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Any recommended canal guide book


Mick in Bangkok

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24 minutes ago, Mick in Bangkok said:

Can I ask what would be a good canal guide book to purchase for my first trip this summer, are there any favoured publishers. I will likely be traveling the North Oxford but wouldn’t mind a comprehensive book of the network.

Cheers Mick

You have almost strayed into pump-out versus cassette territory! The two leading brands are Pearson's and Nicholson's , both of which have their diehard supporters on here, even Nicholson's.

Edited by Athy
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In addition to the Nicholsons I also like the PDF maps from https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/wr/

I just print off and laminate the relevant pages ahead of time as the cruising ring maps cover a wider area than we do in a week
They don't show you the sights, but give more detailed info as to what services are provided IMO

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Nicholsons are what we have simply because there wasn't a lot of choice when we started and certainly no such thing as PDFs or tinternet. They do the job providing you understand that any info pertaining to pubs etc is light years out of date. They do however tell you lots about churches!! :huh: I don't use anything on a laptop/smartfone as paper is still tops and cheaper if it gets wet or disappears intut oggin. As others have said we update with mooring spots and supermarkets etc as we go along.

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4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Nicholsons are what we have simply because there wasn't a lot of choice when we started and certainly no such thing as PDFs or tinternet. They do the job providing you understand that any info pertaining to pubs etc is light years out of date. They do however tell you lots about churches!! :huh: I don't use anything on a laptop/smartfone as paper is still tops and cheaper if it gets wet or disappears intut oggin. As others have said we update with mooring spots and supermarkets etc as we go along.

Yes it's a bugger when you are gasping for a pint and draw up to a pub mooring that is obviously well overgrown and the adjacent pub is boarded up and has obviously been that way for yonks but Nichloson's are updated so infrequently it would be impossible to keep up with the rate they are closing currently. We soon learned to ring ahead if we were planning on stopping at one.

You cant do that with water points (unless you can identify who at CRT you need to ring) - and when we were 'green as grass' hire-boaters we got caught out a couple of times low on water and moored next to a water point that had long since been decommissioned. 

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27 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Nicholsons are what we have simply because there wasn't a lot of choice when we started and certainly no such thing as PDFs or tinternet. They do the job providing you understand that any info pertaining to pubs etc is light years out of date. They do however tell you lots about churches!! :huh: I don't use anything on a laptop/smartfone as paper is still tops and cheaper if it gets wet or disappears intut oggin. As others have said we update with mooring spots and supermarkets etc as we go along.

light year is a measure of distance

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3 hours ago, Athy said:

You have almost strayed into pump-out versus cassette territory! The two leading brands are Pearson's and Nicholson's , both of which have their diehard supporters on here, even Nicholson's.

I'm led to believe that some people prefer Pearson's to Nicholson's.

Takes all sorts I suppose.

 

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Nicholsons are what we have simply because there wasn't a lot of choice when we started and certainly no such thing as PDFs or tinternet. They do the job providing you understand that any info pertaining to pubs etc is light years out of date. They do however tell you lots about churches!! :huh: I don't use anything on a laptop/smartfone as paper is still tops and cheaper if it gets wet or disappears intut oggin. As others have said we update with mooring spots and supermarkets etc as we go along.

Do you still have/use the tall thin shaped versions?

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Nicholson's are popular. I like them for their accuracy based on Ordnance Survey maps. Lots of info added for boaters - but regretfully and b***d* annoying , they overprint the map and obliterate important local details, like things useful to know adjacent to the canal, when you get there. So it is useful to have an OS map of the area as well.

Philip's Navigator Britain map is very good for road and canal network access points and towns, villages etc - but a bit bulky.

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4 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Said before but worth repeating.

I prefer the 'personality' of the Pearson guides but you have to get used to North being a moveable feast on the maps.

Agreed. In my opinion Pearson's make for a more interesting read but Nicholson's are better when on the move due to North always being at the top of the page and because they stay open better due to the ring binding.

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3 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

In addition to the Nicholsons I also like the PDF maps from https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/wr/

I just print off and laminate the relevant pages ahead of time as the cruising ring maps cover a wider area than we do in a week
They don't show you the sights, but give more detailed info as to what services are provided IMO

We use Nicholoson's to get the overview but I agree, the waterwayroutes maps have more detail and particularly where the piled moorings are on the Oxford (hooray) but they dont show the pubs (booo). A combination of both is the answer.

  • Greenie 1
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