Duration:
TOTAL LOCKS: 18
CRUISING TIME PER DAY: 10 HOURS
Leaving Wrenbury Mill Marina, you’ll cruise gently along the Llangollen Canal through its iconic lift bridges and into quiet open countryside, arriving after around three hours at Swanley Bridge, your first night’s mooring. There are no shops or eateries at the moorings, so you’ll need to bring provisions for your first evening meal, unless you choose to arrange transport into nearby Ravensmoor for the Farmer’s Arms. The following morning, continue towards Hurleston Junction, where you descend the Hurleston Locks and join the Shropshire Union Canal. From here it’s a short, scenic run south into Nantwich, an attractive historic market town where you can step ashore to visit St Mary’s Church, one of England’s finest medieval churches with welcoming open hours most days, explore the Nantwich Museum, which offers engaging insights into the town’s heritage and changing exhibitions, and enjoy the lively centre filled with independent shops, cafés and pubs, all set among atmospheric medieval streets and timber‑framed buildings.
When you’re ready to return, cruise back north along the Shropshire Union to Hurleston, ascend the locks, and rejoin the Llangollen Canal for a relaxed journey through open countryside back to Wrenbury, where the canalside pub beside the old corn mill makes a fitting end to your short break.
A four-day return cruise from Wrenbury Mill Marina explores the Llangollen and Shropshire Union canals through quiet countryside. The first night is spent at Swanley Bridge. Day two passes the historic Bunbury staircase locks to Wharton’s Lock, with a nearby pub stop. Day three features a walk to Beeston Castle before cruising to Barbridge. The final day retraces the route via Hurleston Junction to Wrenbury, ending with an evening beside the canalside Dusty Miller pub.
More InformationThis route ambles through a landscape of international renown, sparkling with Ice-Age meres, then winds through big Welsh countryside singing with green fields. Your journey reaches a triumphant meeting point at Chirk Aqueduct, where canal and railway engineering collide. A peaceful break spiced with engineering marvels and natural beauty.
More InformationThis relaxing short break takes you under lift bridges and down a lock staircase then past giant moss-filled bogs, home to wildfowl and exotic plants. A diverse journey, bursting with international importance, leads through lush green fields past Ice-Age lakes to vital canal heritage.
More InformationTravel between our Wrenbury and Whitchurch Marinas and explore Whitchurch before you return. Whitchurch is a quiet market town in rural Shropshire. There is a varety of architectural styles here with narrow streets and pretty gardens.
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