UKvacationsAfloat

We live in Toronto and stay aboard Kodran when holidaying to visit relatives in the UK and friends in Europe; but most of the time he is available to hire out to couples or larger groups of families and friends who, like us, love the experience of a get-away-from-it-all holiday on the Midlands canal system.
Check Kodran’s availability and prices for week-long, weekend and mid-week breaks during the March to October cruising season, what to see and do on a narrowboat holiday and tips for what to bring along, especially if travelling from overseas, at ukvacationsafloat.com/quicklinks

A narrowboat is a long, narrow, steel hulled inland waterway vessel with a flat bottom to navigate shallow channels or canals. They were originally designed as cargo and raw material carriers as far back as the mid 18th Century, shipping between mines, manufacturers and customers and to sea ports for import and export of raw and finished materials. As their use evolved, living accomodation was incorporated to support workers who lived permanently aboard the vessels of the companies that employed them to transport goods. Often in cramped conditions, complete families were born and raised aboard narrowboats and each generation played a part in the vessel’s operation.
Narrowboat, barge, canal boat are terms often incorrectly used interchangeably to describe a narrowboat – never a longboat: they were the boats used by the Norse men or Vikings of Scandinavia – whose definition is a boat of no more than 7 foot beam (mostly specifically 6 foot 10 inches) and up to 70 feet long. These dimensions were dictated by the width of the earliest canals and the locks used to move up and down hilly terrain.

Kodran was built in 2006 of traditional materials but designed internally for the needs of the expansive inland waterways leisure industry. He is 6 foot 10 inches wide and 60 feet long. Accomodation is in two double cabins, configurable to single berths, with 2-3 extra berths converting from the seating in the forward saloon cabin. A fully equipped galley kitchen sits in the centre of the narrowboat and two washrooms either side of the bedroom cabins, the innermost washroom with a half ‘hip’ bath with shower over. Externally, Kodran is mastered from the cruiser stern at the rear of the boat, an area for engaging with the skipper – no sugar in my mug of tea, thank you – and for relaxing when moored.

A narrowboat holiday is a step back to a bygone age away from the bustle of 21st century life, gently cruising at 3 miles per hour in open country and through unspoiled English villages, many with restaurants and pubs right alongside the canal. Alternatively, and true to it’s historic roots, the canal system extends into the heart of England’s largest and historically industrial cities: Birmingham, once known as the City of 1000 Industries, Manchester, centre of the UK cotton industry and Stoke-on-Trent, the birthplace of the world famous pottery industry and home to Wedgwood, just one of many fine china potters still operating today.

Birmingham is closest to us and sits on the Black Country Ring (also known as the Staffordshire Ring) an excellent 1-week circuit from our base at Gailey Wharf – geographically at 11 o’clock on this circular canal route. This trip on the Birmingham Canal Network (BCN) is a great introduction to canal history as it tours through neighbourhoods literally at the crucible of the Industrial Revolution, the historic era whose burgeoning industries launched the canal transportation system. There’s a brutalist element to the crumbling architecture in the urban areas but the surrounding towns are very much alive and there’s a warm welcome in the local pubs. The Black Country Living Museum is well worth a visit on this itinerary, especially if you’re Peaky Binders fans as it’s revived historic streets and community buildings were used for many of the location shots. Central Birmingham itself is a key canal junction and it’s canal basins are now re-energised entertainment and housing hubs with extensive shopping and multiple bars and eateries. as soon as you’ve arrived in the centre of Britains second city, you leave it and pass into the quiet countryside of North Warwickshire and South Staffordshire.

The Staffordshire Potteries are also on our doorstep, on the Trent and Mersey canal – as the name suggests, this waterway was ‘cut’ (another informal name for Canal, see also ‘Navvies’, a crude name for the workers who dug the Navigation) to connect the navigable rivers Trent and Mersey. This canal, along with the Shropshire Union canal and our own Staffs and Worcester canal are the main navigations for the Four Counties Ring, a very popular canal holiday circuit. Gailey Wharf is geographically at 5 o’clock on this ring.
The Potteries conurbation of Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall, and Stoke-on-Trent has its own bitter sweet views of a once major industry and although Staffordshire Pottery still adorns the world’s finest dining tables it is an industry very much in decline. But its history is unmistakable and well preserved in the likes of the Wedgwood museum where visitors can throw their own pot!
Apart from the Potteries, the Four Counties Ring is mostly rural with rolling countryside and timeless villages still sporting all the Englishness of the local pub, grazing farm animals, cricket games and picnics in cornfields. It can be cruised with an active crew in a week, but why rush, 10 days is our recommendation. It also connects to the Caldon Canal arm in Staffordshire and the Llangollen canal on the English/Welsh border with it’s World Heritage Pontycysyllte aquaduct for those with 2 weeks or more to spare. Ask us about deals on our advertised weekly tariff for this length of trip.

Full instructions for operating Kodran and a complete walk through of his facilities are provided by our agents, the team at JD Boats Limited, who are certified boat builders and instructors. They will take you through all aspects of operating a narrowboat, how to get going and, more importantly, how to stop and moor-up. It’s not just at the end of the day when you’ll need skills to pull over to the bank and moor: at each lock there’s an etiquette to who waits and who gets to use the lock first. Luckily there’s a lock right at Gailey Wharf and the team will show you how to stage prior to entering, how to manage the boat in the lock and how to exit. Meanwhile your crew mates will be shown how to operate the lock and leave it safely for the next boat. It’s a very collaborative adventure, one ideally suited to get all members of the family involved.

As to how to find us and start your holiday, we’re located just 1/2 mile from Junction 12 on the M6 motorway with ample free, secure parking. For those of you arriving from overseas, Birmingham International airport is a 40 minute cab ride away. There is also a railway station locally at Penkridge with fast connections to Birmingham, Manchester and London. Be sure to check our tips for packing for a narrowboat holiday if you’re making us a part of a larger European adventure.

We look forward to welcoming you aboard!