Lockside

Three boats · no licence needed · four miles an hour

A week at walking pace, on a boat you steer yourself

Three narrowboats, a family yard at the bottom of a flight of locks, and an hour's lesson before you leave. We come with you through the first lock; after that the canal is yours.

See the four routes
A dark green narrowboat gliding along a tree-lined canal, a man in a hat steering at the stern.

The three boats

Kingfisher, Heron and the little one, Dabchick. All three were built within twenty miles of the yard, all three have a proper bed you don't have to make up every night, and a stove for October.

They're 57, 62 and 45 feet long. It sounds like a lot until you've steered one for an hour, and then it's just the length of the boat.

Kingfisher, 62 ftsleeps 6 · two cabins

Heron, 57 ftsleeps 4 · one cabin and a dinette

Dabchick, 45 ftsleeps 2 · the one for couples

Top speed4 mph, by law

Dogstwo, on any of them

A teal and red narrowboat moored against a grassy towpath, its reflection in the still water.

Four routes

All four start and end at the yard. Times are for a crew that isn't in a hurry, which is the only kind of crew there is at four miles an hour.

A narrowboat on a quiet canal between trees, tall purple wildflowers on the bank.

The long pound, a short break

Eleven miles with no locks at all, to a pub with moorings and back. The one for a first time, or for people who want to read on the roof.

3 nights · 0 locks · from £520

Boats moored along a straight canal, trees and blue sky mirrored in the water.

Up the flight

The twenty-one locks in a day and a half, then the summit and a wide view. Hard work for the crew, good fun for anyone under fifteen.

4 nights · 42 locks there and back · from £640

A long red and blue narrowboat moored in front of a row of tall brick townhouses.

Into town

Two days to moor in the middle of the city, beside a row of Georgian houses, and walk to the theatre. Most people stay two nights.

7 nights · 16 locks · from £980

A line of narrowboats moored under leafy trees, a low bridge further along the canal.

The ring

A full circle on three canals and a river, without turning round once. Only for crews who've been out with us before.

10–14 nights · 88 locks · from £1,380

A busy canal lock on a summer day, people leaning on the balance beams and boats waiting below.

Your first lock

We do the first one with you, on the morning you leave. This is the whole of it, going up; going down is the same, backwards.

  1. Tie up below the lock. One person stays on the boat, everyone else walks up with the windlass.

  2. Check the lock is empty. If it's full, open the bottom paddles and wait until the levels match.

  3. Open the bottom gates by leaning on the long beams. Slowly; they're heavy, not stuck.

  4. Bring the boat in and keep it forward of the cill marker. Close the gates behind it.

  5. Wind up the top paddles a little at a time. The boat rises; the steerer keeps it steady with the engine in gear, gently.

  6. Open the top gates, drive out, and close everything behind you. Then do it twenty more times.

Black and white lock gates with balance beams on a grey day, bare trees beyond. A pair of lock gates with a white footbridge, deep green trees all around.

Before you book

Better here than on the towpath on your first morning.

Somebody over 21
Must be aboard and in charge. No licence and no experience needed; the lesson covers steering, mooring, locks and the toilet, in that order of difficulty.
Two people who can walk
Locks need someone on the bank. A crew of one can hire Dabchick on the long pound, and nowhere else.
Children
Welcome from babies up, with a life jacket each, lent free. They wear them on deck and on the lockside, always.
Winter
From November to February the canal closes in stretches for repairs. We'll tell you which routes are open when you ring.
Fuel and water
Full when you leave, filled when you're back, charged at cost. There are water points every few miles.
If it goes wrong
A number to ring, answered at any hour, and one of us in the van within two hours on any of the four routes.
A grass towpath running beside a wide calm stretch of water, a boat moored in the distance.

The yard

Our grandfather bought it in 1971 when it was a coal wharf with a crane nobody used. We still have the crane. We service and paint the three boats here every winter, and you're welcome to come and look.

Park the car in the yard for the week, free. It'll be there when you come back, slightly muddier.

Ring to check a week