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Cruising the Navigation Network

When it comes to narrowboat holiday hire, one of the most important questions is: Where to cruise? In additon to the principal and best known canal and river navigations are numerous branches and arms, of varying lengths that offer the opportunity for interesting diversions and exploration. The principal inland navigations, including canals and stretches of navigable river include:

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal from Liverpool to Leeds through some stunning Lancashire and Dales scenery.
The Aire and Calder, and the Calder and Hebble Canals on the Yorkshire side of the Pennines.
The Bridgewater Canal in Cheshire.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal from Ashton under Lyne to Huddersfield via Saddleworth. It's route passes through the newly retored Standedge Tunnel which is the longest, deepest and highest tunnel in the country.
The Upper and Lower reaches of the Peak Forest Canal on the Derbyshire/ Lancashire border stretching from Whaley Bridge to Ashton under Lyne.
The Macclesfield Canal, in Cheshire, from Marple to Hardings Wood, just past Congleton.
The Trent and Mersey Canal from Preston Brook, near Lymm in Cheshire, to Nottingham.
The Shropshire Union Canal from Chester to Wolverhampton.
The Llangollen Canal from Nantwich in Cheshire to Llangollen in Wales.
The Caldon Canal, a short but heritage-rich canal in Staffordshire, from Etruria to Froghall.
The mainly river navigations of Soar, Trent, Fossdyke and Witham linking Leicester to Boston, in Lincolnshire, via Loughborough, Nottingham, Newark on Trent, Torksey and Lincoln.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations which are an interlinking network of canals both in and around Birmingham.
The Staffs. and Worcester / River Severn / Gloucester and Sharpness Canals, linking Wolverhanpton to Sharpness via Tewkesbury and Gloucester.
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal from Brecon to Pontypool in South Wales.
Worcester and Birmingham Canal from Worcester to Birmingham.
Coventry and North Oxford / Grand Union / Paddington Arm / Regent's Canals linking Fradley (just north of Lichfield with London via Coventry, Slough and Milton Keynes.
Nene river navigation from Northampoton to Perborough. and then along the tidal river to Wisbech and The Wash.
Great Ouse river navigation from Bedford to Denver via Ely and then tidal river to King's Lynn and The Wash.
South Oxford Canal from Napton to Oxford.
Thames river navigation from Lechlade to London via Oxford, Reading, Windsor and Kingston upon Thames.
Kennet and Avon Canal from Bristol to Newbury
Lee river navigation linking Limehouse to Bishop's Stortford.
North Stratford / South Stratford canals linking King's Norton to Stratford upon Avon.
Lower Avon / Upper Avon river navigations linking Stratford upon Avon to Tewkesbury.