ABC Boat Hire, Alvechurch

Easy online booking and good information on their website about the possible routes. We decided to take the Birmingham mini ring which is a four night adventure into the middle of Birmingham then out in a loop. Big tunnel (twice), lots of countryside crusing and a lot of locks as well as the unique experience of arriving into the very centre of Birmingham by Narrowboat. I recommend the route if you are up for doing a fair few locks. We arrived early to pick up the boat. Everyone was very friendly and we got to watch the safetly video early. We also got a detailed overview of the route, useful reommendations for where to stop, good pubs, where not to stop (!), where to fill up with water. This proved invaluable, particularly in the middle of Birmingham where we would not have found the nice mooring we found without the recommendation. Boat was clean and had a lot of helpful details. Nice welcome pack with a lot of useful things (tea bags, washing up cloth which I had forgotten). Invertor was big enough to drive everything. Everything worked well. A very good overview of everything on the boat before we set off. It was detailed enough that I felt confident I knew the systems on board before setting off. Everything covered from how to isolate the pumps (for a quiet night) though to bildge pumps, operating the engine. The boat was ready just before they said it would be and we headed off a little early. We had a relaxing holiday and returning the boat was no trouble at all.

We had a brilliant week on the Capped Heron. The boat was big enough for 2 adults and 2 children without having to use the put up bed in the living room. Facilities on the boat we’re excellent- everything we needed was provided including waterproofs and the tutorial before we set off was invaluable! Tips for others thinking of doing this- we took some bottled water- there is filtered water that’s drinkable but this helped to keep water use low as topping up the tank can take time. Take a couple of meals with you in case you don’t moor next to a pub. The shower pumps out straight into the canal- we hadn’t realised this or would have looked for an eco friendly shower gel. If you are taking extra loo roll it can only be 2 ply. I was a bit reticent about this holiday but honestly loved it- we’ll definitely do it again