The family and I are going on a canal boat holiday in a weeks time but there are a few days to fill on either side. I am looking for suggestions of things to see and maybe good B&Bs or hotels. We arrive in Harwich Sunday 3 July very early in the morning and have to be in Leighton Buzzard to pick up the canal boat Monday after lunch. That gives a full day to fill getting there and finding a place to stay. After dropping off the boat on Monday 11 July, we have almost four days before getting the ferry at Harwich on Thursday evening.
There's the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway that has a few miles of narrow gauge track, and not far away is Woburn Abbey, the stately home of the Duke of Bedford; House gardens and 'Safari park'. http://www.buzzrail.co.uk/ http://www.woburnabbey.co.uk/ Duxford is 45 miles away, but very well worth the journey: http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford
Hi ! No idea what age your family are but after a week on a canal boat taking in the English country side at " dead slow pace " maybe your children will be craving the fast lane of life . Your family I guess kids included may thank you for ever if you mention :- Harry Potter Adventure Leavesden , Watford , WD25 7LR 20 miles north of London ! Don't get me wrong I grew up with Grand Union Canal at end of my road and its history . Fabulous but just a very slow way of life . Are you going north or south from boat pick up ? mick
Thanks for the input so far. Just to clarify. The 'children' are 23 and 21. They are both studying and when offered a free holiday don't mind being together with the oldies. We will be heading north from Leighton Buzzard, but being only seven days and a top speed of 4 kt, it's limited how far north we can get.
Hi ! Is that 3.5 days then turn round or can you go further and leave boat at another yard. Stoke Bruerne is as far as you can go in 3 days. The canal museum at Stoke Bruene is just beyond a climb of five locks . Are the boat owners allowing you to navigate the tunnel ? and on to Gaydon Junction by this point your crew have jumped ship at the sight of any more lock gates to open !!! mick
It's an up and back trip. We have had a couple of canal boat holidays before, so we know what we're in for. If we'd had the time I would have liked to get to Foxton and maybe Market Harborough. There's a few locks on that route. Luckily we wont have time. Some suggestions for what there is to see in the section of country between Leighton Buzzard / Milton Keynes and Harwich would be good. I don't seem to be having much luck looking for places on line. We have a bit over three days to fill so are there any old castles or the like in that part of the country. Duxford is most likely on the itinerary. Might have to drop the wife and daughter off in Cambridge though.
....Hi Nils, ..I can certainly recommend Duxford and Cambridge... also try searches for National Trust and English Heritage maybe?... Audley End and Wimpole Hall come to mind.. ... You are not too far from the Suffolk border in Harwich and there are two excellent castles, Framlingham and Orford not too far from there... Mustn't forget to mention Colchester's Castle Also the river Stour has connotations with John Constable and Gainsborough... You can wander through Dedham for lunch and go rowing, great fun! ....They have very good and large car boot/flea markets near there as well! ..Hope you have a great holiday, best wishes, pb
Nils will run out of time before he runs out of canal, but even disregarding the more detached canals such as the Caledonian, you can reach Ripon or Tewitfield (north of Lancaster) which are rather further north than Leeds.
Not sure what that map is meant to be showing. Initially, I thought it might be taking a restricted view of what amounts to a canal rather than an inland navigation. But it shows the River Witham and the Yorkshire Ouse - but not the Thames
I just googled 'map of canals' or something similar and got that. I was just wondering at the time whether my perception that the canal network didn't go much further north than Leeds was valid. I'm happy that it's generally correct. There's also the Crinan Canal on the west coast of Scotland which I visited last year. Nice part of the world but no lamps on show or to be had...
You can reach Gargrave on the Leeds & Liverpool, that is reckoned to be the furthest North you can get without touching tidal waters. (Ripon is further, but requires navigating the Ouse up to Naburn, then the Ure and onto the Ripon Canal). But still not much North of Leeds. And the L & L is prettier.
Hi ! Try looking on map for Sutton Hoo boat burial site. Its near your Ferry terminal and Wood bridge just down the road . Famous for Tide activated corn mill. Great town to wonder road. Check out the " Butt and Oyster " pub down stream from Ipswich , mick
Hi ! Museum of East Anglian Life , Stowmarket , Suffolk. Rural life museum a lot out side to see ! Close to Woodbridge and Ipswich . All close to Harwich ! mick
Hi Again !! As mentioned above " Orford and Orford Ness. Ex military site now conservation site access by leaving car in village and very short boat trip to reserve ( think long shore drift ) geological feature area !!! Take a jacket can be cold and wet . Hope you have a good holiday somewhere in England. light house , castle . Car park has pub near by below street level ! PS you will need about a month to get from Leighton Buzzard to Leeds by boat or about 3 hours by car. I know because Pete Sav and myself live in or around the Leeds area. mick
I bunked off work (well mostly) for almost 3 years whilst we cruised all the reasonably connected canals and rivers. It was brilliant.
Thanks for the suggestions Mick. There are some interesting places you mention that I'll have to look into. Together with the other suggestions I think we'll need more than a few days. Last time we had a canal boat holiday (2012 IIRC) we had more time and started from Alvechurch and did the Warwickshire ring.
All in all it was a great get away. I've been meaning to give a report but with being so busy doing very little I just havn't had time. Anyway, the canal trip went well and we made it as far as Napton before turning back. The weather was mainly alright, though not what you could call hot sunny days. After the canal trip we had a few days driving around. The first day I dropped the family off at a shopping centre in Milton Keynes while I drove down and visited Neil. Everyone seemed happy about that. The next day was again split up as we drove to Cambridge where I dropped off my wife and daughter while my son and I went to Duxford. I've been there before but I don't think I would ever get tired of seeing the place. Having an air force background probably helps. Next day was Framlingham castle and the final day just driving around looking at the scenery on the way to the ferry at Harwich.
Lovely! You just can't rush things on the canal which is the great thing about them, Same it wasn't warmer for you but it has been very off/on all summer :-/ Duxford ... I could just live there always had to fight the steering wheel every time I drove past! Fram is a great example of a curtain wall type of castle with the maddest chimneys you'll see anywhere, Glad you managed to keep busy, come back soon! pb
