Anyone that knows me knows that I am BEYOND ENTHUSIASTIC about Watermark!
I have a family of five – Watermark can accommodate up to 8, albeit 2 of them would have to be small ones – and tbh part of the reason I love it is that it’s a bargain holiday. But more than that, it’s an opportunity to have a very slow, relaxing, somehow old-fashioned week of holiday with my family, featuring local attractions, lots of pub lunches/dinners, board games, and walks along the canal.
For the last couple of years, Watermark has been based at Alvechurch Marina near Birmingham, which gives access to a whole range of different routes. You can choose how challenging a route you want – mainly whether you go through loads of locks, or not that many. This year, we were all geared up to do a route with 116, but were foiled by drought-related navigation restrictions (not all canals/locks were open), and had to do a less ambitious route. As a family we love a lock now; it’s great team-work and makes the holiday pretty active as you jump on and off the boat to go through the locks.
I can’t deny that it makes my middle-aged soul sing, but I first went on Watermark with some friends from my grad cohort years ago, and it was great for a mates holiday as well, so I like to believe it’s young person friendly too.
It’s genuinely not that complicated; if I can do it, anyone can! There’s also something really nice about learning a new skill, and something very meditative about chugging down the canals.
