Canal Boat Routes

Click each route on the drop down menu on the right, then then the small black box to highlight the routes on the map below.

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1 Week Circular

4 counties ring – Autherley, Barbridge, Middlewich, Harecastle -THIS RING IS NOW OPEN

2 Week Circular

Stourport, Worcester, Birmingham, Fradley

Burton, Leicester, Braunston, Fradley

Autherley, Llangollen, Chester, Middlewich – THIS RING IS NOW OPEN

230 miles | 164 locks | 123 hours

How do I describe the Llangollen Canal? It’s possibly the most popular Canal, being a route to the Welsh Hills, featuring outstanding scenery and having the World famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It is manly unspoilt agricultural countryside, with just enough locks, tunnels, pubs and villages to add to the excitement.
Leaving the Four Counties Ring at Hurlstone Junction, the Llangollen ascends through a short flight of locks aiming for the villages Wrenbury and Marbury plus those who don’t like walk far for the local watering hole Willeymoor lock which has its own pub on the side.
Grindley brook is a Little tricky, the top three locks being staircased together can cause a bottlenecks. Once you have navigated this flight your next Village is Whitchurch with good moorings. It’s famous for cheese making. Continuing on you pass through a number of lift bridges, all the time meandering between Shropshire and Wales.
A short tunnel precedes Ellesmere, an old town with some good shops specialising in local produce, with pleasant moorings central to the town and near to the canal company's original workshops.
Passing through the last pair of locks at New Marton on your way to Wales, you soon see that the canal runs parallel to the London-Holyhead road. As the canal turns into a wooded corner, in front of you appears two huge stone bridges, an aqueduct and a viaduct, carrying the canal and a railway, across the valley of the River Ceiriog, from UK into Wales. Directly followed by a long tunnel opening out onto the moorings for Chirk. Through the woodlands your next spectacular site is the World Heritage Poncysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee. An astonishing feat early engineering anywhere in the world. The 18 kilometres of canal from Chirk to Llangollen was awarded World Heritage site status by Unesco in 2009. 120 feet below the iron trough is the River Dee. The trough is no wider than a narrowboat with a balustraded walkway to one side. I always think that this is the most beautiful part of the Llangollen Canal as it makes its way through the valley to the summit and Llangollen town itself. The new mooring basin is a lovely spot to stay in overnight and don’t forget to visit the Steam Railway and take a trip to the Horse shoe falls from where the canal is fed.

The Montgomery Canal
Just passed Ellesmere is the junction for the Mongomery Canal, it is often forgotten. To date I have never been. The Montgomery Canal had been abandoned after a breach in 1936, until those who cared, backed by the Inland Waterways Association, persuaded British Waterways that The Montgomery Canal could be saved for future generations. In 1987 Frankton Locks were restored, but then stood idle for almost 10 years. The Montgomery Canal has 7 miles of navigable waterway, maybe in the future the major obstacles will be removed

2 Week Non Circular

Stourport, Tewkesbury, Pershore

Fradley, Braunston, Oxford or Banbury

Popular Local Routes

Stourport – 1 Week to 10 Days

Penkridge or Rugeley – 3 & 4 Night

Marple – 1 Week

Market Drayton – 1 Week

Loughborough – 1Week

Leek & Froghall – 4 night or Week

Fradley – 4 Days

Fazeley & Autherley – 1 Week

Coventry – 1 Week

Chester – 1week or 10 days

Burton & Fazeley – 1 Week

The Black Country Ring

Fradley, Birmingham, Autherley – 1 Week

The Cheshire Ring

Kidsgrove, Mow Cop, Marple, Preston Brook – !0 Days