Narrowboating in Wales

For all of the years Pete and I have been together, he has been insistent that he would never own a boat because they are the ultimate money pit. As a boat captain, he is quite aware of the cost to maintain boats, so I have never questioned his stance. So imagine my surprise when, after stumbling upon a show about narrowboats during the pandemic, he started talking about buying a narrowboat and retiring to the English countryside. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a narrowboat is a very narrow houseboat built to travel the canals found in the UK. 

While trying to come to terms with this rapid shift in thinking, I suggested we try it before we buy it. Before long, he had picked a canal, a rental company, and a boat, and made a reservation during the week of his 46th birthday. Pete is not usually the travel planner, but the sudden loss of multiple friends and colleagues over the last few years, in addition to the pandemic, inspired him to seize the day and make it happen. 

For our inaugural narrowboat adventure, we spent a week on the Monmothshire and Brecon Canal, shortened to the Mon & Brec, in southern Wales. The canal is 36 miles long and is one of the few in the UK that is not connected to any other canals. The extensive canal system throughout the UK fell into disrepair when rail surpassed barges as the dominant means of moving goods around the country. Over time, however, the Canal and River Trust (C&RT) has been restoring the network of canals. Without a direct connection to any other canals, we assumed the amount of boat traffic on the canal would be less than some of the other canals, which sounded nice for our first outing. Pete was also drawn to the Mon & Brec because it runs through Brecon Beacons National Park, providing us lots of opportunities for walks in the countryside and beautiful vistas. The area around the canal is a World Heritage Site because of its prominence as a major center of coal, limestone, and iron ore mining and iron production. The canal was used to move a lot of those goods and limestone kilns were quite prominent along the canal. 

lime kiln along the canal

Our rental company, Beacon Park Boats (BPBs), is located roughly in the middle of the 36-mile canal, which meant that we did two out and back legs to travel most of the canal. The recommended itinerary had us going to the north first. After looking at the weather forecast, though, we decided to head south so we would hopefully avoid having to navigate the flight of locks in the rain. We hoped that a reverse itinerary would also make for less competition for mooring spots at the end of the day.

We were allowed to pick up the boat at 2:30 pm on the first day. This in itself was a spectacle. When we were dropped off by our taxi at the gate of BPBs at about 2:15, there was a line of cars waiting to get in. Promptly at 2:30, the automatic gate opened and the cars streamed through, everyone eager to get on their boat and start their holiday. We had dropped our bags off earlier that morning and the amazing staff had already loaded our bags AND put away our groceries, which meant we had a head start on most of the others. After watching a safety video and getting some additional instruction about the boat, a staff member hopped on board and off we went for our training drive. Within about fifteen minutes, Pete was deemed a worthy boat handler, so the staffer stepped off the boat at the first bridge and we were on our own for the next seven days. 

Our home for the week was Heron, a beautiful 57-foot long, 7-foot wide narrowboat. We spent 10 days on a canal boat on the Canal du Midi in Southern France in 2017, but this was a completely different experience. First, the boat was 20 feet longer and about half as wide. This made maneuvering the boat very challenging and took some getting used to. Thank goodness for bow thrusters! Second, the boats in the UK have septic tanks, which was a welcome change from our previous experience (yes, that means the Canal du Midi is filled with poo!). Third, there are no paid C&RT staff on the canal, so we got to operate the locks and drawbridges ourselves. Occasionally volunteers were around to help make sure people were operating the locks correctly and to direct traffic when boats were coming up and going down through the locks. Finally, the Mon & Brec was a much narrower canal than the Canal du Midi, with many stretches barely wide enough for two boats to pass. There were also a lot of blind sweeping turns, so we used our horn frequently to alert others to our presence. Similar to the Canal du Midi, there was a tow path along the entire length of the canal. This path exists because barges were originally towed by horses. Now they are a fantastic recreation path for walkers, runners, and bikers. 

tied up along the tow path for the evening

a very relaxed skipper

a less relaxed skipper

a resident on the canal took our photo and airdropped
it to us while she was walking alongside the boat.
Look how long that boat is!

dinner on the back deck

scenery on the northern end of the canal

we had some really lovely mooring spots

from the helm station, you walked down stairs inside the boat
and proceeded through the salon, galley, head, bedroom, and bow

