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
Ringvaart
England
See also Canals of Great Britain
Cheshire Ring
Rochdale Canal, Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Bridgewater Canal
Four Counties Ring
Trent and Mersey Canal, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Middlewich Branch, (Wardle Canal)
Warwickshire ring
BCN Main Line, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal, Grand Union Canal
The "Pure Warwickshire" (it isn't really) version omits last two, heading directly into Birmingham from Fazeley
The Thames Ring / Great Ring
River Thames, Oxford Canal, Grand Union Canal
South Pennine Ring
Rochdale Canal, Calder and Hebble Navigation, Huddersfield Broad Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Ashton Canal
North Pennine Ring
Rochdale Canal, Calder and Hebble Navigation, Aire and Calder Navigation, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Bridgewater Canal
Outer 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 Canal
Yorkshire Ring (Currently incomplete)
Aire and Calder Navigation, Dearne and Dove Canal, Barnsley Canal, River Don Navigation, New Junction Canal
Stourport Ring
River Severn, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Stourbridge Canal, Dudley Canals, Birmingham Canal Navigations (Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal and Birmingham New Main Line), Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Avon Ring
River Avon, River Severn, Worcester and Birmingham Canal and Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
Leicestershire Ring
Trent and Mersey Canal, River Soar, Grand Union Canal, Coventry Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal (isolated section)
Mid-Worcestershire Ring
Droitwich 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 Ring
River 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 Ring
River Thames, Thames and Severn Canal, North Wilts Canal, Wilts and Berks Canal
This 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 Ring
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal (Isolated Section), Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, BCN Main Line
Cotswolds Ring
Thames 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 Ring
Montgomery 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.
