We first formed the idea of doing a narrowboat trip some years ago when we saw the magnificent Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal in Wales. This impressive span carries the canal across the River Dee valley at a height of over 100 feet and a length in excess of 1000 feet. The unusual (to say the least!) sight of a boat sailing across a bridge, high above the valley floor left a lasting impression and a growing desire to sample this ‘hidden world’ for ourselves.
The canal network of the UK is very extensive and there are many marinas from where narrowboats can be hired. After lots of research on the British Waterways travel planner website and checking with RCI for availability, we decided to book a week with Stratford Court Cruisers (enter the site and click on "BOATS" in the menu) who are based at Evesham, on the Avon River.
Don’t get too concerned about the ‘fit’ part; as long as you are mobile you will be fine. I would describe myself as healthy, but far from fit (is the passed tense of fit fat?) and I found the trip invigorating, not exhausting. There were four of us on the trip, myself, my wife and two friends.
We had originally booked to take the boat from their Stratford upon Avon marina, but in the 22 months between booking and starting, the timeshare company had ceased operating from that marina so we had to start from Evesham on the Avon River. In hindsight it was the best thing for us, as we got the opportunity to acclimatise ourselves with the boat in the relatively luxurious widths of the river before we encountered the much narrower canals.
We spent a lot of time fretting about how we would cope with operating those mysterious locks, and just how demanding the week would be, but all concerns were dispelled by the end of the first day onboard.
You begin your narrowboat education with an informative video presentation at the marina before boarding the boat for a guided tour of the equipment and a practical lesson on the river for 30 minutes or so, plenty enough to get a feel for handling and operating the boat.
Our boat ‘Gilly’ is a Duchess Class narrowboat which is 60 feet long and 7 feet wide, sort of resembles a giant matchstick! They are surprisingly well appointed with accommodation for 6 people, though four people means that you are not constantly converting the dining table into an extra bed, then back again in the mornings. There is a well-equipped galley (kitchen) with small refrigerator and sufficient space to store your provisions, particularly since you can restock in the villages along the way.
The boat comes supplied with enough diesel fuel for about 10 days so that is not a concern. You do however need to fill up the water tank every day. This is easily done at one of the many Water Points provided by British Waterways throughout the canal and river system. Electricity is supplied from batteries which are charged during the day while you are cruising. It is necessary to motor for at least 5 hours (preferably 8 hours) a day to keep the batteries topped up for the lights etc overnight. It is also best to turn the fridge off overnight to avoid draining the batteries, we just made sure that the fridge was turned up quite high during the day so that it maintained sufficient cold without power. Don’t forget to turn it back on the morning!
Then comes the big moment, casting off and beginning your adventure!
Though they will go faster, the recommended maximum speed for the boat is 4 miles per hour, or a good walking pace. Faster than this creates a damaging wake that erodes the riverbanks and upsets the fishermen. It also tends to rock other boats on their moorings which is considered ‘poor etiquette’. That pretty much sets the tone for the next week – you can’t get too stressed when everything happens at such a leisurely pace.
Cruising gently upstream towards Stratford upon Avon (which is 15 minutes by car and a full day sailing by narrowboat!) you are quickly drawn into the romance of narrowboating. Surrounded by beautiful countryside and superb views, visited by the many swans and ducks on the river, waving and chatting to fellow narrowboaters and enjoying the lovely riverside homes and buildings as you slowly cruise by.
Having set out around 3pm it was not possible to go too far on the river on the first day, so we planned to head to the Fish & Anchor pub alongside the George Billington Lock, which would be the first lock we would encounter.
So there I am, sitting at the tiller cruising idly along the river, looking at the map of the Upper Avon Navigation and enjoying this new experience when I notice a diversion heading off the river to the left with a sign and arrow saying LOCK. 'Hmmm! That’s interesting’ I think, ‘must be a side stream that joins the river, can’t see it on the map?’ ‘Not to mind we don’t want to turn off, it is straight up the river for us anyway.’ As we draw adjacent to it there is suddenly a lot of shouting and waving from a fisherman on the bank. Oops! This is not some side stream, this is THE lock! Straight ahead is a one-way ticket to getting stuck on a weir! Lots of frantic reversing and shuffling to arrest our forward motion and jockey back to a point where we can turn into the lock channel momentarily dispelled the sense of calm and quiet. Once the heart rate had returned to something near normal and we had a chance to tie up we contemplated our next challenge – our first lock. Fortunately there was another narrowboat just going through the lock in front of us, so we took the opportunity of watching them operate the gates and paddles, which was great for reinforcing what we had learnt in the video. In the end it was ‘much ado about nothing’ (we are in Shakespeare country after all) and we found the locks very straight forward to operate.
We had hoped to moor by the Fish & Anchor pub, but the moorings were full, so we tied up adjacent to the lock. Next lesson we learnt was that ‘adjacent to the lock’ often means that you have tied up on an island, and as such we were cut off from the ‘mainland’ and couldn’t get to the pub – so near and yet so far! We spent our first night onboard cooking ourselves a yummy meal and opening a bottle of wine or two to celebrate the first day.
Bonus! Go outside in the evening and the sky is so clear, the stars seem to leap out of the heavens. Quiet contemplation of the wonder of it all (helped by the previously mentioned wine no doubt) then sleep like a log until morning.
Another point to bear in mind is that the water is heated by the engine, so it is advisable to shower either at night or during the day while cruising. Don't leave it until the morning before you get going or the water will probably be tepid at best.
There is much more to rave about on this wonderful holiday, but perhaps I will leave it here for now and add another chapter or a new section shortly.
Suffice it to say that I cannot recommend this type of holiday highly enough!