Narrow boat hire from
Middlewich Narrowboats
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Middlewich Narrowboats, traditional
narrow boat hire holidays since 1971 |
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 Our
company has been running since 1971, and
we are a small family run business.
Every customer will be dealt with by a
member of staff. We are not a central
booking office.
We have a variety of narrow boat hire boats from fully
modernised narrow boats with facilities
for ipods and games consoles etc, to
fully traditional style narrow boats with
traditional style boatman's cabins with
solid stoves and authentic canalboat
engines.
All of our staff have in depth knowledge
of the boats and the waterways. We are
at the very hub of the famous, historic
canal system of the North West and from
our base - 3 main routes radiate, see
our
Cheshire Ring,
Four Counties Ring and
Llangollen Canal Routes
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Getting to us
Access by road from M6
Motorway
Turn off the motorway at Junction 18 and
take the A54 to Middlewich (2miles).
At the traffic lights in Middlewich turn
left (towards Sandbach) and Canal
Terrace is
approximately 1/4 mile on the left.
There is a red painted shop on the
corner called
Winsford plant Hire.
Time from London is approx. 3 hours
under normal traffic conditions.
Access by Rail
If travelling via Manchester Airport
Station, you can either go to Crewe and
get a taxi
from there (approx. £30 return see
below), or you can come direct from the
Airport
in a taxi (approx £56 return for up to 4
persons) or, you could catch a bus from
Crewe to Middlewich, alighting at the
British legion. Canal Terrace is
directly
opposite.
If travelling from elsewhere, you can go
to Winsford. This is one stop from Crewe
on the Liverpool line. There is a taxi
and bus service from here, which is
about
3 miles from Middlewich. If on the bus,
alight at the Cheshire Cheese public
house.
There is a train service from most parts
of the country to Crewe, and a regular
service from London Euston, Birmingham,
Holyhead and Glasgow. Time from
London is approximately 2 hours.
If travelling from Heathrow Airport,
travel into London by airport bus and
taxi,
or underground (Picadilly Line) and go
to Euston.
If travelling from Gatwick Airport,
travel by train to London Victoria
Station and then
underground (Victoria Line) or taxi to
Euston.
Please note, there can be lots of stairs
on the underground, so if you have a lot
of luggage, taxi travel may be
preferable.
For a taxi service, we recommend AK
Taxis,
akprivatehire@btinternet.com and their number is 01606 836551.
Why not start your trip with lunch in
Middlewich, we recommend
Kandi Bar & Grill. |
How did it
all start?
The first real canal was the
Bridgwater, built by the Duke of
Bridgwater and his engineer
James Brindley, to move large
quantities of coal from his mine
in Worsley to Manchester, 8
miles away. It was originally an
underground system of 46 miles
of canal including locks and the
first aqueduct at Barton. This
soon gave rise to the Trent &
Mersey canal on which we are
situated, and where the first
tunnels were built. The canals
were built by wandering
navigators (Navvies) using
mainly hand labour, they were
“contour canals” following the
profile of the land. Later, an
engineer called Thomas Telford,
built straighter and more level
canals, he built the Shropshire
Union and famous aqueducts at
Chirk and Pontysyllte on the
Llangollen canal. |
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Experience
narrow boat hire with
Middlewich Narrowboats and you’ll
leave the hum drum behind from
the moment you cast off
Britain's
canal system was hereby created
joining most towns and they
prospered until the railways
came, which brought a decline in
canal carrying, the worst of
which was during the 1940’s &
1950’s. This meant that canal
people could no longer afford to
live in houses and so lived on
their boats in cramped but neat
and tidy back cabins, thus the
narrowboat was created, firstly
horse-drawn or occasionally
steam powered, then diesel
engined and usually towing
another boat, or “Butty”. Now
the canals have a new life as
recreational waterways and many
long abandoned canals have been
cleared and restored. |
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