I think one of the things that was attractive to Pete about narrowboats is the speed at which you travel. The maximum allowable speed on most canals is 4 mph. Our average speed for the trip was 1.4 mph and I'd guess our max was no more than 2 mph. Suffice it to say, narrowboating is akin to a very leisurely stroll. And still, when navigating curves, bridges, and tunnels, 2 mph felt much too fast when I was on the tiller! Over the course of the week, we covered 60 miles in 42 hours of steaming. Our typical day would entail me going for an early morning run on the tow path so we could leave our mooring between 8 and 8:30. We'd usually steam along until midday and find a nice spot to tie up for lunch and a hike. We would then move farther along the canal and try to be tied up for the day by 4 or 5 pm. We usually stopped at a water point every day to fill our water tank. They recommended filling the tank every day, mostly as ballast so the boat would not hit the decks of the very low bridges. At the end of the day, we were oftentimes within walking distance of a village pub, so we'd amble over for a half pint and then cook dinner on the boat. We were trying to make our time on the boat as authentic as possible so we could assess what living on a narrowboat would feel like. In that vein, Pete wanted to cook an involved meal that required multiple burners and lots of dishes to give the galley kitchen a stress test of sorts. His coq au vin was a success, suggesting narrowboat life doesn't have to equate to uninspired, one-pot cooking for months on end. Hooray! 

remaining standing was not an option on most bridges

this was the lowest bridge on the canal - we cleared it by inches

all the bridges were numbered, which was helpful for

keeping track of where you were on the canal

the canal was barely wide enough for two boats to pass in some sections

making "elaborate" meals in the small kitchen

While the Mon & Brec is short, it has most of the features of a longer canal, including locks, drawbridges, aqueducts (bridge of water over water), and a tunnel. Most of these features are situated at the northern end of the canal, which was another good reason to go south first. We got to go through the tunnel, up a lock, and cross the longest aqueduct on Pete's birthday. We also got our only significant rainstorm that evening. Rain would have made for a quite different trip since you have to stand outside in the elements to drive the boat. We were prepared for that possibility, but fortunately did not have to put it to use. 

You can only turn the boat around in certain places along

the canal, called winding basins. We barely fit in this one!

coming out from under one of the 102 bridges that cross the canal

ready to use one of the handles to open the paddles on the lock

closing the gate on the lock

entering the lock on the way up the canal

a bridge and a lock all in one just to make me extra nervous

the 375 yard-long Ashford tunnel - no tow path in here 

and not a lot of room to spare in any direction

one of the drawbridges

the Brynich aqueduct over the River Usk

As we prepared for our trip, we (mostly Pete) watched vlogs from narrowboaters on various canals in the UK. One of the things that always made me laugh was their comments about all the "amazing" wildlife on the canals. This typically included mallard ducks and sheep. Because we were in a national park, I had slightly higher hopes for wildlife but my expectations were still pretty low. We did, in fact, see mallards and sheep galore (including babies of both), and also saw fox, herons, white-throated dippers, pheasants, moorhens, and an ornate and unexpected mannequin duck.

Communing with the locals from the breakfast table

mannequin duck

moorhen - we only saw them on the southern stretch of the canal

the public footpaths often cross through paddocks, where

we occasionally got visits from the animals therein

Brecon Beacons is a national park, but that designation has a slightly different meaning than in the US. While the US government tends to kick people out of areas designated as national parks, significant populations of people have been in these places far too long to remove them, in addition to Briton being a small island. In practice this means there are picturesque villages along the canal every 3-5 miles. Many are dotted with structures that are hundreds to thousands of years old, mostly stone, set on narrow streets and surrounded by green fields. The green fields are mostly sheep paddocks, but they were so beautiful to our drought-adjusted California eyes. It was also the height of spring, so trees and flowers were blooming, adding to the loveliness. 

vast expanses of bluebells lined many of the walking paths

wild ramps - the smell was so strong!

taking in the sunset from the middle of a paddock

stone bridge over the River Usk (and the sight of our 

first dipper sighting, one of my favorite birds)

Most canal-side villages provide long-term moorings for

people living on their narrowboats. Not a lot of passing room!

There were many old churches along the canal. The cemeteries told 

the history of the region; many of the graves were from the mid- 

to late-1800s and were mostly men from the mining pits.

Canal-side pub and oldest brewery in Wales

Halfway through our week, Pete was already researching the various ways to get residency status in the UK. While we are unlikely to qualify for any of them, we can get a six month visitor visa at any point. That seems like plenty of time to share a very small space with another human. And really, who wants to spend the winter in cold, rainy England?! Most importantly, Pete was really happy with our adventure and is already planning our next narrowboat adventure.