by Julia Kirk
Be surrounded by the peace and quiet of the countryside, as you indulge in a serene canal vacation.
The pace is slow and tranquil on board, but there’s plenty of activity for everyone to get involved with on a family holiday, especially when you’re manoeuvring through locks, tunnels and bridges along the way.
With the summer fast approaching LOOK have rounded up a few of the best waterways in Britain to give you food for thought as to where you might choose to holiday this summer.
- Graham Tait / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal
This is a canal that passes through some beautiful and stunning stretches of British countryside. You’ll travel through more than 50 miles of gentle Welsh countryside including the Usk Valley, Black Mountains and the Beacons.
A stop at Goytre Wharfin Penperlleniis a must. Here, you can explore a site that dates back over two centuries of industrial heritage. It’s right on the canal and you’ll find plenty of information about the canal, as well as a restaurant and souvenir shop. There’s also a gallery with local paintings on display.
- Tim Green aka atoach / Foter / CC BY
The Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal passes through the Pennine moors and you will enjoy varied scenic backdrops along the way as you travel past Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Heptonstall. The canal is not crowded, even in the height of summer, and you will enjoy a friendly welcome wherever you moor up.
Only three miles from Rochdale town you’ll find Hollingworth Lake – which was created in 1801 specifically to supply the canal with water. It soon became a rest spot for mill workers to spend their leisure time and today it still draws visitors who come to watch birds from the various hides stationed around the lake. There’s also the water sports centre where you can sail, canoe or windsurf, if you haven’t had enough of being on the water already!
- Paul Stevenson / Foter / CC BY
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Traveling on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, you’ll see stretches of beautiful countryside as well as tracts of urban landscape too. In the middle section you’ll traverse the Pennines, with the journey between Skipton and Gargrave being one of the most picturesque, with plenty of far reaching views.
A tourist attraction highlight on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is the Salts Mill and Saltaire Village. Today an art gallery which displays many David Hockney paintings, the former mill was built by Sir Titus Salt in the 1800s. When completed in 1853, it was the largest industrial building in the world. The mill closed in 1986 and renovation began the next year. Saltaire Village may be part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it’s also a thriving village where people still live.
- brianac37 / Foter / CC BY
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal
This canal was built to link the River Severn in Worcester to the Birmingham Canal System in a way that was quicker than going via the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
Anyone wishing to improve their fitness will do so by going through the Tardebigge Locks – a flight of 30 locks. As you travel along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal you’ll enjoy views over the counties of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire as well as further out to the Malvern Hills westwards. At one stage, there are 36 locks in a three-mile stretch, and it’s no mean feat to get through them all.
Stop off at the Museum of Royal Worcester to discover the history behind the Worcester porcelain factory that was established on the banks of the Severn in 1751. Physician Dr John Wall and apothecary William Davis developed their own method for producing porcelain here.
- suziesue_00 / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
Caldon Canal
Once one of the most industrialized canals in Britain, the Caldon Canal near Stoke on Trent is now one of the greenest. The canal begins at Festival Park Marina in Stoke and divides into two branches at Hazelhurst Junction. You can travel up to Froghall Tunnel and return on the beautiful Leek branch. As you travel along you may spot kingfishers darting in and out of the water as the canal passes through wooded valleys.
A great stopping off point is Churnet Valley where you can ride a steam railway through what is also called Staffordshire’s Little Switzerland.
A canal boat holiday is a fantastic way to get a totally new perspective on both Britain’s countryside and its urban areas. It’s also the perfect antidote to the busy and hectic lives most of us lead today.