Our Boats

The Basingstoke Canal Society operates two trip boats on the Basingstoke Canal

The Basingstoke Canal Society is a registered charity which owns two passenger boats providing pleasure trips on the Basingstoke Canal. The John Pinkerton II which operates from Odiham hosts up to 50 guests and the Kitty, operating from The Town Wharf in Woking, up to 12 guests.

Both boats are operated by John Pinkerton Canal Cruises Ltd and are crewed by trained and qualified volunteers. All proceeds go directly to safeguarding the Basingstoke Canal for the future.

You can book seats or attend public and themed events, or you can even charter the whole boat for family, friends or work colleagues.  

To find out more about the boats and to book your special trip please click on the links below.

Replacing Kitty

Please help by donating.

We need to replace Kitty

A canal boat can only go on for so long before repairs become almost impossible to sustain.  Kitty is nearing the end of her life and we plan to replace her with an all-electric boat.

An Electric Revolution

As well as making the new Kitty non-polluting and all-electric, we also plan to install several charging points on the canal in Woking which will represent the first step towards making the canal fully electric for all users.  

Better adapted for the Less Abled

The new Kitty will be much better adapted for the less abled, being designed from scratch to allow easier wheelchair access and provide enough space for an on-board toilet.

We need to raise a lot of money!!

Sadly canal boats don’t come cheap!  The boat will be produced by a UK based boatbuilder and together with installing the charging network, we need to raise around £200,000 to replace Kitty.  To prime this, the Basingstoke Canal Society is contributing £70,000 from its own funds and we are aiming to raise the remaining £130,000 from a variety of sources including grants, individual and corporate donations and an art auction in late February at the Lightbox in Woking.

Fundraising project

In November 2021 we launched a Crowdfunding campaign to raise part of the £200k funds needed to replace Kitty and this first stage of our fundraising project has finished with a great success! Our target was £20k and with your generosity we successfully raised £12,447 ( + est. £2180.50 Gift Aid ) with 196 supporters in 42 days.

We’d like to thank everyone who donated and sent supportive messages. We continue with our efforts to raise funds to replace Kitty and your help is always greatly appreciated. Kitty has a limited life left and if we can’t raise the funds, we’ll lose this valuable community resource. Please consider donating through our Donations page, don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box if you can.