Canal Boat Holiday Base Information - Base 15

Base 15 is south of Manchester. It is owned by one of the UK's leading boat operators. It is close to rail and motorway links and not far from Manchester Airport.

Situated near Northwich, base 15 is a good starting point for a number of routes. Travelling north, you meet the canal where it all started - the Bridgewater canal, which takes you lock free to Manchester. From there you can travel to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, or continue on the Cheshire Ring via the Peak Forest and Macclesfield.

Apart from Manchester itself, currently being cleaned up, this is a beautiful route with constantly changing scenery. South of base you can travel the Four Counties Ring, or meander up to Chester and beyond to the Ellesmere Port boat museum.

ONE-WEEK ROUTES

Wigan and return:
83 miles, 6 locks, 4 hours cruising per day.
A very pleasant and easy run with many miles of lock-free cruising. Leaving the base you travel onto the first British canal built by the Duke of Bridgewater to transport coal to Manchester. On this you can see the mine entrances, together with the later Barton Swing Bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal, where the whole canal is swung to let large ships through. At Wigan the Pier Museum, and the Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine (the world's largest), are well worth a visit.

Chester and return:
98 miles, 52 locks, 5 hours cruising per day.. A slightly more vigorous route, but still easily manageable at about five hours per day, this trip includes varying canals and countryside. Travelling southwards past the old salt mines to Middlewich you turn onto the Middlewich arm to Join up with the Shropshire Union. The trip up to the medieval City of Chester is particularly pleasant with the canal built next to the old city walls. You should also have time to visit the boat museum at Ellesmere Port.

Cheshire Ring:
97 miles, 92 locks, 8 hours cruising per day. More strenuous route at around eight hours a day, the Cheshire Ring is one of contrasts. travelling northwards over the Bridgewater Canal, lock-free to Manchester, where the city is currently being restored.
After this into the Peak District on the Macclesfield Canal, with the small towns built of stone. Just north of Stoke you meet the Trent and Mersey, and travel through the many locks to Middlewich and its history of salt, and home.

TWO-WEEK ROUTE

Four Counties Ring:
140 miles, 102 locks, 5 hours cruising per day. A relaxing fortnight, you travel southwards to Stoke-on-Trent via Middlewich. Passing through the red-watered Harecastle Tunnel (the result of local iron workings), and continuing down past the Wedgwood factory to Stone and Great Haywood, you join the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Just north of Wolverhampton, you meet the Shropshire Union with its extravagant cuttings and embankments, which carries you up to Barbridge and the Middlewich arm. If time permits a diversion along the Caldon is well worthwhile.