Four club members hire the narrowboat Great Escape for a week on the Llangollen Canal - crossing the vertigo-inducing Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, exploring the restored Montgomery Canal, and covering 80 miles and 20 locks along the way.
The adventure started on Saturday 17th May with our arrival at Whittington Wharf Narrowboats on the Llangollen Canal to join narrowboat Great Escape. Great Escape is a 55’ six-berth boat, which was ideal for the four of us on the trip. Steve, the organiser, was joined by Wendy, Ian and Paul. We quickly set about storing our clothes and the provisions from a shopping list organised by Ian. We’d agreed to make one evening meal each, so everyone had a go at cooking, with lunches mostly taken on the move.
After our briefing on the boat and a demonstration on locks with a nifty wooden model, we set off, about 3ish, on our way to Llangollen. As we approached the first of a pair of locks at New Marton, a boater called to us that the lock was stuck and nothing was able to get through. We set about finding a place to stop and see what was happening. There was quite a queue of boats, some of the crews going for a look and others staying on their boats. I went up for a look and found that the Canal and River Trust (CRT) were there and had just freed a lump of wood that was stuck between the cill and bottom of the gate, and things would be moving soon.
Helping to move boats up and down the lock by working the gates as the boats go through is one of my favourite parts of a canal holiday. As boats coming down and going up the locks progressed, I moved the boat forward, and eventually it was our turn. This was our first lock worked by our crew, and they got us through this lock and the next one with ease, and we were on our way.
Due to the delay, we stopped earlier than planned near The Poachers pub at Chirk. It was a beautiful evening and a fantastic place to stop, lit by the setting sun. Paul had brought with him a home-made, gorgeous goulash for dinner on the first night, and later we went to watch some of Eurovision in an almost empty pub.
Sunday would see us crossing into Wales at the Chirk Aqueduct, heading towards the Chirk Tunnel. Manoeuvring the boat to the tunnel entrance showed the tunnel light of an oncoming boat, so, sensibly, we waited for them to emerge before setting off. (Ed. – very sensible.) Once through the tunnel, we were greeted by the smell of chocolate from the Mondelez International factory, where cocoa beans are processed for Cadbury, mixed with the smell of wood being processed at Kronospan’s MDF plant. Quite an interesting combination! The green cutting on the other side of the tunnel was a beautiful surprise.
Soon the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was in sight, and as we approached, the canal got busier, with boats coming down from Llangollen and guided canoe trip boats squeezing their way past. All good fun watching the ensuing mayhem! And then to the crossing of the aqueduct itself, which requires a head for heights at 126’ above the River Dee (and 1007’ long – Ed.: and no guard rail). It is slower going towards Llangollen, as the aqueduct carries water from the River Dee at Horseshoe Falls, Llangollen, and so there is a current – which is why it is also known as the ‘Stream in the Sky’.
A sharp left after the aqueduct leads to the final stretch to Llangollen. Here there are two sections of narrows where it is only possible for single boats to pass, so Paul and Ian went ahead to check for traffic before we continued on our way. On arrival in Llangollen, we made our way to the Llangollen Basin moorings. Reversing a narrowboat isn’t easy, and the addition of a cross-wind made for an interesting manoeuvre to get the boat tied up for the night. We had a wander around town, crossing the Dee and taking in the spectacular sight of the water flowing down the river. We ate a delicious and very filling Sunday lunch at the Bridge End Hotel, but didn’t have time for the horse-drawn boat trip, which would have been a lovely way to get to the Horseshoe Falls.
Monday was a full day of cruising, to get from Llangollen to Frankton Locks at the start of the Montgomery Canal. We went back down the canal, retracing our steps and crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Just after the aqueduct, Wendy showed her skill as a windlass lass and lifted the bridge to let us past. Back through the Whitehouse and Chirk tunnels, we were soon back in England at the Chirk Aqueduct. The wildlife along the canal is amazing – we often saw herons flying past the boat or taking to the sky when they were disturbed by us. We filled up with water just above the New Marton locks, but a whooshing sound and ‘boom’ from the water tank when opening the filler cap didn’t sound right. Nevertheless, we continued on to Frankton Locks for the night, where Wendy cooked a lovely, comforting carbonara.
The passage through Frankton Locks on Tuesday morning was booked with the CRT. There are four locks, the first pair being a staircase, where one lock is connected to the next to allow a steeper gradient to be overcome. It was also on Tuesday morning that we ran out of water, although we believed we’d filled the tank just the day before. I contacted Whittington Wharf Narrowboats and spoke to Stephen, who suggested meeting us at the waterpoint at the bottom of the locks to investigate. Once there, he identified the problem as a blocked breather pipe and set about clearing it by using the hose up against a small hole in the hull. After water sprayed all over him and the hull, it was followed by the breather pipe emptying out some unpleasant green water! Now, when filling the water tank, we could hear air escaping from the breather as it should do.
The Montgomery is a beautiful, quiet canal which originally went to Newtown in mid-Wales. It is slowly being restored, and it is now possible to travel eight miles to turn round at a new winding hole at Crickheath. ‘Winding’ is pronounced as in ‘wind’, that thing that blows and fills sails, not ‘wind’, the thing done to clocks to make them tick! To wind a boat, the bow is slowly driven into the bank and forwards and reverse power used to turn it to go back the other way. However, the Crickheath winding hole is big enough to turn the boat around without touching the sides. (Ed. – I’ve been educated – again!)
Our return journey towards Frankton Locks was a nice, slow trip, and we stopped at Perry Aqueduct, the site of a large breach of the canal into the River Perry in 1936, which almost saw the end of the canal until it was repaired. Wendy had brought her BBQ, but we didn’t have any firelighters, so, with great determination, cardboard from our provisions and the vigorous use of a Frosties cereal box, she got the BBQ going. (Ed. – what, no boy scouts?) This was followed by Steve cremating the sausages, but everyone survived, and we had such a peaceful night in the middle of nowhere.
We went back up the Frankton Locks on Wednesday morning and had a pump out (Ed. – definitely an ‘ooo-errr missus’) at Whittington Wharf Narrowboats before making our way to Ellesmere, having found a nice mooring at the entrance of the Ellesmere Arm. We had a wander around the beautiful town and The Mere, and settled on Thai for dinner.
On Thursday, we set off for Whitchurch, stopping near the Whitchurch Arm for the night. Whitchurch is another picturesque Shropshire town. Dinner was in The Black Bear pub, followed by a wander back to the boat for the night.
Friday required a refill of the water, so we went to the water point at the top of the Grindley Brook lock flight, filled up, then winded the boat at the winding hole above the locks. We didn’t have time to go down and back up the staircase locks at Grindley Brook.
On our final night, we moored just past Frankton Locks for Ian’s terrific traybake.
In all, we covered 80 miles and 20 locks, greatly helped by the route planner canalplan.uk, which calculated the route and suggested places to stop. We had a fantastic time, and it’s always best to remember that, although narrow boating isn’t a contact sport, every now and then, the 20 tons of boat will not go where expected!
I’m hoping to organise another narrowboat trip next year, so please make suggestions on places to go. I also quite like the idea of hiring a cruiser on the Norfolk Broads or the French Canals. There can never be too many boating holidays!
Twenty S&CA members join a five-boat club charter around Croatia's Dalmatian coast, sailing from Šibenik to Trogir, Brač and Maslinica, with UNESCO old towns, seafood dinners, an engine scare, and plenty of Adriatic swimming along the way.
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