Liverpool Trip / 2010 Schedule Out

Pioneering Pair Paving the Way / 2010 Schedules Announced

In June, Snipe & Taurus became the first hotel boats ever to cruise the brand new Liverpool Canal Link. Not only that, but they were the first motor and butty pair of narrow boats to traverse the new navigation, and the first full-length & beam (70 foot by 14 foot when breasted) to 'test the waters'.

The Liverpool Canal Link extends the Leeds and Liverpool Canal by way of Liverpool's Central Docks and Pier Head to the South Docks. It now gives boaters a destination close to the city centre with moorings in Salthouse Dock and the world-famous Albert Dock complex. It is a broad canal with 2 new locks as well as the retored 4 locks on the Stanley Dock Branch that gives access to the Link.

It's always nice to be first on a new stretch of canal, and the new Liverpool canal link was a really exciting waterway to cruise. The Liverpool Dock complex is immense and even in narrow boats the size of Snipe & Taurus you do feel rather small as you descend the Stanley lock flight into the first dock next to the enormous tobacco warehouse to see a Mersey ferry gliding by a few hundred yards ahead of you.

The views across the Mersey on a clear day as you cruise into the dock system are astounding with the imposing warehouses looming either side of you, you follow a line of buoys which guide you through the safe channels in the vast expanses that are Liverpool's famous docks. A wonderful pontoon mooring yards from all the attractions and amenities made it a joy to visit the city, and also made it easier for guests arriving and departing cruises there.

The voyage to Liverpool was such a success that we shall be repeating the cruise next year, and our 2010 schedule included overleaf provides details. We shall also be attempting to cruise the Droitwich canals (pending the completion of restoration works this winter), allowing us a new access point to the River Severn near Worcester and the opportunity of a new cruising 'mini-ring'.

As well as the popular cruises on the Oxford canal, the Anderton Boat Lift, the Royal River Thames, historic Chester and the newly appointed UNESCO World Heritage Site of Pontcysyllte aqueduct, we shall also be visiting some different waterways in August and September. The Grand Union canal will be a feature, with three cruises covering stretches of the famous canal between Warwick and London. We shall also be spending a couple of weeks on the Rivers Lee and Stort in Hertfordshire – a hidden oasis only a few miles from the capital city. These two trips offer some wonderful cruising through grand reserviour-filled river valleys, with the opportunity to spot plenty of wildlife in a unique habitat. The trips also give us the chance to see the development taking place at the 2012 Olympic site, whilst offering excellent transport links to the boats with London stations so close by.