Historic Canals of England
An adventure of a lifetime
When most people consider a holiday to the UK they think only of London. But the UK offers so much more than a visit to London. Without a doubt, the historic canals of England is one of the best adventure holidays you'll ever be able to do, a chance to see the real England and all the history along the way. It is a journey of a lifetime.
For those of you unaware, the canals of England (and Wales and Scotland) are all man-made structures built over two centuries ago to provide raw materials to the factories during the Industrial Revolution. Essentially, it's these canals that were the highways of that period, carrying mostly coal, raw cotton and labour to the various factories that dotted the landscape. They transported finished goods down to London for sale or export.
The canals span the entire country from Leeds and York in the north of England, connecting to the cotton and ceramic factories in the midlands and Wales and all the way down to London.
There is also a completely separate canal which navigates from Glasgow to Edinburgh, the Union Canal.
If you're looking for an opportunity to explore the real England, visiting the hundreds of the historic towns and villages, then a canal holiday is your best bet. However, the canals offer more than just a cruising holiday. For many, it's a way of life. It was mine for four years. That's right, for those of us lucky enough to be able to live here, even for 6 months of the year, one can live on the canals, permanently, buying and living on your own boat instead of hiring it for only a few weeks.
After arriving in England and discovering canals for myself, I realised this is the best and frankly only way to see all of what England has to offer. I visited places I would never have dreamed about going, let alone actually planning to visit these areas of historical significance.
My journey began in Manchester, on the very first canal ever built, The Bridgewater Canal, in a tiny 24 foot cruiser with an 8Hp outboard engine on the back. I spent many months fitting it out which included a solar panel so I could charge my smartphone plus a wood stove so I could keep myself warm during the bitter winter months. 2 years later, I bought a proper steel narrowboat.
Historically, traditional style narrowboats were horse drawn vessels, a long boat up to 72 feet in length, and just under 7 feet wide. They were mostly a shell at the front, used for carrying cargo such as coal, with a tiny cabin at the back for it's crew. Back in the day, these rear cabins offered little in the way of creature comforts. They often had a coal fired stove, somewhere to sleep and that was about it. Nowadays, modern narrowboats come with many more creature comforts including diesel engines, shower and toilet, a galley kitchen and somewhere decent to sleep, often for up to 8-10 people.
I recorded a vlog on YouTube documenting all my travels around England.
You can view it HERE
Locks
The English landscape is quite hilly, so to navigate over them, locks were built. Using a very clever technique which equalised the water levels between the upper and lower water level, boats were able to climb up a hill and back down again. Quite often a series of locks were used (called a flight) to navigate up a long steep hill.
Misspent 1
My 1st boat, a 24ft fibreglass cruiser with zero creature comforts. I dubbed it my floating tent. But it was my home for 2 years. I travelled over 1000 miles in this tiny boat.
Elementary
My 2nd boat, a 62ft traditional style narrowboat. It was fully equipped with a diesel engine, a bathroom, a kitchen, living and sleeping quarters.
Sande Forde
One of the many narrowboats you can hire from various locations all around the country. This vessel could sleep 6 comfortably.
One of the highlights of a canal boat holiday is the beautiful scenery you'll encounter along your journey, especially during the spring and summer seasons. During this time of the year, the canals come alive with an abundance of wildlife, flora and magical sunsets. Below is a small sample of the imagery you'll like encounter on your holiday. I would often moor up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, break out the deck chairs and a bottle of wine for a lovely, peaceful canalside BBQ.
Hiring Vs Buying
If you're only here for a few weeks, then hiring a narrowboat is the way to go. But be warned, they can be expensive. It's not uncommon to spend £1000 per week for a canal boat holiday. Of course, the more people you have on board, the cheaper it becomes per person. As for location, you can hire a boat pretty much anywhere. Many people I know hire a boat in different parts of the country so they can explore a specific canal or area.
If you have 6 months or if you live here permanently and want to lead an alternative lifestyle, then buying is the way to go. But again, be warned, owning a boat is not the same as hiring one as you have an annual licence fee to pay, attend to a never ending maintenance schedule including servicing your deisel engine, rust treatment etc. There is a running joke in the boating community that boat stands for "Break Out Another Thousand", cause when things go wrong on a boat, it can cost upwards of a thousand pounds to fix.
Buying a boat is also an expensive process, not as much as a house mind you. On the cheap end of the scale, if you want a project boat with a lot of work needing done, then you could pick up a 2nd hand boat for around £20,000. However, if you want a vessel that you simply turn the key and start cruising and don't want the hassle of having to fix everything, then be prepared to spend upwards of £50,000. Some of the nicer boats will set you back closer to £100,000, quite possibly more.
Don't worry too much about reselling your boat after you've used it. The 2nd hand market is very buoyant here in the UK and you shouldn't have too many issues selling your boat once you're done cruising.