barbymoorings.co.uk Reviews 3

We came across Barby Moorings in July 2024. We were on a narrowboat and needed winter storage. We moored our narrowboat with them from September 2024 to May 2025. During this time they were very helpful giving me an update on the boat i.e they checked the engine sump pump intermittently
This year they have been very accommodating allowing us to have a mooring on a month by month basis. We needed to go home due to a family matter.

We have found Stacy, Office Manager and Penny Owner of the marina to be friendly and helpful.

The Marina is situated close to good road links of the M1 and M6, just outside the town of Rugby and the village of Barby on the North Oxford Canal.

Unfortunately it is not that a peaceful place to stay due to constant road noise from the adjacent M45 and the diesel generators used to charge batteries that supply electricity to the pontoons.

The amenities are nothing like what is described on the website. There is no quayside building, in fact the building hasn’t even been started nor does it seem any real hurry to build it by the owners. They seem more intent in making alterations to the existing workshop to change part of it in to habitable accommodation. The quayside area has only elsan, pump out and diesel available. The elsan and pump out are often unserviceable and in winter very difficult to access due to the uneven and muddy ground surrounding them.

The general condition of the marina is not good. Pontoons are beginning to be in a poor state due to very little maintenance. The electricity supply is hit and miss, there are regular power cuts and the charges for electricity use is not cheap! The free to air WiFi signal is poor unless you are close to the aerial, no signal inside your boat. Although saying all this the water supply doesn’t freeze in the winter due to good insulation to protect the taps.

Finally the owners are not easy to approach or to speak to and often will walk straight pass you without speaking. Many people on the marina are afraid of complaining or asking for things to be fixed due to the responses they will inevitably get from the owners. I think customer service is very poor, apart from the young lady who works in the “office” (portacabin), she is far more approachable and pleasant.

In conclusion, there are better Marinas on this stretch of the North Oxford Canal. This marina needs some TLC and the owners need to respect their customers as in the end without customers they will have no business.

This is based on our experiences, over in excess of seven years.To be clear, my relationship with the owners was, at times, stressed, though at no time did I raise my voice to them, one of the owners did threaten violence to me and a visitor however. We decided to leave and had paid a deposit on a new mooring, but I was stopped by one of the owners a couple of weeks before handing in notice and told that the mooring would not be renewed. No reason was given and no mooring regulations broken, just the comment that it was ‘cumulative things'. I'm not the first to face this.
THE GOOD.
A pleasant countryside setting with easy access to several areas of the canal network. The marina consists of a central island, with pontoon moorings and accessed by two bridges. The outer bank is mainly given over to fenced bankside moorings with sheds for storage. The boating community here is very friendly, always a helping hand if you are in need. Local facilities for shops etc. are good, but transport is essential. Site security is fair, with CCTV and barrier controlled entry, a public footpath runs along one side, so there is limited public access. To be fair, this has not been a real problem. Facilities are very limited, but coal, gas, diesel, recycling and rubbish disposal are available, as is a basic Elsan point and pump out, both of which are free of charge. Electricity, water points, hard wired Wifi, TV connections and free to air Wifi are available too. Some boat maintenance is available, though limited to items that may be carried out with the boat in the water.
THE BAD.
This comes mainly from owners that seem to dislike dealing with people, a pity as the marina had great prospects when planned. After some 10 years, much is uncompleted and wear and tear over that time, made worse by what appears to be a total lack of scheduled maintenance, is now beginning to show. The timber pontoon boards are becoming loose, fixing screws having rusted away and the bankside pontoons timber frames are rotting, causing trip hazards, of which the owners have been aware of for several months. The island access bridges have problems, the brick bridge has a very steep slope, dangerous in ice or snow, with no action taken to salt the ice, not even a bin of salt for customers to use! The swing bridge further round the island seems less than stable, but this is a subjective personal view. A bridge over the marina entrance has yet to be built, those wishing to visit the nearby Elsan point from boats moored to the ‘wrong side' of the entrance face a very long walk, partly on a neglected and potholed track, on which cars may ground. On the bankside garden moorings, fences are beginning to fail, posts are rotting away, many sheds are in poor repair, with roofs leaking and some seem near collapse. The banks themselves are also falling away badly due to erosion. Facilities are very limited, Elsan and pump out are frequently out of use, due to a full waste tank . The foot approach to the Elsan is down a steep muddy slope and a rubble strewn service area. Care must be taken to avoid an accident walking here and strong footwear is necessary in poor weather conditions. Electricity is from a generator and battery system with a recent solar panel addition. This comes at a high monthly charge of 30p per unit, rising to 60p over 100 units. Whilst the system is fairly reliable, power cuts should be expected. The hard wired Wifi never worked on my mooring, on plugging in I found no signal, I requested that this be corrected but three years later I was still waiting! The free to air Wifi works, though the signal is not strong. I didn't try the TV hook up. A huge workshop was built several years ago, but the crane needed has never been built, so it's of no use to customers. The other facilities, planned for the service quay area, showers, laundry, cafe, chandlery etc. had been promised every year that I was there but nothing yet.
So, for a mooring it's OK, but don't have high expectations!