Canal Boat Holidays from Mercia Marina exploring the Trent and Mersey, Nottingham and the Trent Valley, the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Stoke Potteries and other Inland Waterways

Mercia Merina

The Marina is situated at Willington  on the Trent and Mersey about 5 miles from Burton on Trent. It is a family owned business which has been built around the existing Willington Lake with nine islands/promontories  added to the existing lake to create a series of mini-marinas The soft banks have been planted with wildflowers and reed beds. There is plenty of  open water for easy manoeuvring boats. 

The marina is within easy walking distance of the attractive canal side village of Willington with bus services on Findern Lane and rail services in Willington itself. The marina includes the usual range of services for servicing boats both residential and commercial useage, plus :

Midlands Chandlers, a Brokerage, the Willow Tree Tea Rooms and a shop for basic provisions. All within a delightful and well landscaped waterway setting.

The location makes a good starting point for narrowboat vacations enabling exploration of the Trent and Mersey Canal. as well as choices  such as  Nottingham and the Trent Valley on the River Trent itself, Stoke Potteries or the Birmingham Canals. The picturesque River Soar which wends its way down to Leicester via the Leicester ring  can also be recommended if you have the time, though expect delays at Foxton locks as you pass the Foxton incline.

 

The boats advertised here are from the Shakespeare Classic Line Fleet ... Timeshare weeks that owners are unable to use and wish to rent out instead. As such standards are high with little touches like filtered drinking water at the kitchen sink , which you do notfind in every hireboat, prices are also very reasonable typically well below equivelent boats offerred by comparable hire fleets. The boats come equipped with all bedding, towels and linen as well as central heating, 240v electricity and freeview TV with a DVD player, should you really need it. Also onboard you will find guides and maps to the trent and Mersey and other local waterways, plus leaflets detailing the numerous attractions that can conveniently be accessed from the waterways. Folding bicycles can be hired from the marina if desired and if you want to fish bring a rod ( and licence).

Basic boat hadling and safety traing will be given before departing marina. You will find the staff both helpful and friendly so please take full advantage of your time with them to discover how things work ... like how to light the cooker etc before departing. Test the lights find out where the pumpout switch for the shower is and generally play with the switches etc until you are happy that everything works and that you know what does what. it is much easier to deal with any problems in the marina. turning a 56 ft boat around to come back and ask can waste a lot of time and is really not so easy.