A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop.
While there have been canals which formed a ring for centuries, the "ring" terminology was unknown before the 1960s, when it was coined by the Inland Waterways Association as part of its campaign to save the Ashton Canal and Peak Forest Canal from closure as part of the Cheshire Ring.
Working boatmen of old were concerned with getting from A to B as fast as possible, or for the lowest toll, rather than in visiting more of the system, and what are now known as "rings" were simply alternative routes to them. However, with the growth in the use of canals for leisure purposes, circular routes offered the leisure boater an opportunity to see twice as much of the system as was possible with an "out and back" cruise. Hire companies are keen to promote their proximity to popular cruising rings.
Since the Cheshire Ring was born, ever more rings (and variants of them) have been created. The best known are those that can be completed in one or two weeks, although some three-week rings (such as the Outer Pennine Ring) have been given names, and there are innumerable other possibilities for cruising the canals so as to never cover the same water twice that are unnamed.
The Netherlands
RingvaartEngland
See also Canals of Great Britain
Cheshire RingRochdale Canal, Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Bridgewater CanalFour Counties RingTrent and Mersey Canal, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Middlewich Branch, (Wardle Canal)Warwickshire ringBCN Main Line, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal, Grand Union CanalThe "Pure Warwickshire" (it isn't really) version omits last two, heading directly into Birmingham from FazeleyThe Thames Ring / Great RingRiver Thames, Oxford Canal, Grand Union CanalSouth Pennine RingRochdale Canal, Calder and Hebble Navigation, Huddersfield Broad Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Ashton CanalNorth Pennine RingRochdale Canal, Calder and Hebble Navigation, Aire and Calder Navigation, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Bridgewater CanalOuter Pennine Ring (Combines the North and South Pennine rings, omitting the section of the Rochdale canal that they share)Calder and Hebble Navigation, Aire and Calder Navigation, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Bridgewater Canal, Rochdale Canal, Ashton Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Huddersfield Broad CanalYorkshire Ring (Currently incomplete)Aire and Calder Navigation, Dearne and Dove Canal, Barnsley Canal, River Don Navigation, New Junction CanalStourport RingRiver Severn, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Stourbridge Canal, Dudley Canals, Birmingham Canal Navigations (Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal and Birmingham New Main Line), Worcester and Birmingham CanalAvon RingRiver Avon, River Severn, Worcester and Birmingham Canal and Stratford-upon-Avon CanalLeicestershire RingTrent and Mersey Canal, River Soar, Grand Union Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal (isolated section)Mid-Worcestershire RingDroitwich Barge Canal, Droitwich Junction Canal, Worcester and Birmingham Canal, River Severn This ring has been created by the reopening of the two Droitwich Canals in 2011.Wessex RingRiver Thames, Kennet and Avon Canal, Wilts and Berks Canal This ring is only possible when the Wilts and Berks Canal is fully restored.North Thames RingRiver Thames, Thames and Severn Canal, North Wilts Canal, Wilts and Berks CanalThis ring is only possible when the Wilts and Berks Canal, Thames and Severn Canal and the North Wilts Canal are fully restored.
Staffordshire and Birmingham RingStaffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal (Isolated Section), Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, BCN Main LineCotswolds RingThames and Severn Canal, Stroudwater Navigation, Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, River Severn, River Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, Grand Union Canal, Oxford Canal, River Thames This ring is only possible when the Thames and Severn Canal and the Stroudwater Navigation are fully restored.Severn RingMontgomery Canal, Llangollen Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, River Severn This ring is only possible when the River Severn and Montgomery Canal are fully restored.