narrowboats
 

looking for information on weather in march . we would like to hire a narrowboat in england and we are not sure of the weather the first week of march

Which canals are you thinking of?

and we are not sure of the weather the first week of march

neither is anyone else i suspect - very changeable but dependably lousy, at least for outsdoorsy stuff IME at that time - windy, rain but you could hit it lucky and be warm (50s) and sunny

trent and mersey canals, Llangollen canal

forecast for all in early March: lousy

I personally would never bok a canal boat in March (or April for that matter). You <i>might</i> luck out and it will be nice-ish. But March is usually closer to &quot;wintery&quot; than it is to &quot;summery&quot;

Go for it...you will experience an England few tourists ever see. Will this be a do-it-yourself trip or a passenger event? We watched boat load after boatload of students on weekend parties. Our No. 1, knew the best pubs at every place we tied up. We got meals using fresh food bought along the route. Self locking through locks is exciting. I tried to get Wisconsin authorities to permit self locking on the Fox River above Green Bay. &quot;No! Too dangerous&quot;.

I would advise against trying a canal trip in March. You can get bad weather even in summer (we did in late June) but your chances in March are very high

It's unlikely to be wintry (ie temps hovering near freezing), but highly likely to be early springy (wet, blustery, reasonably warm on the thermometer but for some bone-chillingly cold if you're actually out in it). Or some days not. But you're going to be in just about the wettest part of Britain anyway, so assume there'll be a fair bit of rain.

Since you (or at least two of you) have to get out of the cabin to go through locks, you really need to have a waterproof jacket, hood, overtrousers and rugged but non-slip shoes at that time of the year. You'll spend most of your time within walking distance of pubs, so you need waterproofs for that too. Nothing is more miserable than being stuck inside a barge for a week with rain dripping down the windows. Few things are more exhilarating, OTOH, than walking along a towpath through soft Welsh rain to a nice warm boozer, knowing you're completely dry.

Remember the fundamental British motto. There's no such thing as bad weather: just unsuitable clothes.

We spent four days on a narrow boat in September. This was on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal, and we were glad of the central heating on the boat. It all depends on what you enjoy. Standing on the back of a boat in the rain is not much fun, and you should not imagine that you can laze on deck in a bikini at that time of the year. At the same time, the towpaths will be busy with people taking their dogs for walks, cycling, etc, and all dressed for the weather.

You have to appreciate the need to get back to the boatyard on time, and this may require you to keep going through bad weather. The pubs are not as frequent as you might expect, but a bottle or two on board always helps.

Wizz - We have only tried narrowboating in England on one occassion in about June and this was our route, purposely chosen because it had the least locks:

Grand Union Canal - Leicester Line, Soar Navigation &amp; Erewsh Canal Map was used.

We took a train from London to Leicester and spent one night in a hotel. Next day took the train to SILEBY MILL and were met at the station by the boat hirer and taken to the boatyard where we boarded our 4 berth narrowboat. It was barely big enough for two but we wanted the smallest craft as we had never done this before.
(They were very kind by organsing bed linen etc., as we were not from UK.)

After a practice session with the hirers we set off down stream to face our first lock! O boy!
Being only two of us, my husband steering and me manning the ropes it was quite something.
Walking across the top of the narrow lockgates holding onto the rail is not for anyone who has not got a head for heights - some of those locks were deeeeeep!
I was totally exhausted by our 3rd lock.
It's OK if you're young and agile.
I was nearing my 50th birthday so found out I had muscles that hadn't had a workout for some years!(not to mention my poor old heart).

I think we got as far as Loughborough the first day. We then entered the River Soar (our surname, so we look on this as OUR river). This was much better and peaceful passing little villages like Normanton-on-Soar &amp; Kegworth.

We finally tied up for three days in Nottingham.
Then the rain came. It rained so much when we turned to make our way back we got as far as Trent Lock and found the flood gates had been activated as the river Soar was now in flood.

Sileby Mill Boatyard came to our rescue and we abadoned the narrowboat as we had no option.
They even gave us two days hire money back! Very nice people to deal with.

Hope you don't get rain - miserable in cramped quarters if travelling.
Tying up and heading for the nearest hotel until the sun comes out would be a good option!

Lots of luck!
One last thing. Be careful where you tie up and leave the boat unattended - we were warned not to do this in Leicester for fear of being broken into to.

I cannot recommend strongly enough the Collins Nicholson Waterways Guides. You will want Guide 4, &quot;Four Counties and the Welsh Canals&quot;. These are not just maps but spiral-bound books with page-by-page, mile-by-mile maps and descriptions of every route. Details on navigation hazards, as well as every lock, bridge and aqueduct, as well as what to see in the area, and the best pubs and restaurants along the way. Not all the pubs and so forth are visible from canalside.