A quintessentially rural canal, the 33 mile long Grantham traverses three shire counties

• Home
• News and Diary
  • New this month
  • In the Press
  • Diary
  • Restoration Work Parties
• Restoration
  • The Trent Link
  • Casthorpe
  • Cotgrave
  • Cropwell Bishop
  • Denton
  • Hickling
  • Woolsthorpe
  • Restoration Reports
• About Us
  • The Society
  • The Partnership
  • The Executive
  • Sub Committies
• Contact Us
  • Email - Phone - Write
  • Join Now
    • Word Membership Form
    • PDF Membership Form
• Archive
  • Newsletters
  • Website Articles
  • Miscellaneous
• The Corvus Project
  • History of the Corvus
  • The Corvus Arrives
  • Restoration & Conversion
  • Fueled by Biodiesel
• Leisure Facilities
  • Angling
  • Boating
  • Linear Walks
    • Trent Lock - Fosse Br
    • Fosse Br - Hickling
    • Hickling Basin - Harby
    • Harby - Redmile
    • Redmile - Woolsthorpe
    • Woolsthorpe - Grantham
  • Circular Walks
    • Bassingfield
    • Cropwell Bishop
    • Coslton Bassett
    • Kinoulton
    • Hickling Basin
    • Plungar
    • Redmile
    • Bottesford
    • Belvoir Castle
    • Denton & Harlaxton
    • Denton Reservoir
    • Grantham Town
  • Cycling
  • Pubs Near the Canal
    • Anchor ~ Plungar
    • Black Horse ~ Hose
    • Limekiln ~ Cropwell
    • Nags Head ~ Harby
    • Nevile Arms ~ Kinoulton
    • Peacock ~ Redmile
    • Plough ~ Hickling
• History
  • Beginnings
  • Working Life
  • Decline and Dereliction
  • Rebirth
  • Historic Photographs
• Environmental
  • The case for Restoration
  • Flora
  • Fauna
  • Projects
  • SSSIs
• Virtual Tour
  • Nottingham-Bassingfield
  • Bassingfield-Plungar
  • Plungar-Grantham
• Links
• Shop
• Sponsors

Boating

For those with canoes or inflatables, you can drop your boat in the canal almost anywhere on the 31 miles between the River Trent at Nottingham & the A1 at Grantham - though you won’t get far in the 4 mile ‘Dry Section’ near Cropwell Bishop! However you’ll find that in most places you won’t get more than half a mile without having to lift out to clear a low-level bridge.

For those with trailable boats (i.e. powered craft up to 23 feet long) or those seeking a longer run, there are two decent lengths to explore:-

Woolsthorpe is the easier section to access with just under 4 miles available from close to the Rutland Arms Pub at Woolsthorpe (also known as the Dirty Duck), up a flight of 3 locks and then on to the A1 at Grantham. There is a proper public slipway at Denton Bridge (bridge No 65) with a parking and picnic area. You can also lower and recover lighter boats from the towpath side of the canal opposite the Rutland Arms as there is a broad meadow there owned by the publican and the bank is gently sloping (ask permission first). You are currently recommended to use Denton Slipway and cruise between Woolsthorpe Top Lock and the A1 because the lock paddle gear on the 3 locks is usually locked shut and there have been flooding problems with two of locks that do not yet have by-washes.

Directions: Denton Slipway is accessed via a short (100 yards) farm lane that is off the road through Denton Village which runs between the A52 (Nottingham to Grantham) and the A607 (Melton to Grantham). The easier approach is from the A52. The turn to Denton is clearly signed on the A52 and is very close to a turning on the opposite side of the A52 to Sedgebrook and Allington. Cross over the Grantham Canal via the new Casthorpe Bridge and Denton Bridge is clearly visible on the left (apparently in the middle of fields) half a mile before you reach Denton Village.

The Route is through very pretty countryside for just over 2 miles from Woolsthorpe Top Lock before you enter the wooded Harlaxton Cutting for about a mile and then back into more open country. The Gregory Arms is an excellent pub on the A 607 and is about quarter of a mile up the lane from Harlaxton Bridge (Bridge No 66). (Navigational Notes: Harlaxton cutting being heavily wooded often has fallen tree branches in the water and the canal becomes very shallow as it approaches the A1)

Hickling is a fully navigable section of 2 ¼ miles in Nottinghamshire running from Hickling Basin in the middle of Hickling Village, through 3 swing bridges and up to a lowered concrete farm bridge (Bridge 36) with a turning area excavated just before it.

Hickling basin has no slipway and the duck ramp should not be used as a substitute! The Basin has been restored and dredged and has proper copings and mooring rings. It is quite practicable to launch and recover over the side of the basin via a piece of rather unkemp land on which sits an old canal warehouse. Ask permission first from the farm and plant hire establishment beside the warehouse (A & E Faulks). Directions: Approach Hickling Village from the A606 Nottingham to Melton road; turn left at the T-junction and the Basin is quarter of a mile along the road. Or, approach from the A46 Fosse Way by turning off for Kinoulton. Go through the village of Kinoulton to the T-junction, turn right for Hickling and the Basin is about a mile along the road.

The route runs dead straight out of the Basin through very pretty countryside and turns left up to the first new Swing bridge (Bridge 31). There is a short cutting which is crossed by an original brick arch bridge and then out into open country again. The route then meanders gently through pleasant open country via two more swing bridges before ending at the turning point which at certain times of year is clearly defined by a wall of reeds. Other than the Plough Inn beside Hickling Basin, there are no pubs to visit though there is a pleasant stopping-off place for a picnic about quarter of a mile before the turning point.

(Navigational Notes: The whole section has been well dredged apart from the middle of the Basin - do not short cut across this from the wide deep channel around the perimeter. There is often quite a lot of blanket weed in summer so keep an eye on your prop and your water cooling ‘tell-tale’ if you have one.)