Guide To Cheshire Cat Narrowboats Ltd

As two couples we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversaries during 2025 and decided on a three month canalboat journey to mark the occasion.

We confronted some health issues early in the year when we planned to travel, but Linda went above and beyond to move our booking to begin in mid September. We cruised from then until just before Christmas and could not have enjoyed the experience more.

Autumn on the canals was a beautiful time to travel, with the full display of Autumn colour and the quietness of the late shoulder season. We rarely had to wait for a lock or water point and could always find a mooring very close to a village or canal-side pub (and we did visit a few!)

After the long flight from Australia we boarded Southern Cross on a very wet September day. As it turned out this was probably the worst weather of our entire journey. We only encountered two or three days where we decided to stay inside and go nowhere. Wearing a coat and boots was a small price to pay for the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted.

We rarely travelled for more than four hours per day and took a full week to reach Llangollen, then another ten days to get back to Audlem. That part of the trip could probably be completed in a little over a week at a push. We like to enjoy the journey!

Over the next couple of months we travelled as far south as Droitwich Spa, where we left the boat for a week in the marina while we rented a car and explored the Cotswolds and parts of Cornwall. Back on Southern Cross we then made our way north towards Birmingham, completing the Tardibigge 30 lock flight in three hours. We had locks down to fine art!

In Birmingham we were able to moor right in the centre, close to the Gas Street Basin with all the nearby facilities, attractions and restaurants. We also enjoyed the Christmas market at night. After leaving we had a cold snap and had a centimetre of ice on the canal one day. Luckily it warmed up and we had no more snow or ice for our trip.

For our last few weeks we slowly made our way back along the Shropshire Union, as the Trent and Mersey was closed for maintenance. We spent our last few nights revisiting Ellesmere and Nantwich, two of our favourite towns of the trip.

In the three months we covered about 500km and 300 locks at a leisurely pace and enjoyed every minute of it. We all had a fantastic trip of a lifetime, but feel like we only scratched the surface of what canal life has to offer. We specially appreciated the help and friendship offered by Linda and Mark and would heartily recommend Cheshire Cat Narrowboats to anyone looking for a memorable holiday adventure.

We took part in a training course with Linda yesterday. I cannot recommend her enough. Linda was so extremely patient with complete novices using our own (new to us) boat. Taking and guiding us closer to our moorings. Holding our hand firmly and filling us with confidence through 12 locks and 14 miles. Her wealth of knowledge is priceless and will in-still some very valuable lessons for our future safe boating adventures. Thank you Linda. It was so lovely to meet you. PS still can’t get over that we were joined by the Kingfisher 😊

We hired Holly Day and had a wonderful day cruise. The weather was perfect, the canal was quite quiet, the scenery beautiful. The boat is well equipped for on-board picnics, just be aware the cooker takes a while to heat anything up. The two locks into Nantwich are fun, full instructions given if you are not familiar. Communication with the Cheshire Cat Narrowboats is great, really easy and friendly. Can’t wait to book again, all of us left wanting more.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Cheshire Cat Narrow Boat Hire for an amazing day on their Day Boat Hire! I had previously completed a day course with them on a narrow boat which made me feel confident to sail again! Brilliant tuition, support and boat! My friend and I would definitely recommend and return 🛥️

We had a lesson with Linda on the Friday before we took out Oak Apple. The lesson was fantastic and filled me with the confidence to tackle locks myself. Linda was so patient. Oak Apple is a stunning boat who handles so well. We had a very comfortable week in her and cannot wait to hire her again. Linda thank you so much for giving us the skills and confidence to enjoy our beautiful waterways. Sarah and Matt