|
Our Gailey base is located near the
northern end of the delightfully rural Staffs and Worcester
Canal just south of Stafford. The site is well placed for
a variety of one week scenic cruises including the highly
popular Four Counties Ring.
There are also a number of relaxing short
break routes as well as several exciting options for those
who have two weeks or longer to spare.
Road access couldn't be easier with the
base positioned on the A5, just 400 yards from its junction
with the M6. Rail travellers can head for either Stafford
or Wolverhampton Main Line and take a taxi (approx. 7 miles.)
Directions to the
Hire Base by car and public transport.
Click here
for our Cruising Guides
(Click on the tours below for full details
of each trip)
| |
If this is your
first time afloat or if you are just looking for a
relaxing and easy time away from it all, this trip
is ideal. |
| |
A very popular,
circular route that takes you on a fascinating voyage
of discovery through parts of Staffordshire, Shropshire
and Cheshire. An active week, but well worth the effort. |
| |
Staffordshire
and Worcestershire Canal. This is a comfortable one
week cruise to the town of Stourport and back, along
what is almost certainly one of England's prettiest
waterways. |
|
|
An
energetic, but very rewarding trip onto a visually
stunning and yet under-used canal. |
| |
If you are planning
a holiday of two weeks or longer, then we have a wealth
of options. |
| Tour
14 (1 week)
Shropshire Union Canal
40 Miles - 62 Locks - 4+ hours cruising per day.
Leaving Gailey, you head south down the Staffs.
and Worcs. Canal to Autherley Junction, where you
turn right and join the start of the Shropshire Union
Canal (Shroppie). You soon get to appreciate the contrast
between the earlier 'contour' canal that you have
just left and the gem that is the 'Shroppie'.
Your journey northwards towards the
Cheshire Plains through rural Shropshire countryside,
takes in impressively deep cuttings, dramatic embankments
and splendid architecture.
Market Drayton, Audlem and Nantwich
are all delightful places to visit along the way,
either on the way out or on the return leg of your
journey.
Finally though, you need turn around
and head back to Gailey, retracing your steps and
enjoying the new perspective that cruising in this
new direction brings. |
Return to the top of the page
| Tour
15 (1 week)
Four Counties Ring
110 Miles - 94 Locks - 8+ hours cruising per
day
This journey takes you up the wonderfully
rural Staffs. and Worcs. Canal, past the town of Penkridge,
to Great Haywood Junction where, passing under a roving
bridge, you join the Trent and Mersey Canal heading
north towards the potteries and Peak district. The
rolling Staffordshire countryside leads you to Stoke
on Trent, the Wedgewood pottery's Visitors Centre
and the impressive 2926 yard long Harecastle Tunnel.
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 which brings you south again through more
glorious countryside.
This beautifully engineered canal
with its cuttings and embankments and relatively few
locks, takes an almost direct route to Autherley Junction
where it meets the Staffs. and Worcs. Canal for the
last leg back to our Gailey base. |
Return to the top of the page
| Tour
16 (1 Week))
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
40 Miles - 62 Locks - 4+ hours cruising per day
This is a comfortable one week cruise to
Stourport and back, along what is almost certainly
one of England's prettiest waterways. Throughout its
length, this historic canal follows the local land
contours as it winds its way south towards its junction
with the River Severn at the unique inland port of
Stourport.
Along the way you pass the entrance
to the Shropshire Union Canal, which heads northwards
through Shropshire towards the Cheshire plains.
As you continue south, you soon reach
Bratch locks, which is a distinctive and unusual flight
of three locks, together with an octagonal toll office.
From here the canal adopts an even more rural aspect:
secluded woodlands with rocky cliffs of red sandstone,
give way to an area of quite water meadows as you
approach the outskirts of the carpet-manufacturing
town of Kidderminster.
Kidderminster also hosts the southern
terminus of the Severn Valley Steam Railway, which
is well worth a half-day trip. Finally you reach Stourport
with its intriguing combination of engineering features
and fine period buildings.
As an alternative to cruising all
the way down to Stourport, or for a change of scenery
on the return trip, you can always turn onto the Stourbridge
Canal at Stourton Junction, and travel up to Birmingham,
where the Black Country Museum at Dudley is a must.
You then follow the Birmingham Main
Line Canal to Wolverhampton where the canal drops
back down through a flight of 21 locks to rejoin the
Staffs. and Worcs. Canal. This detour adds some 34
locks and plenty of miles to your journey and is therefore
not for the fainthearted! |
Return to the top of the page
| Tour
17 (2 weeks)
Caldon Canal
A bit of stamina is required for this cruise but your
efforts will not go unrewarded!
To reach the Caldon Canal you cruise
up the Staffs and Worcester Canal, past the town of
Penkridge,
to Great Haywood junction. Here you join the Trent
and Mersey Canal heading north towards the potteries.
At Etruria junction you turn right
onto the Caldon Canal which must rate as one of the
most delightful waterways in the country. It quickly
climbs out of the urban edge of the Potteries and
your journey takes you up to Cheddleton, heading towards
the Peak District, where you enter the Churnet Valley.
The countryside along this valley
is stunning and the outward journey all too soon comes
to an end at Froghall, nestling deep in the woodlands,
where you will need to turn and retrace your route
to Gailey. |
Return to the top of the page
Tour
18 (2 weeks)
Various Two Week Trips
If you are planning a holiday of two weeks or longer,
then there is a wealth of options from our Gailey
Hire Base.The most popular choice is to take a leisurely
cruise around the Four Counties Ring (Tour
15), taking any one of several side trips such
as the Caldon Canal, the Llangollen Canal, or a
run up to Chester and the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum.
Alternatively, you can undertake an extended version
of either the Warwickshire Ring (Tour
11), or the Leicester Ring (Tour
13).To cruise the Warwickshire Ring, you would
turn right at Fradley Junction (Trent & Mersey
Canal) and then cruise down past our Rugby Base
to the Grand Union Canal. Follow the Grand Union
Canal up to Birmingham and then carry on along the
Birmingham Main Line to Wolverhampton where a flight
of 21 locks returns you to the Staffordshire and
Worcestershire Canal close to Autherley Junction.
From here it is only a few miles back to Gailey.
(Total of 122 locks).For the Leicester Ring, you
would cruise up the Staffs. and Worcs. Canal to
Great Haywood where you would turn right onto the
Trent & Mersey Canal. This takes you to Fradley
Junction where you join Tour
13 from our Rugby Base. (Total of 136 locks).
|
Return to the top of the page
|
