A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and I closer together

[Alan de Enfield]

A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and I closer together (telegraph.co.uk)

 

 

 

The canal narrowed to a thin slip of water, trees fell away and all of a sudden we were floating over the fields like a bird on the breeze. To one side of the boat was a drop of 38 metres – one false step and that was it. It was only when we were overtaken by walkers on the other side that I realised that we were going much too slowly for us to be bumped overboard. Still, crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct via the world’s highest navigable canal felt like flying.

 

I looked back to see my dad skillfully handling the tiller and beaming. Our narrowboat trip – booked through specialist company Black Prince – was intended to be both a family reunion and his 70th birthday celebration. Dad is a former naval engineer who regales anyone in earshot with tales of his time at sea (and now that his beard is a snowy white, comparisons with Delboy’s Uncle Albert are only more apt). Getting him back on the water seemed an obvious choice of trip.

It transpired, however, that our gentle meander through north Wales would be the first time that this engineer had actually been allowed to do any steering. Nonetheless, Dad proved a dab hand at cruising through the tight bends of the picturesque Llangollen canal. This is a waterway that ripples with history and horses still pull boats from the towpath for tourists.

The highlight is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a feat of engineering that opened in 1805 and has been recognised by Unesco. It was, however, only the second aqueduct that we encountered on our weekend voyage. The first was at Chirk, shortly after we boarded the boat and were given very helpful handling instructions by Black Prince staff. Though nowhere near as vertigo-inducing (at 21m above ground), Chirk Aqueduct proved nearly as picturesque, with the grey-stone arches of a separate viaduct running just above it.

With two aqueducts down and no locks to contend with, our short trip was perfectly suited to boating beginners, though we still managed to clock up some errors along the way. It became clear that I’d paid little attention to Dad’s navy stories when I failed to understand his instruction of “full to stern!” as I let our boat’s bottom swing out in front of another vessel. 

 

Grandfather-grandaughter bonding time on board

We also felt the need to commandeer my children’s walkie-talkies a couple of times so that one of us could walk ahead to check for boats along the canal’s narrowest stretches. These could go on for 300m and had no passing points. Blasting the horn to let others know we were coming had the downside of upsetting our toddler who unfortunately seemed to always be sitting right next to the speaker.

 

Then there was a brief, heart-in-your-mouth moment on the last day, when Dad was concentrating so hard on the boats ahead that he nearly forgot to duck his head beneath a bridge, realising his mistake in the last possible second. Another story to add to his repertoire at least.

 

Generally however, we found narrowboating to be a friendly and relaxing method of slow travel. Lambs bounced in the fields, wild garlic perfumed the banks, dog-walkers waved from bridges and fellow boaters greeted us as we puttered by. Once I relaxed into it, anticipating each bend of the canal became intuitive, though steering through the occasional dark tunnel, in which the children liked to howl like wolves, required more precision.

 

We moored on the second night at Llangollen Marina, a lovely spot with a backdrop of purple bracken-covered hills and an easy path into Llangollen town. There, a stone bridge with cutwaters stands over the River Dee as it tears over rocky ledges below. The Corn Mill pub has a great riverside terrace where you can find your land legs, with views up to the old hilltop castle Dinas Brân.

 

There is more ............................

Edited June 3, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[matty40s]

That's quite enough thanks...

[Athy]

Good publicity for the hire-fleet companies, who are doubtless still eager to recoup the loss of revenue which they suffered during the periods of lock-down.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and I closer together (telegraph.co.uk)

 

Tsk! Tsk! Thought the Telegraph at least might get that right!

 

"A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and me closer together"

Edited June 3, 2021 by David Mack

[Athy]

1 minute ago, David Mack said:

 

Tsk! Tsk! Thought the Telegraph at least might get that right!

 

"A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and me closer together"

Ditto the spelling of "skilfully".

[enigmatic]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Good publicity for the hire-fleet companies, who are doubtless still eager to recoup the loss of revenue which they suffered during the periods of lock-down.

I don't think they'll struggle to have all their fleet hired out this summer regardless. But if they can get people aspiring to hire them in future summers....

[Athy]

37 minutes ago, enigmatic said:

I don't think they'll struggle to have all their fleet hired out this summer regardless. But if they can get people aspiring to hire them in future summers....

You'd think not - but, in these pages a couple of weeks ago, members reported seeing numerous hire boats still tied up at bases, so there may well be vacancies.