Held over the late May/Whitsun bank holiday weekend this year of Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th May 2026, The Crick Boat Show is the UK’s leading inland waterways festival, bringing together narrowboats, marine exhibitors, live entertainment, boating seminars and family attractions.

And here’s are just a few good reasons why you should stop by and see the team from LNBP over ‘the three-days of Crick’.

1. Book your ticket and join us on the Crick Boat Show trip boats

We will once again be operating the hugely-popular Trips Boats for visitors to the Show who can enjoy a short boat trip with us from the Marina and along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal aboard canal boats which are once again run by our volunteer team of skippers.

The half-hour trips are run and provided free, but we welcome donations in lieu, and will run every 10 minutes from 10.10am each day of the show.

As these trips always prove very popular year-on-year, our advice is to book with us once you arrive at the Show to avoid disappointment.

You will find us at Stand Q50 by the quayside where you can up pick your tickets from our team who can tell you more about we can do and offer.

2. Donate to support us and benefit others

As mentioned above, the boat trips we run on behalf of the Crick Boat Show are provided to the Show’s visitors FREE of charge.

However LNBP do accept donations in lieu.

This is enable us as a non-proft volunteer-led charity to continue our work in the community and provide opportunities for those less than fortunate to enjoy a trip on our boats on the canals and inland waterway networks of central England

You can make donations either by cash in the collection buckets that will be on the boats and by our Booking Tent, by card via our card payment terminal, or scan the QR code on the posters on the trip boats or at the Booking Tent to make a donation payment  via our website (which you can also do here)

3. Find out more about short break residential trips for your community group or organisation

Members of our team will be on hand throughout the weekend to tell you more about the opportunities we can provide to community groups and organisations on our boats. 

Whether it be short break residential of two or more nights at weekends or during the week, or a day trip as part of the limited number of inexpensive day trips we also provide from Braunston, talk to us about your group and how we can help create memories and an experience that will stay with your group members for years to come.

Why not even make an enquiry for your community group or organisation for 2027 or 2028?

4. Ask about volunteering with us

LNBP Community Boating is reliant on the efforts of volunteers who give their time to ensure the smooth running of the organisation and the canal boat experiences we provide.

And we are always keen to welcome new volunteers to our organisation, so if you are 16 years old and over, why not consider getting involved?

There are many ways you can get involved, and many benefits for individuals who volunteer with us, so talk to a member of our team (themselves, all volunteers) on how you can get involved; even if it is just for an hour or two here and there.

You can also find out more here

5. Find out and register for CCBM training

We are also also an accredited Training Centre for the Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM) and run several training weeks a year.

Administered by the National Community Boats Association (NCBA) of which LNBP Community Boating is a member, the CCBM course is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of people operating boats carrying groups of twelve passengers or less. It is

It is aimed at boat users in the voluntary or public sectors, but the scheme is also open to all group leaders using commercial hirecraft. Many organisations require the CCBM as a prerequisite for group leaders who are planning to self-steer.

For more information, talk to a member of our team and our Project Skippers who will be at the Show and running the trip boats. Why not even register your interest for our next CCBM Training event too.

As always,  we welcome any enquiries from all Show Visitors and are only too happy to answer any questions you may have.

So please don’t be afraid to pop by our Stand or ask a member of our team on the trip boats. You won’t miss us – we will have our distinctive blue polo shirts and sweat shirts on (and hopefully won’t need raincoats and umbrellas).

We look forward to seeing and meeting you at Crick.

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As an accredited CCBM (Certificate in Community Boat Management) Training Centre, LNBP run a number of training weeks each year for prospective candidates with demand always high to join us and complete the course.

This latest course was once again another successful few days of training with all of the candidates successfully passing the course after several days out on the Oxford and Grand Union canal network in and around Braunston.

And even the weather was kind to our trainers Mike, Paul and Russ and their trainees!

The pictures below give you a flavour from last week.

Many thanks to everyone who attended and made it a highly successful and enjoyable week.

And sincere thanks to Mike, Paul and Russ for giving their time and running the course, and to Russ for the photos who could possibly have a new job in photography if ever he needed or fancied one.

• To find out more about LNBP’s CCBM courses and future dates including to register your interest for our next courses, email Mike at training@lnbp.co.uk

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Held over the Easter school holidays, these now-annual day trips are an extension of our regular weekend and midweek residential trips, designed to provide a fun introduction for youngsters to our local canals in and around Braunston alongside the ever-popular theme of pirates.

