THROUGH THE FENS TO CAMBRIDGE
Take a slow cruise from the Black Prince base at Ely towards Cambridge and glide through Wicken Fen, a wetland nature reserve that is one of just four wild fens left in the Great Fen Basin of East Anglia. Narrowboats can moor up for walks through farmland, marsh and reed beds, with otters and water voles swimming in the waters, and dragonflies, bitterns, warblers and marsh harriers fluttering through the skies. After the fens, boaters continue along the River Cam into the centre of Cambridge, where they can moor within a few minutes walk of the Round Church, the Bridge of Sighs and the city’s shops.
Book: A four-night short break starting 30 October costs from £850, saving £149, for up to four sharing a two-bedroom Signature narrowboat, with one free pet place included, https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115. Diesel is extra and costs around £18 per day.
NEWLY OPENED CALDON CANAL
The Caldon Canal in Staffordshire has fully reopened to narrowboats after 12-months of closures for restoration and repairs. One of the UK’s most secluded waterways, the journey starts at Black Prince’s Festival Park base in Etruria, once a centre of Stoke’s pottery industry. As the industrial backdrop gives way to greenery, boaters can take a short diversion along the pretty three-mile Leek Branch, and then about-turn to continue towards Froghall, with the slow-paced adventure drifting through the Churnet Valley, where cruisers can board a steam-powered heritage railway (Wednesday only, book ahead), marvel at a 185-year-old blast furnace and towering chimney stack, and look for wildlife that includes kingfishers, herons and otters.
How: A four-night break starting 30 October costs from £868, saving £153, for up to four sharing a Signature narrowboat, https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115. Diesel is extra and costs around £18 per day.
SKY HIGH GROUP GETAWAY ON THE ENGLISH/WELSH BORDER
Starting from Black Prince’s base at Chirk and journeying along the Llangollen Canal, this exhilarating short break crosses the world’s tallest canal aqueduct, Pontcysyllte, before taking a trip over the smaller but no less thrilling Chirk Aqueduct, and a senses-heightening crawl through the pitch-black Chirk Tunnel, which at 480 metres is the longest canal tunnel in Wales. The beautiful Dee Valley provides the backdrop for much of the journey, with the market-towns of Llangollen and Ellesmere bookending the route. Boats can stop at almost any point, allowing families to enjoy ever-changing views of captivating countryside and explore sites of interest at any point.
How: Four nights starting 30 October costs from £1,339, saving £236, for up to 10 sharing a Signature narrowboat, with one free pet place included, https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115. Diesel is extra and costs around £18 per day.