Canal boat holiday with Drifters

Canal boat holiday with Drifters

Canal boat holidays are a lot of fun. I have had the pleasure of a canal boat trip twice before, but they have always been a fairly relaxed affair. My route criteria had been as few locks as possible, juxtaposed with as many pubs as possible along the way. My latest adventure however, was to take another turn.

It all started off well as we picked up our narrow boat, the Bragi, a rather cute 42 foot boat. We travelled on this sunshine yellow craft from Gailey Marina, as a press trip courtesy of Drifters Waterway Holidays. The boat yard is in Staffordshire, just off the M6, and is run by ABC Boat Hire. My crew and I had a brief lesson on steering from Nigel at the boatyard, and briefly covered other matters such as how to clear your weed hatch and where to store your windlass.

Although I had driven a boat before, I think once I got off that last time, I managed to completely lose any previous expertise I had acquired.

Day one on our canal boat

The first afternoon went well along the course of the Staffordshire and Worcester canal. The route was fairly wide and we glide past charming canal side dwellings as well as the odd chemical or sewage works.

This canal is a little bit more urban than previous ones I have sailed. Tunnels have a bit of urban graffiti, and the odd housing estate punctuates the stretches of tree lined waterway.  The first night we moored up next to a bridge which in the morning was shrouded in a beautiful mist rising from the water at dawn.

We set off on day two in high spirits. And then it happened.

The Wolverhampton 21

An error in navigation ( as the captain I took responsibility for this) led us left instead of right. We came unexpectedly face to face with the Wolverhampton 21. The Wolverhampton 21 is a continuous flight of 21 locks you apparently cannot escape from, until you sail into Wolverhampton town centre. Final destination – Birmingham!

We did not realise our fate until we were told we couldn’t turn round and would have to go all the way to the top before we could come back! This was not what we wanted to hear. Our devil may care crew started to get a bit crabby with each other as the grim reality of the task ahead set in. Passersby were encouraging. ‘You can put it on your CV!’ one gentleman said, ‘You’ve done the Wolvie 21!’

One good thing was that it was an absolutely beautiful late summer day. This made the running backwards and forwards, filling locks and shoving lock paddles by the application of one’s not inconsiderable body weight, slightly less of a trial. The locks are very old and quite stiff too. A bonus bicep workout. Unless you have muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the locks take quite some time to negotiate.

Turning round is not easy

About half way up the flight we came across a widening of the canal. At last, an opportunity to turn around!  On the towpath, we met a local, Alan, carrying his chihuahua, Towser, in his bicycle basket. Alan confirmed that we could turn around here and that we he would help us with a bit of a tow on the rope. This he duly did. Success! We set off back down the flight of locks in short order straight after we had just come up them!

This time we had boats following us down all the locks. A helpful lady who had a sort of ‘super windlass’ to tackle just such a situation, helped us out at every lock. I kept asking her ‘how many now?’

The canal community

Everyone you meet on the canal is so helpful and friendly, it really makes even our navigational faux pas a positive experience. You meet people and they immediately strike up a conversation with you and help you out if you need it. Once again I am struck by the warmth of the canal community.

Our intention of larking off to the pub that evening never happened as we collapsed exhausted at about 8.30pm. For anyone who has trouble sleeping, I can recommend a run at the Wolvie 21.

The next day we continued on to the Shropshire canal ‘the Shroppie,’ which was where we should have gone in the first place. We headed for Brewood (pronounced ‘Brood’) a rather picturesque little market town. To reach Brewood you need to traverse ‘the narrows’ which, sounding like a Game of Thrones location, are unsurprisingly very narrow. This is a one way waterway.

Canal wildlife

The canals are very pretty here with sunlight dappling through the willow trees. We saw quite a few herons fishing on the canal side, and a whole flock of Canada Geese making ready for their migration south. We even saw the flash of two bright blue kingfishers dipping along the water’s edge.

A few miles further on you reach the Stretton aqueduct. We would have liked to have seen this but we needed to turn back at this point, so we could get back to the marina in time. It was a more adventurous route than I had originally planned, but great fun is always to be had on our great canal network!

Drifters’ Fact Box Info

Drifters Waterway Holidays offers 550 canal boats for hire from 45 bases across England, Scotland and Wales.There are over 3,000 miles of waterways for you to discover, all at your own pace and you don’t need to be an expert. Narrowboats range from 32ft to 70ft and can accommodate from two up to 12 people.

For more information visit https://www.drifters.co.uk/ or call 0344 984 0322 @Drifters6 #driftersboating

For more information about visiting the canal network www.canalrivertrust.org.uk @CanalRiverTrust #LifesBetterByWater

Drifters Waterway Holidays is made up of nine hire boat companies: ABC Boat Hire, Anglo Welsh, Black Prince, Countrywide Cruisers, Foxhangers, Kate Boats, Napton Narrowboats, Shire Cruisers and Union Canal Carriers.

Check out my other canal boat adventures.

Canal Boat Holiday from Whixall Marina

Canal Boat Holiday from Stockton Top Marina