Short break canal holiday routes in Yorkshire

Enjoy a weekend or midweek short break canal holiday on the Rochdale Canal, visiting Hebden Bridge.

SHORT BREAK CANAL HOLIDAYS IN PENNINE YORKSHIRE
Take a short break canal holiday in Yorkshire with Shire Cruisers
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SHORT BREAK CANAL HOLIDAYS

There's no faster way to slow down than a short break canal holiday on the Yorkshire waterways. Whether you go up the valley or down, you will find attractive canal scenery, welcoming pubs and plenty to see and do.

These short breaks are available from 2pm Friday to 9am Monday or from 2pm Monday to 9am Friday. All short breaks are out and back from Sowerby Bridge.

Mileages and times (for guidance) are for the return trip. Short breaks can only be taken with these boats.

 Slideshow of short break routes

 Short break route Short break canal holiday on the Rochdale Canal
Stubbing Wharf, RC. Route 1.
Beautiful scenery on a short break canal holiday on the Rochdale Canal in Yorkshire with Shire Cruisers
Brearley, RC. Routes 1, 3.
Beautiful scenery on a short break canal holiday on the Calder & Hebble Navigation in Yorkshire
Salterhebble Locks, CHN. Routes 2, 3.
ROCHDALE CANAL
1. Hebden Bridge & Todmorden 20 miles 34 locks 16 hours

Day 1 4 miles 5 locks 3 hours
Arrive in our historic canal basin to take over your boat. After our detailed briefing, we take you up through the first three locks, including the deepest one in the country. You then sail off along the side of the valley, through two more locks, to Mytholmroyd, where you moor for the night. Here you have two pubs with food, an upmarket café and convenience stores.
Day 2 6 miles 12 locks 5 hours
Next morning travel on to Hebden Bridge. This old mill town nestles in a fork in the hills, houses piled tier upon tier. Hebden is the original plastic-bag-free town, and has not succumbed to a big supermarket, so has an amazing variety of shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. It's full of surprises – everything from horsey clothing to hand-made pottery, and not one but two bookshops. Keep on through the town and gradually wind up the valley, with woods, crags and the Calder running alongside, and  views of the moors high above. Pause perhaps at the Stubbing Wharf pub, but keep going in order to reach Todmorden, a town schizophrenic as to whether it’s Yorkshire or Lancashire, wool or cotton. Moor at the Fielden Wharf visitor moorings below Lock 19, just beside one pub though don’t neglect the other pubs, restaurants and the busy market. Don't miss the Town Hall and many other fine Victorian - and much older - buildings, all dominated by a curving railway viaduct.
Day 3 8 miles 14 locks 6 hours
Turn below Lock 19 and head back to Luddenden Foot (pub and Indian restaurant). The valley looks quite different on the way down, and you'll see things you missed on the way up.
Day 4 2 miles 3 locks 2 hours
You need to get up early to be at the top lock for 8am, then back to base.

This trip gives you time for walks, the pub or simply to sit and unwind, especially if you go Monday-Friday.

CALDER & HEBBLE NAVIGATION
2. Shepley Bridge 22 miles 32 locks 16 hours

Day 1 3 miles 5 locks 3 hours
Arrive at our base in one of the 200-year old canal warehouses at Sowerby Bridge. After a thorough briefing, you set off, and travel along the side of the valley to Salterhebble Locks, where we meet you and take you through your first three locks. You then do another two locks on your own, hidden away in the trees. At Elland you have a choice of two canalside pubs, one with food, or lots more in the town up the hill—along with shops, takeaways and a Co-op supermarket. and of course good pubs and restaurants.
Day 2 8 miles 11 locks 5 hours
Next day you head down, past glimpses of lakes, to Brighouse, a busy small town with interesting shops and a Sainsbury’s with its own moorings and of course good pubs and restaurants. From Brighouse you go down into the River Calder, Pass under a towering motorway viaduct, a reminder of the world you left behind - and who cares which motorway it is? The river provides a sweeping contrast to the canal cuts with which it alternates, as it winds its way down the wooded valley to Mirfield. There are still locks, but they are further apart and the whole landscape is gentler. Stop overnight at Shepley Bridge (more choice of pubs).
Day 3  9 miles 16 locks 7 hours
Turn here and head back most of the way. Take in more details of this historically important navigation, significantly older than most of the canal system - partly designed by John Smeaton, of Eddystone Lighthouse fame. You have splendid views of the hills. At the top of the last lock, detour right along the short Halifax Arm, and overnight here (Brewer’s Fayre and ordinary pub).
Day 4 2 miles 0 locks 1 hour
A short sail without locks brings you back to base by 0900.

3. Hebden Bridge & Brighouse 24 miles 34 locks 15 hours
Go up to Hebden Bridge (Route 1), explore a bit, then head back and down to Brighouse, through a beautiful part of the valley with woods, lakes and views of the river. Brighouse basin is a quiet mooring near the centre of this town with the famous brass band. On your way back up the valley to Sowerby Bridge, enjoy views of the hills.

AIRE & CALDER NAVIGATION
3. Stanley Ferry 48 miles 54 locks 25 hours
Sail down the leafy Calder & Hebble Navigation past Brighouse, and through wide river sections and narrow cuttings to Wakefield, where there are good moorings not too far from the bright lights. Then go on to Stanley Ferry to see the famous aqueducts and two very convenient and contrasting pubs. Return the way you came, but see how different everything looks.

Short break canal holidays with Shire Cruisers, The Wharf, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire HX6 2AG, England
tel: 01422 832712 - Overseas tel: + 44 1422 832712 fax: 01422 839565
short break canal holidays | weekend break | Hebden Bridge | Rochdale Canal

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