September breaks on the waterways

There’s a lot to love about the UK canal boat break in September.

The relaxed ambiance after the hustle and bustle of the summer. The late summer sun and the cosy autumnal evenings. The constantly changing hues of the countryside around you.

September holidays in the UK means witnesses the start of autumn, with a beautiful changing hue of colours. As you cruise along the tree-lined canals and rivers, you’ll witness first hand the colours of the trees changing from green to orange. In the same way as ‘the fall’ is celebrated in the USA or Canada, so we celebrate the end of the season here in the UK. And you’ll be super cosy in our top of the range narrowboats, hand built with central heating, modern shower rooms and fully-equipped kitchenettes.

Hidden Gems to discover in September

Narrowboating isn’t just about the relaxed cruising, there are fascinating places to visit along the canals and rivers of the UK. And September is a great time to explore some quintessentially English attractions that are very much unique to canal life.

1) Middleport Pottery, Stoke on Trent

Visit from our Stoke on Trent hire base in Staffordshire

Our base in Staffordshire in Stoke on Trent is at the heart of the area known as the Potteries. And not far from our hire base is Middleport Pottery, a great place to stop for a couple of hours when travelling along the Trent & Mersey Canal through Stoke-on-Trent. The Grade-II* listed visitor attraction allows daytime mooring and offers a variety of experiences. Open Monday to Sunday 10am to 4pm visitors can take part in:

– Burleigh Factory Tours – Monday to Friday where they can witness Burleigh ware in production using the same hand-crafted methods they have been using since Victorian times and it is the last continuously working Victorian factory in the UK (Pre-booking via the Middleport Pottery website is advised for this one as it is very popular).

– Heritage Trail – Monday to Sunday visitors can take part in a self-guided tour of our Heritage Trail which includes the Victorian Offices, Steam Engine, Bath House, Bottle Oven, Placing House, Mould Store and the 1950’s Lodge Keeper’s House at Harper Street. The Heritage trail usually takes about 1.5 hours to complete and it is dog friendly.

– Visitors can alternatively just pop onsite to visit the dog-friendly Packing House Café which is located next to the canal and offers a range that includes breakfast, lunch, tea, coffee and cake, as well as traditional Staffordshire favourites such as Lobby or Oatcakes. The site also has some independent shops located on Port Street Range and across the road on Harper Street and the Burleigh Factoryshop. It is free to enter the site (tours incur and additional cost) and a couple of fun facts is that this factory is the original home of TV’s ‘Pottery Throwdown’ and also some of the Peaky Blinders scenes were filmed here.

2) The Canal Boat Museum, Stoke Bruerne

Visit from our Napton hire base in Warwickshire

This very unique – and very small – museum, the first of its kind in the country, is located in the pretty canal village of Stoke Bruerne along the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire. A historic Grade II listed corn mill, the Canal Boat Musuem offers three floors of rich waterway heritage and panoramic views.

Inside the museum you can immerse yourself in the sights, smells and sounds of life on the canals in times gone by, dress up in boater’s costumes and create your own roses and castles decoration, a typical design only seen on the English canals. Just outside the museum you can visit the narrowboat ‘Sculptor’. This former cargo boat, built in1935, carried cotton, wheat and coal and during WW2 she was in action in London as a fireboat, putting out fires!

There are also frequent events occurring in September at the museum, including outdoor pop up musuems, Craft and Chatter days and Canal People events, where you can hear the stories of the old working boats and the people who lived on them.

There’s a great couple of pubs in Stoke Bruerne, meaning that you can complete your visit here with some great food and drink!

Find out more about the Canal Boat Museum here.

3) National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port

Visit from our Acton Bridge hire base in Cheshire

This fascinating museum is extensive and perhaps one of the best waterways museums in Britain. Located on the Shropshire Union Canal, you can right cruise up to the museum.

Then take a walk down past the outside buildings and explore the slipway, stables, blacksmith’s shop and a large turbine hall. Here they’re re working engines, and you may get a guided tour from one of the many volunteers. You can also take a look at how the canal workers used to live in the cottages that line the canal. The café is a pleasant coffee stop, adjoining the large shop, which sells a good range of canal themed books and souvenirs

Again, there are plenty of events throughout the year, including September, from Heritage open days, Living History days, to traditional fetes and even dog shows!

Recommended Cruising Routes for September breaks

All our nine narrowboat hire bases in the UK are open until the end of October, so we can recommend lots of routes for you to try.

With the shorter amount of daylight in September days, it’s best not to try and achieve too much on a short break. Keep to five or six hours of cruising a day, take it easy and make the most of the daytime light. If you would like to cruise a waterways Ring then allow more time, such as seven, ten or even a two week cruise to make the most of the break and not feel too rushed.

Route Suggestions – 1 week cruises to enjoy the changing colours

These one-week cruising route suggestions have been specially picked so that you can enjoy cruising along countryside canals which go through woodlands and valleys, where you’ll be able to appreciate the full colour of autumn and great views across the best of the British countryside.