Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

The Bridgewater Canal.

The Bridgewater canal was the first true canal to be built in the UK. It is still unique today it's generous dimensions, wide and deep built for Mersey flats, broad beam working boats. It's straight or gently curving route and, now, a total absence of locks and tunnels. It does however have one of the impassive aqueducts.

The canal now starts right in the city centre of Manchester at Castlefields basin. Winding out through the city with views of the adjacent docks of the Ship Canal and 'Old Trafford', the home of Manchester United while alongside is the latest in Urban transport systems.

It arrives after three miles at the junction of Waters Meet. Here, one branch takes you off to the north, it crosses over the Manchester Ship Canal by the famous swinging aqueduct at Barton and goes through Worsley where it used to disappear underground.. This, at present unavigatable section, took boats direct to the coal faces to collect the coal for Manchester. However the Bridgewater canal continues on past Worsely to join at Leigh, after nine miles the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal providing a route to Liverpool.

The present main line however continues straight on at Waters Meet and after another half a dozen miles works its way out into the countryside. It then stays in the country just passing through through the attractive town of Lymm. Finally after a total run of twenty two mils from Waters Meeting it terminates at entrance to the Preston Brook tunnel in an end on junction with the Trent and Mersey.

However just before the tunnel the Bridgewater canal had diverted off to the East to Runcorn. Here after a further run of five miles a, now closed, flight of locks used to provided connection to the River Mersey, to the docks which developed here and eventually to the Ship Canal.

• Manchester museum of science and Industry The museum is partly based in the buildings of the oldest passenger railway station in the world. The huge, 7½ acre site has five historic buildings packed with fascinating exhibitions, hands-on galleries, historic working machinery and superb special exhibitions.
• Urbis This is a new kind of museum, set in a dramatic glass building rising high above the centre of Manchester. Interactive exhibits lead you on a journey exploring life in different cities around the world. Urbis focuses especially on the cities of Los Angeles, Manchester, Paris, Sao Paolo, Singapore and Tokyo.
• Manchester Museum. Explore the world at the Manchester Museum with its 4 floors of displays and exhibitions in 15 galleries featuring collections from all over the world.
• Manchester United. The tour takes you behind the scenes of the famous club and lets you go pitch side and through the players' changing rooms and players' lounge. The museum is impressive with tons of silverware, interactive displays and a very moving exhibition on the Munich disaster. Please contact in advance to book a tour.
• Manchester Cathedral. Come and look around some of the finest medieval carving in Europe and a whole wall of twentieth-century stained glass by the artist Anthony Hollaway. Next door to the Cathedral, on Cateaton Street, is the stunning new Visitor Centre, with hi-tech, interactive exhibition about the cathedral and its links with the city, community and the wider world.

• Norton Priory Museum & Gardens on the outskirts of Runcorn an award winning museum, excavated medieval ruins, the spectacular St Christopher statue, the lovely Walled Garden and the extensive woodland and sculpture trail.
  

If you have any questions then do ring us on 07977 229103
or email us at martinreed@reedboats.co.uk