locks (there's 30 of them but they are quick and easy). Should be 4 to 5 hours overall to Stoke Pound visitor moorings opposite the Queens Head pub.  Not everyone's cup of tea but no reason not to go there. Your President would probably look at home there.

Day 2 - more locks in the morning. 12 in total to bottom of Astwood flight and will take about 2.5 hours. Moor up there and walk across field on footpath to Hanbury Hall. Maybe grab a bit of lunch there and visit the house and gardens. Head back to the boat and continue in late afternoon/early evening to Droitwich mooring either in the park or on the secure pontoons at the far end. Best pub in Droitwich close to moorings is the Gardeners Arms. There is also an Italian restaurant in town.

Day 3 - Boating day from Droitwich to Stourport. About 6 hours including a couple going up the River Severn and through two big automated and manned locks. May be able to stop at one of two pubs on the river but landing stages not great for narrowboats and a bit dependent on water levels. Stourport is a historic canal town and has two canal side pubs and an Indian restaurant.

Day 4 - Mostly about the Severn Valley Railway. Arguably the biggest and best of the UKs preserved steam lines. Set off at a decent time and do the 1.5 to 2 hours it will take to get to Kidderminster and moor up. Allow a good deal of time on the railway but ensure you get back in time to make the short move to above Wolverley lock for the evening. Pub there has the original name of 'The Lock'.

Day 5 - You will have seen nice glimpses of scenery on the south side of Kidderminster but from Wolverley onwards it is beautiful with the canal and some of the locks cut into a ridge of sandstone. Moor at Kinver after about 2 hours from Wolverley. Walk up through the village and visit the Kinver rock houses. These are houses (no longer inhabited) cut into the sandstone and are like caves internally. Three hours on from Kinver and you will be at the Navigation Inn, Greensforge for the evening. A very rural setting.

Day 6 - Up Botterham staircase and the famous(ish) Bratch locks to Wightwick (pronounced Witt-ick) to visit Wightwick Manor (assuming it's open on the day concerned). It's an Arts & Crafts movement house and garden. Should be 5 to 6 hours from Greensforge. Stay overnight at Wightwick or carry on a bit further to Compton. Both have pubs but Compton has a handy convenience store, a fish and chip shop, a family eating pub and a drinking pub.

Day 7 - Up the Wolverhampton '21' flight of locks and on to the Black Country Living Museum. Moor up outside the museum. It's a short walk to the Fountain Inn. Do not be worried that you will not understand a word anyone says,

Day 8 - Spend it at the museum - a working recreation of the industry and streets of the Black Country a century or so ago - and have a break from boating but do take the Dudley Canal Trust's trip boat into Dudley Tunnel for a tour of the subterranean world beneath Dudley. It's adjacent to and linked to the museum but a separate undertaking.

Day 9 - Head into Birmingham (pronounced Burr-ming-um) via Smethwick (pronounced Smeh-vick) locks which will take 4 to 5 hours and spend the rest of the day and evening in Birmingham. Have a night out as no hurry the next day.

Day 10 - About 4 hours will take you through the suburbs of Birmingham (mostly quite nice) and through the mile and a half long Wast Hill Tunnel to Hopwood, last visitor moorings before Alvechurch and with a pub (which is OK but you won't be writing home about it). Alternatively you could head back to Alvechurch which is less than an hour from Hopwood and visit the Weighbridge at the boatyard and be ready for offloading in the morning.

Day 11 - Back to the boatyard if not already there.

There are lots of options around the basic route such as via Worcester instead of Droitwich or Stourbridge instead of Wolverhampton. They are all variants on the Stourport Ring which is a routine 7 night hire without the visitor attractions. It can also be done from Anglo-Welsh at Tardebigge or Black Prince at Stoke Prior and others.

It is lock heavy for the first half of the trip and may not be best suited to two boats and only four crew unless you like locks.

