How long would it take to travel the whole canal system in england in a canal narrowboat?
The answer is actually more complicated than some people think. The canal and system in “England” excluding the rest of the UK is not all joined up, is not all navigable, and is not open 24hrs a day. The maximum allowable speed is 4mph but most craft should be navigated at a slower speed to minimise wash in the shallower canals. Locks are a time constraint and cannot be ignored and the standard way of calculating an estimate of time to navigate a length of canal is to work in “lock miles” with the time taken is worked as 4mph and 4 locks per hour ie 1 lock is the equivalent of 1 mile. Then there are swing bridges which need time to operate and if the canal is busy there is other traffic to be taken into account as there could be queues at some locks. And do not forget the weather!! Last but not least is the crew to be taken account of. I certainly would not wish to bash on past every pub!!!! So as a reasonable estimate at a reasonable pace and only visiting those canals connected to th
