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.
