Long-term moorings in Garstang

Garstang is a market town in Lancashire, 10 miles from both Preston and Lancaster, on the River Wyre and the Lancaster Canal. Moorings in Garstang are split between two marinas beside the canal at Nateby, on the edge of the town, and Canal & River Trust leisure moorings along the canal bank.

Moorings in Garstang

• Garstang Marina: 270 moorings for narrowboats, wide beams and cruisers in 12 acres off Nateby Crossing Lane, with boat lifting, hardstanding, a workshop, showers and a launderette.
• Bridge House Marina: family run since 1974 and also on Nateby Crossing Lane, with moorings, a boat lift, a slipway and storage inside and out for DIY work. It shares the site with a caravan park.
• Moss Lane: Canal & River Trust moorings by Bridge 63, about five minutes from the town centre. Two off-side lengths of about 150m and 300m take up to 10 and 21 boats.
• Montgomeries Wharf: about 100m of Trust mooring for up to six boats, roughly a mile from the town, reached through a locked gate off Nateby Crossing Lane.

The Trust sites are basic leisure moorings with mooring rings and no car park, and are not for full-time residential use. The Trust's water point, pump out, Elsan and refuse point are at Moss Lane.

On the water

The Canal & River Trust describes the Lancaster Canal as 41 miles of lock-free cruising, so a boat kept here can travel to Preston or Lancaster without working a lock. The Glasson Branch leads down to the coast at Glasson Basin.

• Ribble Link: the connection to the rest of the canal network, at Preston, opened in 2002. It is tidal, every passage is booked with the Trust in advance, and it takes boats up to 62ft long and 10ft 6in wide.
• Hollowforth Aqueduct: the canal breached here, at Woodplumpton near Preston, in July 2024 and reopened to boats in March 2025 after the embankment was rebuilt.

Getting there and around

The A6 bypasses the town and the M6 is reached at Preston or Lancaster. Garstang has no railway station: the nearest are Preston and Lancaster on the West Coast Main Line. None of the Trust moorings has parking, and the nearest public car parks are in the town centre.