JP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, captain birdseye said:

Great Haywood to the Caldon Canal. Shugborough Hall at the start/finish of the trip Trentham Gardens, Wedgewood Pottery. Excellent pubs especially on the Caldon Steam trains from Cheddleton to Froghall, including the lovely mooring at The Black Lion where you sit in the beer garden next to the railway line watching the steam trains and the boats whilst drinking beer

This is an excellent suggestion.  The Caldon is a really fantastic canal; on our visit earlier this month, we timed it to arrive at the end on a Wednesday when the steam train was running.  We did the trip from Froghall to Cheddleton and back, then as we boated back to Consall Forge found the train was in the station there.

The Middleport Pottery in Stoke is another good visit.  They have moorings right outside and there are factory tours and exhibitions.

IMG_4540.JPG

Edited by adam1uk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, tipton1947 said:

 

I am looking at June because my wife has a cooking class in Ashburton, Devon that starts on June 25.

I've done several of their cookery courses over the years: all were excellent. I hope she finds it as good as I did.

I hope, too, that you find time to explore the Devon locale. At the very least, do a little of Dartmoor National Park on your way to or from Ashburton. The village of Widecombe in the Moor is a short drive from Ashburton and another worth a look, Chagford, won't be too far out of your way either - both should help satisfy your urge to see quaint villages. For your Steam railway fix, also take a look at South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh - you'll pass it on the A38 as you head south a few miles before you reach Ashburton. The railway runs between Buckfastleigh and the small town Totnes, which you may also find interesting. Have a Google.

Hope that gives you some other ideas.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quite few preserve steam railways close to canals and rivers. Severn valley valley railway, river Severn, Kidderminster, Bewdley, Bridgenorth.  Worth Valley Railway, Leeds Liverpool canal. Keithley. Famous for the making of the ''Railway Children'' film at Oakworth station.  Haworth is famous for the Bronte sisters, especially Charlotte of course. Bronte museum at their home the parsonage, very popular with tourists.  A very steep walk up the high street to the parsonage though. A pub up there though that sell ''Bronte Burgers and chips''.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all for the input. 

The Caldon Canal looks great! I expect that we will end up completing our trip to LLangollen, but this an excellent alternative. We may be back again!

My wife is a serious baker. The patisserie class at Ashburton is for her 70th birthday. In 2016 we were in Wales on her birthday and I completely forgot on the day. I went fly fishing all day instead. I expect to explore Devon and Dartmoor with my camera and fly rod while she cooks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎25‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 07:10, NickF said:

What a weird picture in that link!   The woman appears to be rising out of the ground and the child is cut off at the knees.

Agree about the Caldon.  My 2017 pub cruise included many of the pubs above Norton Green - I'll get round to putting it on here soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

What a weird picture in that link!   The woman appears to be rising out of the ground and the child is cut off at the knees.

Agree about the Caldon.  My 2017 pub cruise included many of the pubs above Norton Green - I'll get round to putting it on here soon.

It is off google maps, but yes it is a bit weird, in fact the blonde woman who is cut off at the legs appears in full on the other side of the path!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 26/09/2017 at 01:41, tipton1947 said:

Thanks all for the input. 

The Caldon Canal looks great! I expect that we will end up completing our trip to LLangollen, but this an excellent alternative. We may be back again!

My wife is a serious baker. The patisserie class at Ashburton is for her 70th birthday. In 2016 we were in Wales on her birthday and I completely forgot on the day. I went fly fishing all day instead. I expect to explore Devon and Dartmoor with my camera and fly rod while she cooks.

You could try the L&LC from Skipton, with the Embsay Railway and K&WR both nearby. There is the castle at Skipton, East Riddlesden Hall near Bingley, and Cliffe Castle Museum in a former millowner's house in Keighley. There are a number of good pie shops and bakeries to try out for those interested in food, not just the well-known pie shop in Skipton, both others, such as the two in Barnoldswick. I did suggest to the East Lancashire tourism officer that they should develop a Pie Trail. The Burnley area also has Townley Hall and Gawthorpe Hall, while Accrington has the Haworth Art Gallery, another millowner's house, with the finest collection of Tiffany glass in the UK, the foreman at Tiffany's New York factory coming from Accrington.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.