How to get there - From the M 5, Junction 27, take the A 361 towards Barnstaple. Take the A 396 to Tiverton and follow the brown canal signs to the Tiverton Basin. (map)
Suggested Launch Site - There is a pay car park, toilets, the teashop, and the start for narrow boat trips. The office to pay for the boating permit is on the far side of the canal from the car park.
General
Description - The Grand Western Canal is about 11.3 miles long. It is a rural contour canal with no locks.
Last November, after paying for a permit at the office, I launched at the basin and headed east. After gardens and the outskirts of Tiverton the canal became very rural. There was very little canal traffic, one canadian only. In places the weeds had grown from the bottom to the surface impeding progress slightly. In compensation I had never seen so many kingfishers per mile! There were many possible summer picnic places with good views.
After about 6 miles I came to Sampford Peverell and the pub landing. The Globe Inn serves food weekdays and weekends, but it gets fairly full at weekend lunchtimes. I stopped for a hot lunch etc., then paddled back to the start point. (route)
Total distance about 12.5 miles, but the weed made it feel like a little further. No locks.
Comments:
10 Feb 2007
Thanks for this information, really useful, I shall give the canal a visit later this year.
Chris Vincent Ilfracombe Devon