For this trip we had the pleasure of the company of members of Rhythmic Expressions Dance Academy based in Daventry who really got into character for what was another very successful and highly enjoyable trip as you can see from the pictures below.

Many thanks to ‘Purple Pirate’ Denise and her Captain Paul from LNBP for managing the trip and keeping the crew in order and waterways safe!

And thank you also to Chirelle and everyone at Rhythmic Expressions Dance Academy for coming along and really getting into the spirit of the day. It was an absolute pleasure to have you, and we hope to see you again soon.

• For more details about future Pirate Days with LNBP and how you can get your children’s centre or youth and community group involved, email us at marketing@lnbp.co.uk.

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Rachel Spruce will be undertaking the challenge of The London Marathon MyWay on Sunday 26^th April 2026.

The TCS London Marathon MyWay provides the opportunity to complete 26.2 miles however and wherever you wish (except indoors or on a treadmill) on Marathon Day. The start line can be wherever you choose, as long as you can complete the distance from 00:00 to 23:59:59 BST on Sunday 26 April 2026

In Rachel’s case, she will be walking the towpath of the Grand Union Canal, starting from Napton and heading for her ‘finish line’ at Stoke Bruerne via Braunston, all to raise money for LNBP Community Boating.

To find out more and sponsor Rachel in her efforts, head to her Justgiving page here

And you can follow Rachel’s progress on Strava – which includes her training and the actual walk on the day, by clicking this link:- Check out Rachel Spruce on Strava

• We are sure you will join everyone at LNBP to wish Rachel all the very best of luck with her challenge and we extend our thanks to her for all the efforts in aid of LNBP.

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Once again our team will be at the ever-popular Show for what promises to be another busy Whitsun weekend.

Organised by Waterways World in partnership with the Canal & River Trust and Crick Marina, the three-day Show offers a great day out by the water for all the family and showcases 300 exhibitors from across the canal and inland waterways industry.

Held at Crick Marina in Northamptonshire, this year’s Show will once again be held over the late May [Whitsun] bank holiday weekend which for this year is across Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday 25th May 2026.

Once again there will be a Trade and Preview Day 24 hours before on Friday 22nd May when all boats and Quayside stands and much of the Show Village and Boating Marquee will be open to trade visitors and to Preview Day ticket holders.

Among the wide variety of stalls and entertainment on offer during the three public days, there is opportunity to take a boat trip with us as we will once again be operating the hugely-popular Trips Boats. Visitors to the Show can enjoy a short boat trip with us from the Marina and along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal aboard canal boats which are once again run by our volunteer team of skippers.

The half-hour trips are free, but we welcome and greatly appreciate donations in lieu, with trips running every 10 minutes from 10.10am each of the three days of the show.

As these trips always prove very popular, our advice is to book with us once you arrive at the Show. You will find us at Stand F0 by the quayside where you can up your tickets  from our team who can tell you more about we can do and offer, answer any questions and take enquiries for potential community group shrt break trips and longer holidays for 2027 (and 2028!)

For more information about the 2026 Crick Boat Show and to buy tickets in advance, go to their website HERE.

We look forward to seeing you at Crick.

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We look forward to meeting again and seeing you in 2026.

With all the very best wishes for the season,

From, The Trustees and Executive Committee

LNBP Community Boating at Braunston

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LNBP Community Boating are pleased to announce details of our CCBM Training Week for Spring 2026.

As an accredited Training Centre for the Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM), LNBP run a series of training courses at either end of the boating season.

What is the Certificate in Community Boat Management?

The CCBM course is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of people operating boats carrying groups of twelve passengers or less. It is administered by the National Community Boats Association (NCBA) of which LNBP Community Boating is a member.

The CCBM course is aimed at boat users in the voluntary or public sectors, but the scheme will be of interest to all group leaders using commercial hirecraft. Many organisations require the CCBM as a prerequisite for group leaders who are planning to self-steer.

All candidates for the CCBM must be over 18 years.

Our CCBM Training Weeks are residential-based on our boats for the full week and also include full catering for the duration.

The dates for our Spring CCBM training dates are Monday 20^th to Friday 24th April 2026.

Following that, LNBP will also be running a dedicated CCBM Re-Validation Day on Saturday 25th April 2026.

