Kennet and Avon Canal

Bath from £400

During late eighteenth century ‘canal mania’, merchants wanted a safe way of getting goods between Bristol and London that avoided the English Channel and the risk posed to their coastal craft by storms, privateers and Napoleon’s navy. Their answer was chief engineer John Rennie’s 57-mile Kennet and Avon Canal, linking the navigable rivers Kennet at Newbury and Avon at Bath. Now fully restored, its flights of locks, aqueducts, tunnels, bridges, and cuttings, make it a picturesque feature of the West Country landscape, a leisure corridor where colourfully-painted ‘narrow boats’ ply its calm waters alongside walkers, cyclists and joggers on the towpath. We visit the highlights and admire the stunning engineering and architectural solutions to a tricky route, and can even, on pumping days, see Claverton or Crofton historic beam engines in operation.

PRICES

from Bath – 8 hours

£400 – 1-3 people

£425 – 4-6 people

Please use the weblinks below to check for the most up-to-date information available for your party’s tour.

Kennet and Avon Canal Trust

Claverton Pumping Station – open on limited dates only

Crofton Pumping Station – open on limited dates only

Atlantic and continental weather systems meet over England so the weather can be unpredictable. You really can experience all four seasons in one day! We advise you to bring wet weather clothing, and cold weather clothing for the months of October to March. We keep a set of umbrellas in our vehicle. Please check the forecast on the Met Office link below shortly before your tour.

Met Office

If you are really keen on canals, why not also go on a Gloucester Historic Docks tour which includes a visit to the Gloucester Waterways Museum, a beautifully displayed museum telling the story of Britain’s navigations and canals, working life on the canals and traditional canal art? We could even include a boat ride on the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal during the summer months.