We love a good navigation guide, it is always worth having them available onboard, they are packed with useful information with the best places to moor, pump-out and eat, but not always in that order.
Before we plan a new trip we always consult our collection of guides and I try to have them at arms reach when chugging along.
If you follow the link in the title of each guide it will take you to the corrisponding amazon.co.uk page for that guide, occasionally we may even earn a small commission if you purchase one.
Nicholson Waterways Guides
Full of detailed Ordnance Survey® maps that clearly show the location of essential features such as locks, towpaths and boating facilities, as well as pubs, shops and restaurants in the area. There are comprehensive navigational notes and descriptive text on the history of each canal, and on local services and places of interest, for which postcodes are included – ideal for use with sat-navs.
In print for 50 years, the Collins/Nicholson guides to the waterways have always been a vital part of journeys along Britain’s canals and rivers. These bestselling guides are designed for anyone and everyone with an interest in Britain’s inland waterways.
Waterways Guide 1 – Grand Union, Oxford and the South East
Waterways covered in this guide – Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, Grand Union Canal, Lee & Stort Navigations, River Medway, Oxford Canal, River Thames.
Waterways Guide 2 – Severn, Avon and Birmingham
Covered in this guide are the River Avon; Birmingham Canal Navigations (Main Line); Droitwich Canals; Gloucester & Sharpness Canal and the River Severn; Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal; Stourbridge and Dudley Canals; Stratford-on-Avon Canal; Stroudwater Navigation and Thames & Severn Canal; and the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.
Waterways Guide 3 – Birmingham and the Heart of England
Covered in this guide are: Ashby Canal; Birmingham Canal Navigations (Main Line); Birmingham & Fazeley Canal; Coventry Canal; Erewash Canal; Grand Union Canal (Main Line, Leicester Section and the River Soar); Oxford Canal, North; Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, North; Stratford-on-Avon Canal, North; Worcester & Birmingham Canal, North; and the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Waterways Guide 4 – Four Counties and the Welsh Canals
Covered in this guide are: Caldon Canal, Llangollen Canal, Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, Neath & Tennant and Swansea Canals, Montgomery Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, Trent & Mersey Canal, River Weaver.
Waterways Guide 5 – Northwest and the Pennines
Covered in this guide are: Aire & Calder Navigation, Bridgewater Canal, Calder & Hebble Navigation, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Huddersfield Broad Canal, Lancaster Canal, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal, Peak Forest and Ashton Canals, Rochdale Canal, Sankey Canal and Trent & Mersey Canal.
Waterways Guide 6 – Nottingham, York and the North East
Covered in this guide are: Aire & Calder Navigation; Chesterfield Canal; River Derwent and the Pocklington Canal; Fossdyke & Witham Navigations; Grantham Canal; River Ouse, River Ure and Ripon Canal; Selby Canal; South Yorkshire Navigations; and River Trent.
Waterways Guide 7 – River Thames and the Southern Waterways
Waterways covered in this guide – Basingstoke Canal, Bridgwater & Taunton Canal, Grand Western Canal, Exeter Ship Canal, Kennet & Avon Canal, River Thames, Wey & Godalming Navigations.
Waterways Guide Norfolk Broads
Covers the waterways of the Broads National Park, including the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads and the Rivers Ant, Bure, Thurne, Wensum, Yare, Chet and Waveney.