5 Nights in the Midlands
 

During our upcoming trip to England, it appears that we will have 5 days & nights that I need to plan. We will leave Cheltenham on Sunday, 20 Sep, and don't have to be in Brighouse until Friday, 25 Sep.

Things that have been talked about include the Cotswolds, Malvern, Oxford, Stratford, Iron Bridge Gorge, etc. Also, one suggestion was to try and find a place to ride a canal boat for a day or so. We've been to Bath and Coventry so those do not need to be included. We will have a rental car.

Suggestions? Thank you!

We've been to Bath and Coventry so those do not need to be included. >>

not often I see my home town of Coventry mentioned here, bu, what did you think of it?

Anyway, back to your question, looking at the map, both Ironbridge and Chester are quite close to the optimum route between Cheltenham and Brighouse. you could even go further west and include Ross on Wye, Hereford and Ludlow on your route north.

alternatively, you could veer off to the east and go to the Peak District which is also very interesting and scenic.

if you are interested in canal boats, there are lots of options in Warwickshire:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...LcTH8gf476HwBQ

and Shropshire:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...EcTH8gf476HwBQ

Near Stratford is Warwick Castle, one of the finest in all of merry ole England.

What I thought of Coventry - I stayed a few days in Coventry - nice enough town but unremarkable as English cities go - war damage took its toll it seems. Would be low on my list of recommendations.

I wasn't asking you, Pal!

Warwick is much closer to Coventry than it is to Stratford.

Its main claim to fame [apart from the Cathedral, the collection of Medieval buildings, & the Motor museum] is the lovely Warwickshire countryside that surrounds it.

Annhig, thank you for your help, particularly the links to the canal boats in Warwickshire and Shropshire. I will check and see what might be available.

Also, we visited Coventry in May 2013. We stayed at a B&B outside of Coventry. It was wonderful. The visit to the cathedral was great. We were able to sit in the choir for choral evensong. The music was spectacular.

I found the ruins of the old Coventry cathedral damaged in the bombing and with ‘Father Forgive’ inscribed on the wall behind the altar of the ruined building and the new cathedral with its theme of reconciliation very touching.

>>What I thought of Coventry - . . . war damage took its toll it seems. Would be low on my list of recommendations.<<

Which doesn't say anything about <i>Coventry</i> >)

You obviously didn't visit the Cathedral?

bu67: Annhig has given you some great advice. One problem w/ most narrow boats hires -- they have minimums. Most will require 3 nights over weekends (Sat afternoon to Tues morning) and 4 nights over weekdays (Tues afternoon - Sat Morning).

You probably can find one that will split their booking periods but many won't because it screws up other bookings. Luckily you are going in the 'shoulder' season -- so they might be willing to work with you.

Coventry, what the Germans started the Planners finished :-)

Ironbridge is an interesting place, the actual bridge is interesting while you eat an icecream walking over it (I speak as an Engineer who has spent whole holidays visiting bridges), however, there is a this http://smallwoods.org.uk/ which is very interesting, if you could coincide with a course that would be worth a bit of time. You can also stay in a weird tent in the woods, but less of that.

When you say, "Ride a Canal Boat" you could either go on a self drive or tour type day trip. Mersey Ferries run trips along the Manchester Ship Canal from Manchester to Liverpool, then bus back to Manchester:

http://www.merseyferries.co.uk/cruis...ges/Dates.aspx

You could stay in Manchester and enjoy all that the city has to offer.

If you want to self drive with a minimum of locks, you can hire a boat from Skipton and either head towards Bingley just before the 5 rise locks, or through to Barrowford experiencing the Foulridge Tunnel:

http://www.penninecruisers.com/

or http://www.snaygillboats.co.uk/

There are a number of other companies in the area offering day boat hire. Any of them would, I'd guess, do you an overnight rate. At the end of the trip, you're fairly close to Brighouse.

Can't help with the boats (or many of the other specifics for that matter), but I did document our 3 years based in the Midlands (2 Ironbridge trips for instance) if that helps.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/

Coventry, what the Germans started the Planners finished>>

you're not far off, bilbo. To be fair they have opened up the centre a bit and have tried to group the remaining medieval buildings together as far as possible, but the rest is just a mess.

Still, the post-war concrete-box architecture makes me feel at home in Plymouth where they took the same approach; but even the Plymouth planners couldn't ruin the Hoe and they have done a good job of the harbour, so Plymouth is ahead on points.

I've communicated with a number of the canal boat operators and I think we will have to put this off until another trip. We just don't have enough free days to do it this time.

Thank all of you for your comments and suggestions. The Fodors UK Forum has been exceptionally helpful to us on all of our UK visits!

thanks bu - hope you have a great trip!

You obviously didn't visit the Cathedral?>

why do you think I went to Coventry - to see Lady Chatterlee or whoever made that dash thru town buck nakes - heer statue is in the town center so yes but of course to see the cathedrals - old blitzed in war and new - that yes makes it worth it to see Coventry but nothing else seemed exceptional - and this thread is talking about places to go so even though I was not asked what I thought of Coventry I chimed in - some think this is a private thread I guess.

Pal - it was Lady Godiva as I'm sure you well know.

of course it's not a private thread but if you can describe Coventy as a "nice town" without mentioning the cathedrals, the silk weaving, the cycle and motor industries not to mention the aero industry which is why the Luftwaffe had it in for the city, then you aren't really trying.

It was also the 6th richest city in medieval England.

That's why we call Coventry the Detroit of England - I was just giving my subjective opinion based on a day and night stay in Coventry - nice town with neat history but with limited time I'd suggest other places - would you not? I just did not see it as exceptional - would you say Coventry is exceptional and should go at the top of any query like the OPs - I think not. Good place for a few-hour look at cathedrals and various industrial edifices?

If you are fond of walking Malvern is a great place, it has been a while but I went to school there and we had lots of enforced marches on on the hills. Its a popular walking destination for ages.

would you say Coventry is exceptional and should go at the top of any query like the OPs - I think not. >>

no Pal, I wouldn't recommend it to the OP, principally because s/he said that s/he had already been there.

I would say that it is underestimated as a place to visit, but personally I would stay somewhere near like Warwick or Stratford and go as a day trip; IME there is a dearth of decent hotels and restaurants in the city centre.

as for calling it the Detroit of the UK, it has barely any motor industry left so I don't think that it terribly apt.

one final point, IT IS NOT A TOWN. IT IS A CITY.

as for calling it the Detroit of the UK, it has barely any motor industry left so I don't think that it terribly apt.>

Well there is only one small auto plant in Detroit these days too so... but no no comparison in any way but metaphorically.

one final point, IT IS NOT A TOWN. IT IS A CITY.>

That's archaic UK parlance not American like this forum is dominated by - I can call London a nice town or Detroit a dangerous town - we always say town for a place not usually city - like 'down in London town' - talking to U.K. folks they know to be a city a town has to have a cathedral - St David's is thus a city I guess but places much much larger are not.

Here cities are the largest towns - incorporated as a city with their own police, fire, etc.

so don't please scream some nonsense at me about what is a city or not - Coventry is a nice enough town - in the generic sense we Yanks use the word in.