The Purple Boat Narrowboat Holiday Hire

What an experience!! Sue was lovely and very clear on her instructions during the induction. It was very helpful to be taken through the first lock by Sue as this helped with our confidence for future ones. We cant recommend this enough. Our 10 and 12 year old girls came with for the first 2 days and they loved it. Despite it being a relatively active holiday working the locks, its the most relaxed Ive been while away. As a side note, the canal boat community is one of the kindest and helpful Ive come across.
Sep 5th, 2022

This was a great experience for our first time on a narrowboat. The purple boat is a good size for two adults. We had our two dogs with us and we were very comfortable. The size of the boat made steering and navigating the locks easier than it might otherwise be. Sue gave excellent advice and took us through the first lock, which gave us confidence to go on to manage the others. The galley was well equipped with a full size fridge , hob grill and small oven. We only had a few days so travelled from Shardlow to Burton through the Derbyshire countryside. We stopped at several pubs for food. The Crewe and Harpur and the Dragon being our favourites. All the people we met along the way were friendly and helpful so we never felt rushed and came back feeling relaxed.
Apr 6th, 2023

As a family with two young children taking our first holiday on a narrowboat the Purple Boat was absolutely perfect. Sue's daughters took us carefully through all aspects of the boat and then saw us through our first lock and quite honestly I don't think they left anything else or could have done the job more courteously or more perfectly. Some of the initial (2 boat) locks are quite hard work so you need to send someone with a few muscles to do them but later single boat locks were fine. We ate aboard some nights and used a couple of the many available pubs on other nights but did find it worthwhile to book ahead as all the pubs were well booked up. Great walking around the Branston Water Park and the visit to the Claymills Pumping Station were both excellent and FREE and the stopover (and cinema) at Waterside Marina were greatly appreciated by the children. Great week and pleased we chose a smaller boat like the PB for our initial narrowboat experience as all easily manageable but enough space to be comfortable and all thought of even down to the USB charging plug and umbrella. Well done Sue and family.
Jul 10th, 2022

Sue was the perfect host for our 6 nights on The Purple Boat, for me, my husband and our sweet old dog. Sue was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Communications before, during and after the trip were excellent. The boat was perfect in every way and kitted out with absolutely everything we could have needed. The layout was great and huge bed incredibly comfortable. We had no previous experience, so took a while to get used to the locks, but wherever we were, there was usually a friendly boater to advise us. The slow pace of life was just what we needed to wind down and as we were so lucky with the May weather, had some lovely scenery every day. Nice having so many pubs to moor up near every night! Thanks for everything Sue!
May 24th, 2022

What Wonderful, Pleasant People to Hire a Narrowboat from. The Boat itself is Truly Amazing and Beautiful in Every Which Way Possible. We had the Absolute Pleasure of Sharing 3 of the Big Six Locks with the Owner, So Our Feelings are From First Hand Experience. All The Very Best, And Thanks. Martin and Di x NB Fragil
May 2nd, 2022