The purpose of this particular section is to provide you with information about the range of cruising options possible using Canaltime at Worcester as your base.
LLANGOLLEN & RETURN
7 Nights • Cruising Time Per day: 5 Hrs • Locks: 4
The Llangollen Canal has some beautiful scenery and breathtaking engineering, and is one of the most popular canals in Britain.
• It combines the gentle countryside of Shropshire and crosses the border into Wales over Chirk Aqueduct.
• It boasts one of the most striking features on the UK canal network- the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which you will have to travel across before you get to Llangollen. So how do you pronounce Pontcysyllte? Aim at something like “Pont-kersulty”.
• Unusually, this canal has a flow of 2mph as it feeds other canals, so the outbound journey will always be slower than on the way back.
• New visitor moorings in Llangollen are now available, but charges do apply and you need to arrive by 4.30pm.
• In a week from Blackwater you will be able to take a leisurely cruise and spend more time enjoying the activities around Llangollen (www.llangollen.org.uk), or you could decide to return and either go down the Montgomery or up to Whitchurch.
THE CHESHIRE RING
14 Nights • Cruising Time Per day: 7 Hrs • Locks: 137
The ring takes in the whole of the Macclesfield Canal, parts of the Trent & Mersey, Bridgewater, Rochdale, Ashton and Peak Forest Canals, providing a range of scenery.
• Enjoy glorious scenery as the Macclesfield Canal skirts the edge of the Pennines.
• If time allows why not take a detour from Marple along the Peak Forest Canal and enjoy stunning views.
• You will cruise through the heart of Manchester and moor at Castlefield to explore the city and places such as Old Trafford, home of ‘Man U’ (www.manutd.co.uk), the Arndale shopping centre
or the Museum of Science and Industry (www.mosi.org.uk).
• This route has a variety of canal features including broad and narrow locks, aqueducts and tunnels, and the distinctive stone architecture of the Peak District.
CHESTER OR ELLESMERE PORT & RETURN
7-10 Nights • Cruising Time Per day: 6-7.5 Hrs • Locks: 66/74
• From Blackwater you will travel up the Llangollen Canal to join the Shropshire Union Canal.
• Travelling to Chester can be completed in a week.
• Chester has plenty to do such as walking the City Walls, visiting the cathedral, shopping or dining out (see www.visitchester.com for more details).
THE FOUR COUNTIES RING
14 Nights • Cruising Time Per day: 7 Hrs • Locks: 132
Takes you along the wonderfully rural Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Great Haywood Junction.
• Passing under a distinctive roving bridge, you join the Trent & Mersey Canal heading north towards the Potteries and Peak District.
• Rolling Staffordshire countryside leads you to Stoke-on-Trent, the Wedgwood Visitor Centre and the impressive 2926-yard long Harecastle Tunnel.
• The scenery on the climb up ‘Heartbreak Hill’ to the summit at Kidsgrove is fantastic.
• Beyond Harecastle the 13 miles to the salt town of Middlewich sees the canal descend 31 locks to the Cheshire Plains.
• The short Middlewich arm links the Trent and Mersey Canal to the Shropshire Union Canal again through more glorious countryside.