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A massive THANK YOU to all for what you individually and collectively achieved at the Crick Boat Show this year.

Our skipper numbers were down to what we now think are minimal levels, but everyone stepped up and together we succeeded.

We completed 94 boat trips, with 803 passengers and 30 dogs. That’s 99.5% capacity (excluding the dogs) mainly down to the efforts of Julie and Lynda convincing people that they really did want to go on a boat trip….now !

NB Lazy Days and NB Daybreak were a big improvement and I hope you all had a chance to take the electric boat out for a spin. The boat trips don’t happen without the skippers & crew. People also need to be fed a watered (thanks Sharren & Russ) so the message is thanks to everyone who did their bit. Individually we are good, collectively we are awesome.

Collections were down compared to previous years although we didn’t have Guinevere as an additional attraction. However, our costs were also down. Our attendance at Crick is about being at the largest inland waterways boat show in the UK, connecting with the local community and the boating communities, an opportunity for us to get together and promote/advertise LNBP. In addition, we are able to hold our AGM on the campsite, which is an efficient opportunity to fulfil a legal requirement.

Waterways World organise the show and are very appreciative of LNBP providing the day boat service for the Show as they know we will deliver. We demonstrated that LNBP is a great team and anyone looking for community boating could approach us with confidence.

Thanks again and hope to seek you back again next year.

* To see more pics from LNBP at Crick 2025, click HERE

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Once again the weekend long event was held over the late May Whitsun bank holiday period with the public days of Saturday 24th to Monday 26th May following the Show’s Trade and Preview Day on the Friday 23rd.

The LNBP team were once again brought in to operate the Show’s trip boats which saw three day boats run every 15 minutes from the marina quayside, out and up a short distance of the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal and back.

The trip boats are always a popular feature amongst showgoers and this year was again no exception with initial reports suggesting the boats and tickets for them were used to capacity and sold out. Although the trips were provided free of charge, donations were encouraged either by cash or card payment in lieu, and gratefully received. Full report details to follow.

The event also provides an ideal platform for LNBP to promote and market its services to the Show visitors with another useful source of enquiries generated

‘Crick’ also is a great venue and opportunity to bring all LNBP members together in one place to hold its AGM on the Saturday as well as provide a post-day social of a spot of food and drink.  This year was no exception and with the notable inclusion and installation of a new Chairperson – more details to follow about this hortly.

All in all it was another excellent, busy and productive Crick Show and thank you to everyone who contributed in whatever capacity during the course of the week and the days leading up to and after it.

Look out for more post-Crick details to follow.

The post In pictures – LNBP at 2025 Crick Boat Show appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

The Whitsun half-term school holidays at the end of May just after our involvement at the Crick Boat Show presented the ideal opportunity to run the second of our Pirate Days themed trips.

This year The LNBP Purple Pirate (Denise) and her Skipper (Paul) were pleased to welcome two local community groups – one based in Braunston Village and one from nearby Daventry – for two separate days of fun and activities on Lancelot.

Ahoy, matey! Keep calm and hoist the Jolly Roger.

After meeting our motley crews with and providing a short safety brief, the fun began with Lancelot setting off from our mooring at Bottom Lock at Braunston cruising past the Marina and Stop House before heading up the Grand Union to just before Napton.

On board The Purple Pirate had been hard at work creating a super array of activities for the crew to enjoy below deck, in addition to the crew taking in the sounds and sights of the countryside  and spotting wildlife of the boat trip. There was even friendly waves and hellos from other fellow boats too (no doubt wary not to get on the wrong side of the Purple Pirate and her crew!

Wherever there’s treasure, there’s a pirate not far behind

Why be a landlubber when ye can be a legend?

Our thanks to both groups for coming along to our Pirate Days and for getting involved and into the spirit of what we hoped the days are meant to be (and for being so well-behaved). We hope you enjoyed yourselves (it certainly looked like you did) and we thoroughly enjoyed having you.

And our thanks to Denise and Paul for their time and effort in running another highly successful few days (and coming so soon after Crick too!)

• Dates for our 2026 Pirate Days will be announced later in the year.

• If you are involved or organise a children’s or youth community group or youth club in the local area and would be interested to join us for one of our Pirate Days themed trips, why not get in touch. To register your interest, email us at marketing@lnbp.co.uk and we will be in touch shortly.

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