Canal Boat Holiday Base Information - Base 31

Location
Ideally located in the Warwickshire village of Brinklow on the Oxford Canal, this small, friendly base is easily accessible by road or rail (main rail stations at Coventry or Rugby, about 7 miles away).

Routes

One Week canal cruises:

GRAND UNION CANAL TO WARWICK 50 hours
23 wide and 3 narrow locks to negotiate each way via Braunston and Napton Junctions. The route gives you plenty of time to visit the Regency centre of Leamington Spa and Warwick with its castle and antique shops. A bus ride from Warwick takes you to Kenilworth or Stratford upon Avon.

ASHBYCANAL  & NORTH OXFORD CANAL 36 hours
Ideal for a first time canal cruise, or for the lazy, as there are only four locks and one small tunnel on this stretch! After Hawkesbury Junction with its Cast Iron Bridge and Engine House, the rural Ashby Canal passes near Twycross Zoo, the Battlefield at Bosworth and Market Bosworth. You can visit the basin in the centre of Coventry and it is worth also making the pretty trip to the canal village of Braunston and back via Rugby and Hillmorton Locks.

SOUTH OXFORD CANAL TO BANBURY 40 hours
25 locks each way on narrow canals, make this a more energetic but beautiful rural route. Past Braunston, a short stretch of the Grand Union takes you on to Napton and the South Oxford, one of the oldest canals, which rises all the way up to Fenny Compton before dropping down to Banbury and Oxford itself.

If you are energetic you may have time to get to Aynho. An extra 5 hours

TRENT & MERSEY CANAL AND COVENTRY CANAL TO GREAT HAYWOOD OR BURTON ON TRENT 42 hours

This canal cruise includes several interesting canal junctions as it winds up along the Coventry and Trent & Mersey Canals, alternating small towns with rural scenery. You can go to Tixall Wide and Great Haywood (19 locks each way) or you can turn right at Fradley Junction and visit Burton-on-Trent and its Brewing Museum. 25 locks total each way.

GRAND UNION CANAL TO MILTON KEYNES OR LEIGHTON BUZZARD 40 hours
After Braunston and its tunnel you can enjoy pleasant open cruising until the 1 mile Blisworth Tunnel takes you in to Stoke Bruerne with its waterway museum. Further on, Milton Keynes welcomes you. You may have time to carry on to the old market town of Leighton Buzzard. An extra 15 hours

GRAND UNION CANAL TO MARKET HARBOROUGH 42 hours
An interesting trip through rolling Northamptonshire countryside, hut with 4 tunnels and 2 staircase flights of locks (26 locks total each way) it is a fairly challenging route. There is a short pleasant detour up the Welford Arm and at Foxton, apart from its awesome flight of locks, are the remains of the ingenious but short-lived Inclined Plane, which hauled boats in counterbalanced iron tank up the steep escarpment.

THE WARWICKSHIRE RING 55 hours
A popular canal cruise for the canal enthusiast, contrasting stretches of great beauty with others of urbanisation, and upwards of 94 locks depending on your route through Birmingham. After Braunston you take the Grand Union past Leamington and Warwick via Kingswood Junction right into the heart of Birmingham. You return via the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal past Drayton Manor Theme Park and down the Coventry Canal. We strongly recommend the slightly longer way through Birmingham via Norton, Gas Street Basin and the North Stratford Canal. This route does involve some planning as only certain overnight moorings are recommended.

THE BIRMINGHAM RING 60 hours 107 locks 
Allows exploration of the Birmingham Canal Navigations taking you up to Great Haywood, down the Staffs. & Worcs. And back through Birmingham. This is one for the real enthusiast, and can be achieved in a 10-day break.