But if not I have a shortlist of 5 marinas I may consider.
- Kings Bromley marina
- Great Haywood marina
- Swanley marina
- Overwater marina
- Aston marina
Distance from home, cruising routes, marina facilities, marina 'feel', marina ratings all will be considered. I may well use it as a excuse to either cruise to each and spend a couple of nights there or use it as a bike day to get around them all. In fact I may well do the bike first then the boat this summer....
However if you have any experience good or bad please let me know?
If its bad then you may want to drop me an email ?
7 comments:
Have berthed at Kings Bromley & Overwater, KB was shortly after it was opened, so not really relevant to today as they have extended & added facilities since we were there, friends who moor there are happy with it though, Overwater we left in 2014 but can recommend as being a friendly place with good facilities & a nice quiet location with a good choice of routes. Living in Middlewich since we sold the boat we often visit the on site cafe if we fancy a day out & catch up with friends who are still there.
Our first winter mooring was at Aston marina. We have an affection for the place as we made some really good friends who we have kept in contact ever since. As for facilities for boaters they are more than adequate with a good shower block, they did start to charge £2 for elsan disposal last time we were there but then they were £3 cheaper a night for mooring than GH at the time. The farm shop has closed to extend the bar/bistro side of the business. We found all the management that we came in contact with friendly- I have heard others have not- I can only speak as I found. Stone is a 30 minute stroll along the towpath with a couple of really good pubs, the train links at Stafford and shopping centre are a short bus ride away. If the site had a lock up garage for a motorbike I'd score it higher. 9/10
We are loving Swanley Bridge. Having spent time at Mercia, Kings Orchard and Barton, Swanley is very peaceful and relaxed. Security is sensible (you are not caged in!) Although I haven't used any of them yet, there are plenty of engineering/painting firms on site with their own sheds and the option for DIY hire too. And a nice choice of cruising routes as you are on a crossroads.
We had a couple of years at KB and enjoyed it, but we only overnighted when we returned by boat before going home. It has one shower block and toilet, rubbish disposal and elsan disposal all on the south side, so a long walk if you are on the North.
We've had several visits to Gt Heywood, they've always been very accommodating and friendly. We had to have our car picked up, my husband drove the car to Gt Heywood and parked it, he got a train back to where we were moored at Polesworth, then we cruised our boat to Gt Heywood. Gt Heywood never charged us for the parking, they were very good. They're really good about accepting deliveries from the internet, and Tesco delivery is never a problem.
At Aston, we stayed there just before Christmas 2016 for about a week, they wouldn't accept any packages for us (I wanted to get John a Christmas present). Plus there was a problem when Tesco delivered. The driver was nervous because he'd been told off previously for delivering.
This is just our experience, others might be different. Both marina's facilities were great.
Nev,
I wouldn't recommend Swanley. That's where nb Kelly-Louise was sunk after being maintained by the marina.
Hi All,
Many thanks for all of your very detailed and helpful comments about the respective marinas. It certainly has given me some food for thought. Hopefully we will be on Percy soon so will pick up all the local news about developments that may impact our mooring. One thing is the significant cost difference between the on line cart mooring about 1600 quid to the cost of all of the marinas. KB are offering a 20 % relocation discount which is quite attractive, however the cruise through Rugely is never one I like so the four counties marinas feel more attractive based on that.... for sure I’ll blog about the next thoughts. Once again many thanks for your information.
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