Out on the water
Abandoning Britain’s crowded roads and seeing both urban and rural scenes from the comfort of a boat makes a lot of sense, and it’s an ideal way for a group to spend some time together, as Diana Vowles discovers.
Cruise operators come in a range of size and sophistication, from dedicated boatspeople with a single characterful vessel and some inventive ideas of how to give people a good time afloat to sophisticated fleets with cocktail parties, fine dining and a range of entertainment available on board. You can choose to take your group to a different part of the country, or simply have a day out somewhere more local where you can discover things about your home turf that you had never noticed on land. There is something about boats that makes people feel they are abandoning everyday life for at least a few hours.
London’s waterways
Modern architecture lining the Thames as it flows through the centre of the capital has added much visual excitement to complement the historic sights such as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London, not to mention the newly-iconic London Eye.
City Cruises provides a range of vessels, from modern River Liners with wheelchair facilities and a passenger capacity of up to 495 to the smaller, ‘Princess Margaret Rose’, ideal for up to 100 passengers on short trips. Discounts of 10% are available for groups of more than 20 and you can buy combined tickets that take in a flight on the London Eye or visits to popular London attractions such as the Tower of London or Madame Tussauds. A spoken commentary guides you along the route as you travel from Westminster Pier to Greenwich and back. Buy a Red Rover ticket if you would like to hop off and on, or sit tight for a relaxing three-hour round trip. There are afternoon tea and lunch cruises for groups of at least 30 and 40 respectively, although, for the latter, smaller groups can sometimes book if there is already a cruise operating on the day you wish to travel. Private charters are offered, with more elaborate catering should you wish.
For a guided tour from Westminster Pier all the way down to the Thames Barrier you can take one of the 12 boats run by Thames River Services. You may like to take a one-way trip or a circular tour, complete with trimmings such as catering and a live band. A discount is available for groups.
Thames Luxury Charters are based at Butler’s Wharf near Tower Bridge. Their six boats, some of them historical replicas such as a Mississippi paddleboat, carry from 20 to 620 guests, covering 29 embarkation points from Kew down to the Thames Barrier, including a pause for a trip on the London Eye. You can choose from a range of menus (or indeed provide your own caterers if you wish) and if you would like a little entertainment can go for anything from a steel band to a bhangra disco. There are two special themed tours for groups, the ‘River Thames Murders’, recounting foul deeds perpetrated along the river, and ‘Hollywood on Thames’, which takes you to see various film and TV locations.
Bateaux London offers lunch and dinner cruises departing from the Embankment with Classic and Elite menus to choose from. Dinner cruises come with a jazz band and after-dinner dancing, and jazz also accompanies a Sunday lunch cruise. For more spectacular views to complement those to be had along the riverside, packages can also include a trip on the London Eye. The glass-sided ‘Symphony’ takes 308 passengers, while the more traditional ‘Naticia’ carries 180. Group discounts can be discussed and both boats are available for private charter.
Crown River Cruises, meanwhile, will take you upstream as far as Putney Bridge or downstream all the way to Gravesend on charter trips. Scheduled cruises pick-up and drop-off passengers at Embankment, St Katharine’s, Festival, Bankside and London Bridge piers in high season (between April and September), with fewer stops off-peak. An all-day hop-on, hop-off ticket, is discounted for groups of more than 10 people.
For a slightly different trip on the river, try London Ducktours. This company uses the amphibious DUKW vehicles, which took British troops ashore for the D-Day landings in World War II, for conducting guided tours of the city. Drab wartime gunmetal has been replaced by bright primary blue and yellow livery, and you are driven from a pick-up point behind the London Eye along the Embankment past the Houses of Parliament before splashing into the water from a slipway at Vauxhall. The vehicles take 30 passengers each and groups must book at least a month in advance to guarantee their desired date; provisional bookings are accepted.
Cruising along the Regent’s Canal brings a variety of scenery, from the lushness of Regents Park to the imposing Victorian statuary of Kensal Green Cemetery and the edgier, more modern Camden Town. The London Waterbus Company offers canal narrow boats, travelling from Little Venice in Maida Vale to Camden Lock. Should you wish to visit London Zoo, you can avoid queues by using the canal gate and combined tickets can be purchased from the company that include entry. Groups of more than 20 are given a discount but must be booked in advance. Longer day trips are available, either east or west from Camden Lock, the former taking you down 26 metres through a series of locks until you reach the Thames at Limehouse and the latter to Greenford. Private charters ranging from two hours to all-day hire are available.
