Yorkshire canals for boating holidays with Shire Cruisers
  Yorkshire canals
  Boating holidays with Shire Cruisers

Yorkshire Canals

The Yorkshire waterways offer astonishing variety, from remote countryside to bustling cities, and from gentle lowland rivers to gritty, hill-busting canals. They all have friendly locals (both pubs and people). Discover these canals on a Yorkshire boating holiday:

Rochdale Canal

Rochdale Canal, Yorkshire

You pass through woods and crags, visiting rugged stone-built towns with friendly people. Stop in Hebden Bridge, and let some of the lifestyle rub off - Hebden Bridge scores as one of the best places to live in Yorkshire.

Calder & Hebble Navigation

Calder & Hebble Navigation, Yorkshire

Meander down the valley to Wakefield on one of our oldest river navigations. Trees line the banks yet you are never far from civilisation and there are lots of interesting places to stop, including the new Hepworth Wakefield gallery.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Yorkshire

A canal of amazing contrasts, from remote sheep country on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, to bustling waterfronts in its eponymous cities and numerous places between.

Huddersfield Narrow Canal

Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Yorkshire

This astonishing canal cuts under the Pennines in England's longest and highest canal tunnel, with loads of scenery either side. Unique among the Yorkshire waterways, its locks take only one boat at a time.

Aire & Calder Navigation

Aire & Calder Navigation, Yorkshire

This river navigation cheerfully mixes pleasure and commercial traffic. See serious freight being kept off the roads, while you enjoy pleasant scenery and visit interesting towns and villages.

Canal Locks

  • Locks are the way you can float your narrowboat up and down hill. We have proper hills in the Pennines, so there are some good locks.
  • Locks are a big part of the fun of a boating holiday. They give you fresh air, physical effort and teamwork. Once you've cracked how they work, it's really satisfying to do them neatly and efficiently.
  • We make sure you know how to do it right, and unlike many boat hire companies we take the trouble actually to show you at real locks.See our Training page.
  • To get you thinking: water can only go downwards. So how can you use water going down to take your boat up a lock?
Two boats can share a lock, saving time and water. A good way to meet people.