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CHOICE OF ROUTES FROM HERITAGE MARINA
Just remember that the first rule is to enjoy yourself, after all it's YOUR holiday. Wind down relax and enjoy the delights of cruising at a leisurely pace of 3 miles (or 3 locks) per hour. But remember, you won't want to cruise for more than 8 hours a day, and also allow time for sightseeing, exploring and lazing!
Suggested one week cruises
The Macclesfield & Peak Forest Canals
64 miles / 24 locks
To Whaley Bridge and the Head of the Peak Forest Canal.
The Caldon Canal
52 miles / 36 locks
Cruise to Froghall Wharf. There is also a 2 mile diversion to explore the lock free Leek Branch.
The Trent and Mersey Canal
52 Miles / 38 locks
Cruise down to the Trent and Mersey to Great Haywood.
The Four Counties Ring
109 miles / 96 locks
From Heritage Marina, down the Macclesfield to the Trent and Mersey, to Stoke on Trent, to the Staffs and Worcester, and up the Shropshire Union to Market Drayton and Nantwich, along the Middlewich Branch back to the Trent and Mersey back to Heritage Marina! A busy week, ideal for 10 days!
The Cheshire Ring
97 miles / 92 locks
Down the Trent and Mersey Canal, along the Bridgwater Canal, through Manchester on the Rochdale and Ashton Canals in Manchester and back down the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals to Heritage Marina. Not for the faint hearted for those wanting a quiet week!
Suggested two week cruises
The Four Counties & Cheshire Rings
can be made VERY easy over two weeks, with extensions to Chester, Llangollen or the Caldon Canal on the Four Counties Ring, and Chester or Llangollen and either Wigan Pier or the Peak Forest Canal on the Cheshire Ring.
The Llangollen (or Welsh Canal)
123 miles / 106 locks
This canal winds serenely through Cheshire and Shropshire to its terminus at Llangollen (home to the Eisteddfod) in the Welsh Mountains having crossed the spectacular aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte.
To Wigan Pier
133 miles / 96 locks
From Manchester it is possible to cruise the famous Barton Wing Aqueduct over the Manchester Ship Canal. Here, in 1761 the Canal Age was born when the Duke of Bridgwater had James Brindley design a way to transport coal from his mines to the growing city of Manchester. Here is not much further to Wigan Pier, the butt of many a Music Hall joke, now home to the award winning living museum "The Way We Were".
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