Also on the Regent’s Canal, Jenny Wren Canal Boat Cruises will take you on a 90-minute trip from Walkers Quay in Camden to Little Venice and back or, if you wish, provide half-day or full-day excursions. There are discounts for groups of more than 10 people, with a further discount for senior citizens. The ‘My Fair Lady’ is available from the same company for private charter for up to 98 people and plies the same route but more slowly, giving you time for a three-course lunch or dinner.
Go west
Further upstream, French Brothers covers the stretch of the Thames from Hampton Court in Surrey to Henley in Oxfordshire. The company is based at Windsor, Runnymede and Maidenhead, but you can join the boats at various stops enroute; coach parking is easiest at Runnymede and Windsor, however. A choice of 40 scheduled trips up to two hours long are available with group discounts or you can opt for a private charter, which is usually a four-hour trip. The pretty steamboat, ‘Nuneham’, accommodates up to 60 people and is usually only available for charter, but there are a few specific dates when groups booking ahead can share the vessel for a reasonable price.
The Maidenhead Steam Navigation Company’s fleet includes the 1894 ‘Steamer Belle’, restored by the company in 1980 and now carrying passengers in authentic Victorian style. There are a number of embarkation points from Henley to Windsor, and for groups there are two special lunch or afternoon tea tours available: ‘Homes of the Rich and Famous’, starting from Maidenhead Riverside Gardens and passing the homes of the many showbusiness folk who live along the river, and ‘The Lives and Loves of the Royal Family’, starting, naturally, in Windsor.
For a flavour of the Mississippi combined with the more domesticated ambiance of the Thames, you can charter the ‘New Orleans’ from Hobbs of Henley. This two-decked craft has two tall smoke stacks and a paddle wheel, plus a panelled and velvet-clad saloon. The company also offers two other boats for charter, and all make a four-hour trip upstream to Sonning in Berkshire, carrying up to 100 passengers. The smaller boat, ‘Consuta’, meanwhile, makes one-hour public trips on Henley Reach and seats up to 50 people with discounts avaialble.
Salter’s Steamers runs scheduled trips between Oxford and Staines with many stops enroute as well as short round trips from Abingdon, Oxford, Reading, Henley, Marlow and Windsor. Most of their fleet consists of Edwardian steamers converted to diesel, plus a few modern craft, the largest carrying 150 passengers. There is a 10% discount for groups of 20 or more booked in advance or, alternatively GTOs can charter a whole boat. There are also a limited number of three-hour public jazz cruises available.
Cruising does not get any more peaceful than on the Kennet & Avon canal, where the chugging of an engine is replaced by the gentle thud of a horse’s hooves. The Kennet Horse Boat Company runs a 20-metre horse-drawn barge from Kintbury in Berkshire, travelling for two to four hours along the canal; the company runs public trips, although most groups opt for private charter. One pleasant cruise is to Hungerford and back, where your group can take a break enjoying the town’s antique shops and historic buildings. Occasional one-way trips to and from Hungerford are also available. The barge can accommodate up to 64 passengers, or 53 if you require catering. For a group of between 15 and 20 people, the company will organise public trips if you are happy to share with others.
For longer durations, English Holiday Cruises provides two, four and six-night charters on the ‘Edward Elgar’, leaving from Gloucester Docks and travelling on the River Severn and Gloucester-Sharpness Canal. For a full charter of 22 people, one place is offered free. The two-night cruise option includes a visit to the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and a cocktail party, dinner and live entertainment onboard; the longer trips go to Upton-upon-Severn, Worcester and Tewkesbury.
Further south, the Bristol Ferry Boat Company runs both public and private trips along the Avon Gorge from Bristol harbour on a selection of characterful boats, some dating back to the early 20th century. They carry between 30 and 45 passengers each and the ‘Brigantia’ vessel has a disabled lift; all of the boats can be privately chartered. Public trips will take you to a riverside tearoom, Beeses, up the Avon Gorge or for a tour of Bristol docks, with a discount available for groups of more than 10 people.
Harbour trips are also to be had in Southampton, courtesy of Blue Funnel Cruises. On public trips, groups can see the 19th-century docks from which the ‘Titanic’ sailed on her first and final voyage. More extended cruises encompass views of the rivers Itchen, Hamble, Test and Beaulieu, the historic dockyard at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, with time on shore to enjoy sailing regattas if they are taking place at the time. Private hire is also available and group discounts are on offer.
Also in the south, the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle – built in 1924 – sails on the River Medway from Chatham Historic Dockyard and Rochester. Pre-booked groups of 10 or more receive special rates on public sailings and parties of 40 or more can arrange private trips.
