We see the attraction of silent travel

Saturday, 24 April 2010 19:00

Have you ever turned the engine off on your narrowboat and just drifted?

We have! It is wonderful to hear the birds and other sounds that you miss when the engine is chugging along and just to appreciate the peace and quiet around. We can see the attraction of an electric boat, but I am not so sure about looking after a horse!

Horse power - Tog

Whilst visiting Llangollen, we decided to experience the attraction of an horse powered narrowboat without having to worry about the horse! Yes folks, we succumbed to the horse drawn trip up the non-navigable section of the Llangollen Canal. The trips run from Llangollen Wharf.

Boats prohibited

Except we saw a few canoes on our trip - children supervised by parents on the bank! Again, we wondered how aware they were of canal rules and all those boring issues (like licences) that we narrowboaters fuss about!

One of the trip boats

The elum and the rudder are transferable from one end to the other to save winding - actually after Llangollen Basin there are no winding holes anyway! Is a push-me-pull-you narrowboat a good idea? Hmm, not for us I think! ( I think it has been tried though)

Elum (tiller) and rudder

I suppose the trip boats are loosely modelled on Packet Boats - we saw a mock up of one in the Maritime Museum in Lancaster - clickety click. Looking down the trip boat gives you an idea of this.

Off we go!

We were disappointed that the trip does not go all the way up to Horseshoe Falls where the Llangollen canal feeder begins, but enjoyed seeing a few sights the lazy way. You can do the whole trip if you have a party of 30 or more - clickety click. On our visit in 2005, we had taken the Llangollen Railway to Carrog and on the way back alighted at Berwyn to look at the Falls and walk back on the towpath.

The water is so clear you can see the bottom, past the reeds!

Once the horse had changed ends we were now at the bows! Walkers on the towpath need to be aware of the horse and rope - it could cause a nasty accident if not "given way to".

...particularly under Pentre Felin Bridge (48W)

We slipped past the Eisteddfod Pavilion and back to Llangollen Wharf. It was time to return to our noisy, smoky, cosy, lovely narrowboat home!

Last "site" of the trip - the Eisteddfod Pavilion