Messing About In Boats

This was meaningful as we drove over to Goytre Wharf, north of Pontypool at the start of our short break. We were looking for a different type of break, a chance to unwind, escape civilisation and let all thoughts of the hectic week of work slip away. At a top speed of 4 miles per hour, this is the perfect speed to unwind and travel at the same time, leaving the car behind.

The creaky narrowboat putt-putts up the canal, the still waters like a smooth, green snooker table on this sun-filled afternoon of autumn leaves and crackling bonfires. Our boat, the Blue Horizon is a beautiful blue and yellow craft, with shiny coppers and thick woodsmoke issuing from the stove chimney. The best place to sit is up on the deck where you can watch the countryside slowly unfold. Inside it has everything you could want: comfy bedroom, a compact bathroom, a galley kitchen and a place to relax. It’s cosy and a great pleasure to wake up each morning with a different view from the window.

This is our week of messing about in boats, exploring the unsung, silent beauty of this corner of South Wales, lying on the southern cusp of the Brecon Beacons National Park. From Newport to Brecon, there are thirty-two miles of waterway but the best stretch is north from Pontypool where you will see more wildlife than people. It is an easy canal to navigate, a contour canal with few locks to negotiate and long idyllic stretches of water with views of the dramatic countryside, whether the Sugar Loaf when approaching Abergavenny, or from atop the Brynich Aqueduct. From time to time, we pass remote villages, hedges heavy with blackberries, and with just a solitary inn.

On one thirsty stop, we enjoyed a typically Welsh lunch in a peaceful inn: cockles from the North Gower coast mixed with larvae bread, an unusual but tasty seaweed, washed down with a half-pint of Brain’s, a dark beauty of a bitter and brewed not far away in Cardiff. The villages in the area make an ideal starting place for a stroll on footpaths through delightful woodlands and fields.

Built between 1797 and 1812, the canal carried stone and processed lime from nearby quarries to the docks in Newport, to be shipped all over the world. The waterway was a place full of smoke and noise and rowdy barge-men. Now all traces of its industrial past have vanished – as has the rowdy barge-men–and it has been entirely returned to Nature. It is possible to see rare and shy birds along the banks such as the iridescent kingfisher that breeds here.

Virtually any spot along the canal is ideal for mooring, in order to jump off and have a walk or cycle ride, or enjoy a meal al fresco. Like the city of Rome, the town of Abergavenny is surrounded by seven hills or mountains– the Ysgyryd Fawr, the Ysgyryd Fach, the Blorenge, the Sugar Loaf, and three tumps: the Deri, the Rholben and Llanwenarth Breast – and these create a dramatic setting.

If Ysgyryd Fawr is a bit of a tongue-twister, then it’s locally referred to as the Skirrid or, the Holy Mountain, because of its distinct shape, formed by a landslip on one side and dating from the Ice Age. Legend has it that this landslip occurred at the moment of the crucifixion. At 486 metres above sea level, we were rewarded with far-reaching views from atop the Skirrid, to the Black Mountains and across the rich agricultural countryside of neighbouring Herefordshire. Back on lower ground, lying about three miles from Abergavenny is the oldest inn in Britain, the Skirrid Inn in the village of Llanfihangel Crucorney, dating from 1100, and said to be home to innumerable ghosts. Judge Jeffries used to hold his assizes courts here, and local criminals were apparently hanged for their misdemeanours. Nowadays, we find it a welcoming place with a fine menu.

Once past Abergavenny, the scenery takes on an Alpine grandeur and after a few days of relaxing to our heart’s content, Talybont-on-Usk is our next port of call before proceeding to the Brynich Aqueduct. The little village is at a crossroads between several scenic reservoirs and good hiking country in the stony mountains hereabouts.  

The inky waters of the Talybont or Neuadd Reservoirs make for spellbinding scenery, with bold and silent mountains above. Equip yourself with a detailed Ordnance Survey map for making the best of the spider’s web of lanes and challenging tracks.

The last lovely leg of the canal encounters the Brynich Aqueduct, an impressive structure built in 1800 and taking the canal across the River Usk, a few miles short of Brecon. Brecon is the final terminus of the canal, but the town need not signal the end of your holiday. We explored the town, with its very own cathedral, the Brycheiniog Theatre and bistro, as well as the many craft and antique shops. It is an ideal place to stay for exploring the wild depths of the Brecon Beacons, where you could spend a fortnight getting lost in its beauty. But the overriding temptation on reaching Brecon is to do a U-turn and head back down Pontypool way, for a double-take on the great scenery and gentle tranquillity of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal.

Never before has the old adage “less is more” been more of a truism–4 miles per hour, the perfect speed!

13 June 2005