Hooray! Spring is in the air and nature is flourishing around Anglo Welsh canal routes

Spring Canal Boat Holidays

Spring is always welcome when it finally breaks cover, but following an especially harsh British winter of rain, snow and low temperatures, it’s fair to say most people will greet this year’s first change of season with even more enthusiasm than usual. The nature lovers at Anglo Welsh’s ten narrowboat bases across England and Wales are no different!

Spring is a time when the UK’s waterways and the surrounding countryside are teeming with activity and wildlife. It is a time to step off your narrowboat for a leisurely stroll in a bluebell wood, to relish the cobalt blue mist and the sweet smells, or to enjoy the spectacle of a sea of fresh wild daffodils.

Experiencing a dawn chorus on a picturesque canal is one of life’s great pleasures. Get up at first light to catch the first tentative calls, then, as the sky brightens, more and more birds will join in, building to a mighty crescendo. Later in the day, watch peacock butterflies circle one another in a delicate courtship, all against a background of white blossom and clear blue skies. And then there is the delightful, almost forgotten sensation of warm sun on bare skin.

Spring is certainly a great time to get back out and enjoy the UK’s canal side countryside, whether that means cruising on one of Anglo Welsh’s modern narrowboats, strolling along a towpath, or attending one of the season’s many canal side festivals and shows, among them the Easter Boat Gathering at the National Waterways Museum, Drifters Open Day, Skipton Waterways Festival and the Crick Show.

After a busy winter of maintenance and TLC at Anglo Welsh’s 10 bases, our fleet of 160 modern and spacious narrowboats are all shipshape and ready for another season on the waterways. And spring is a time of year that never fails to inspire Anglo Welsh’s canal-based staff.

As Kev, the Base Manager at Great Haywood in Staffordshire, puts it: “I love spring along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal because it tells me winter is over and spring brings new beginnings, new growth, new colour and new life.”

Oliver, Fleet Manager at Trevor in North Wales, is equally smitten with the new season. “Spring on the Llangollen canal is magical as the days begin to get longer and warmer and all the wild flowers start to bloom, including our Welsh daffodil. People can also enjoy the view from our narrowboats as they pass fields full of baby animals.”

“One of the pretty spring sights along the Worcester and Birmingham canal are the bluebells on approach to Shortwood Tunnel,” says Sarah, Office Manager at Tardebigge in Worcestershire. “Hearing all the spring bird songs, seeing all the young lambs and all the blossom on the trees are some of my favourite things about being by the canal side in spring.”

So, no more winter coats, no more short days and no more Beasts from the East. Spring is finally here and Anglo Welsh welcomes it with open arms!

To book a holiday or spring break on any of Anglo Welsh’s fleet, call our friendly booking team on 0117 304 1122.