Best place to go on barge?

NiCkNaMe

NiCkNaMe

NiCkNaMe

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17 Jul 2005
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Hi all,

Went on a barge holiday earlier in the year, and we ended up going down Coventry, left from Rugby. Was a fairly good route, allowed us to actually go into coventry on one of the nights and it seemed ok, lacked decent pubs though. We only went for 3 nights, so couldn't make much distance either.

Anyway, we've decided we want to go on one again (cuz they're class :p)... but can't make our minds up where to go!... we want to have some rural parts, but be able to go into a city and maybe go clubbing on one of the nights... decent pubs are a must on the route as well :p

We aint fixed on whether we're going on a barge yet, we were originally going to drive to France and stay in a mobile home thingy, but decided against that now.

Cheers
 
I'd reccommend the Kennet & Avon.
Pick the boat up at Aldermaston, head west toward Devizes/Bristol, stop over in Newbury for your clubby night, and enjoy the stunning country side for the rest of the trip.

Brilliant holiday.
 
It's not quite barges but there's always the Norfolk broads. Can get to Norwich or Yarmouth on them as well as all the countryside stuff.
 
meh we got told that loads of times last time we went, I always call it a barge thougH! :p

as an aside, we're considering camping for the week down near newquay. If I was to be after somewhere withing reasonable distance of newquay centre (for the clubs)... and in walking distance to beach - can anyone reccomend any campsites?

Siding towards getting a static van, there'l be 8 of us... mixed group all aged 19/20.
 
NiCkNaMe said:
meh we got told that loads of times last time we went, I always call it a barge thougH! :p
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I was playing an open air gig called Rock On The Lock and by the left side of us was a lock :eek:
I'd been telling the bass player about Narrowboat owners hating the word barge but he didn't believe me.
As we were playing we could see heads rising up to the left of us and it was a narrowboat rising in the lock.
As they reached full water height, amazed that a live band was 10 foot away and we had just finished a song, I shouted out "Nice barge you got there mate".
He angrily shouted back "Its not a bloody barge, its a narrowboat" and my bass player couldn't get off the ground :D
 
depends how much time youve got, if you go none stop at full speed for 10 hours your still only going to have a range of around 80 miles, so your best bets to get on the old net and look up canal journeys near you, theres loads of information for them :)


[TW]Fox said:
Birmingham.

The BCN (Birminghan Canal Navigations) is pretty awesome - amazing history there.
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hmmm... somehow going for a cultured journey to birmingham doesnt seem right... still, if you like concrete, miserable people, and a shopping centre that looks like a HUGE golf ball, who am i to argue ? :D
 
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locutus12 said:
hmmm... somehow going for a cultured journey to birmingham doesnt seem right... still, if you like concrete, miserable people, and a shopping centre that looks like a HUGE golf ball, who am i to argue ? :D
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The Canal network of Birmingham snakes around all the 1800's industrial buildings etc etc - it's reasonably interesting.
 
[TW]Fox said:
The Canal network of Birmingham snakes around all the 1800's industrial buildings etc etc - it's reasonably interesting.
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Reminds me of the Holiday Swap program where one family was doing the Birmingham Canals and the woman was giving the history of every single place along the canal to the other family. I thought they were going to drown her.
 
dmpoole said:
Reminds me of the Holiday Swap program where one family was doing the Birmingham Canals and the woman was giving the history of every single place along the canal to the other family. I thought they were going to drown her.
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especially given all those nice old buildings are now "trendy" appartments for people of over estimated importance...
 
dmpoole said:
ITS NOT A BLOODY BARGE - ITS A NARROWBOAT.
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Quoted for truth.

We have a narrow boat on the Leeds and Liverpool. Arr it be lovely up't north!
/bad accent

Anyhow, if you are going to be doing it, I would suggest going this way rather than hiring in the south. The canals are far more peaceful and far less congested up here :).
 
I did Inverness to Fort William (and back again in 7 days) last year - it was bloody brilliant. Wasnt on a Narrow Boat it was a 56 footer motorboat (need it for Lochness can get a bit choppy). However there isnt much in the way of Clubs on the route.... in fact all bar one stop had on shore power :p Lots of pubs tho.

Clubbing is over rated and a waste of time anyway ;)
 
[TW]Fox said:
The Canal network of Birmingham snakes around all the 1800's industrial buildings etc etc - it's reasonably interesting.
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you'll love canal's in stoke-on-trent then, just be carefull of teenagers hurling abuse at you in hanley park
 
We've done this the last 2 years and have booked a holiday again this year :) There are 8 of us too, and we're using 'sileby mill boatyard' - between Leicester and Loughborough. The Leicester ring goes south from there, down to foxton and around west, past coventry and burton on trent and back through loughborough. Its a great course, just make sure you pass through the dodgy towns during the day. (Last year we had to moor up overnight in the middle of loughborough.. big mistake! Chav central ;))
The circuit can be done in a week if you're willing to get up early (and with 8 people you can always have someone steering throughout the day) or you can take it easy and do it in a fortnight.
Even if you choose a different route, make sure you do foxton locks. They're fantastic fun, and you get all the tourists photographing you as you go through :)

Hope you have fun anyway, its an awesome way to spend a holiday :)
 
Sone said:
you'll love canal's in stoke-on-trent then, just be carefull of teenagers hurling abuse at you in hanley park
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Couldn't agree more about the teenagers. The long tunnel is pretty cool if you are going north from Stoke.

I've done the Four Counties and Cheshire Ring, both ideal if you are going for about a week. Plently of locks and flights, which was great fun as there were about eight of us on board the boat.

Just last week me transportred our narrowboat from Napton to Norbury. There were only three of us but wasn't too bad as there weren't many locks compared to going through Birmingham. Only encounterd troublesome teenages in Tamworth, who threw empty beer cans, and a teenager near Wolverhampton, who pelted stones :eek: :confused: - must remeber to take a hard hat next time.

Apparently the Welsh canal is very tranquille, though I have no idea about nightclubs.

If you buy the Nicholson canal maps, it marks and gives a brief guides to near by services like pubs.
 
calnen said:
We've done this the last 2 years and have booked a holiday again this year :) There are 8 of us too, and we're using 'sileby mill boatyard' - between Leicester and Loughborough. The Leicester ring goes south from there, down to foxton and around west, past coventry and burton on trent and back through loughborough. Its a great course, just make sure you pass through the dodgy towns during the day. (Last year we had to moor up overnight in the middle of loughborough.. big mistake! Chav central ;))
The circuit can be done in a week if you're willing to get up early (and with 8 people you can always have someone steering throughout the day) or you can take it easy and do it in a fortnight.
Even if you choose a different route, make sure you do foxton locks. They're fantastic fun, and you get all the tourists photographing you as you go through :)

Hope you have fun anyway, its an awesome way to spend a holiday :)
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Yea we had the tourists foreign and local taking pics of us going through Fort Augustus. It had 5 steps... took best part of a day to get through damn hard work too when you are the only male under the age of 50 :mad:
 
Noxis said:
Yea we had the tourists foreign and local taking pics of us going through Fort Augustus. It had 5 steps... took best part of a day to get through damn hard work too when you are the only male under the age of 50 :mad:
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Yikes! Thats ages :S I cant remember how many steps foxton has but its a lot.. getting on for 10 I think, but that only took us a couple of hours. The trick is to get there early, I gather pretty long queues build up by lunchtime.
 
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