The lure of the north
Moving upcountry, the Cosgrove Narrowboat Company cruises the Grand Union Canal from Cosgrove, near Milton Keynes, passing historic Victorian sites including windmills, aqueducts and ornamental bridges. The cruises range from one to nine hours in duration, with discounts available for groups of more than 10 people. The ‘Elizabeth of Glamis’ narrowboat carries up to 40 passengers. Catering is available on charter trips, plus music and a commentary from a local historian if desired.
Foulridge Canal Cruises operates the 50-seat ‘Marton Emperor’ through open countryside along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, offering afternoon teas and hot lunches onboard. Groups can arrange a package that includes visits to Barden and Oswaldtwistle mills for some retail therapy, Rourke’s Forge to watch a blacksmith at work, or Towneley Hall to see the art gallery and museum at the former stately home.
Also on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Pennine Boat Trips runs cruises on traditional canal boats from Skipton. Discounts are given to groups of more than 20 people on the hour-long public trips aboard the 60-passenger ‘Cobbydale’ and private charters on the ‘Dalesman’ can be booked for up to 50 people. On-board catering is available and there is a cafe and bar for refreshments on land at the company’s base in Skipton. Days-out packages combine a cruise and catering with shopping time in Skipton, famous for its market and medieval castle. For small groups, the newly-acquired ‘Bronte Steamer’, powered by both steam and electricity, seats up to 10 passengers.
Liverpool docks have seen much regeneration in recent years and Mersey Ferries will take you on a tour to admire this historic part of British culture. Not only can you take the ferry across the Mersey, as described in the famous song, you can also visit Spaceport at the Seacombe ferry terminal, where this year you can find an ‘Art of Doctor Who’ exhibition as well as other space-themed galleries. Those who are more interested in the past than the future may prefer to see a rescued German U-Boat at the Woodside ferry terminal, sunk in the Kattegat by the RAF in 1945 and now serving as a reminder of Liverpool’s role in both world wars. You can also take one of the company’s shallow-draught (low in the water) boats up the Manchester Ship Canal on a six-hour cruise, many of which offer stop-offs at The Lowry, Imperial War Museum North, Albert Dock and other attractions. Group discounts are available on most of the cruises and charters are available.
In the north-east, River Escapes will allow your group to see the exciting architecture of Newcastle and Gateshead’s Millennium Bridge, the Sage and the Baltic Centre, either down the River Tyne on a three-hour cruise to the sea or a two-hour cruise upcountry. On the former trip you will get to see the Tyne Gorge, the Tyneside shipyards and Tynemouth Castle, plus there is a fair chance of spotting dolphins and seals too; the upriver jaunt will take you under 11 bridges on the way to Ryton Willows nature reserve, again with plenty of wildlife to enjoy. Group discounts are available.
Further south, Princess River Cruises has three boats on which to travel the rivers Tees and Trent – the ‘Teesside Princess’, ‘Nottingham Princess’ and ‘Nottingham Prince’. The former carries 150 passengers and travels the Tees River from Castlegate Quay in Stockton upstream to Yarm and down to the Tees Barrage, taking three and a half hours for the round trip, which features plenty of historical and wildlife interest enroute. The Trent River cruises, meanwhile, on the latter two vessels, offer two and three-hour return trips from Nottingham to Holme Pierrepoint and Wilford Church, with a full catering service and live commentary on board. Group organisers are given free places.
In York, you can obtain a package that includes a cruise on the River Ouse on one of the five boats run by YorkBoat plus an open-top hop-on hop-off bus ride round the city with City Sightseeing. The boats carry up to 150 passengers each and there is a 10% discount for groups of 20 or more, with a free place for every 21st person. Cruises operate from King’s Staith or Lendal Bridge landings to the Millennium and Clifton bridges, with a live commentary from the boat captain. From early May to late September, as well as at weekends and school holidays , there is also a one-hour public round trip to the medieval Bishopthorpe Palace, official residence of the Archbishop of York. Boats are available for charter all year round.
Lakes and lochs
The Lake District is the ideal location for a boat trip, and Windermere Lake Cruises will glide you down England’s longest lake in Cumbria. You can break your journey at Ambleside and Lakeside, at the northern and southern ends of the lake respectively, to do some sightseeing on land. Group rates are available, with free place for group organisers, and complementary coach parking is offered in Bowness.
Across the border to Scotland, Loch Shiel Cruises will take you to areas accessible only by boat where you have a fair chance of seeing golden eagles and red deer. The 50-passenger ‘Sileas’ makes a number of cruises of varying length, including the whole 18-mile extent of the loch, and there are ceilidh cruises among other themes. A 10% discount is offered for groups of more than 10 people.