“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” [1]
As Ratty said in Wind in the Willows, there is nothing better, especially when the setting and the company is as fabulous as it was on the Llangollen Canal Trip. Part of a two-night adventure, the Aqueduct and Tunnels on the Llangollen Canal were the highlight of the trip to North Wales.
An early start to get the kit all set up and arrange all of the vehicles into position to make returning back to camp easier, was very much appreciated at the end. We were onto the water by 10:30am and enjoyed the first stretch of the canal while it had a gentle flow. Twists and turns as it snaked around the landscape and people’s gardens, narrowing in places to being only wide enough for one barge at a time, our early start ensured that we didn’t meet much oncoming traffic and could relax enjoy the views and have a good catch up with everyone for the first stint.
This stretch of the canal has historical demonstrations of horses drawing boats through the narrow and curved sections of the canal. Timber lines both edges of the narrowest stretches to keep any damage to a minimum. Luckily, we didn’t have to navigate any on our journey through Llangollen, so were free to just enjoy the landscape and long distance views through the clearings in the trees. 5km disappeared in no time and so did the morning!
Our halfway point was Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which gave us a wonderful open basin to stop and have lunch and a stretch out. No paddleboarding is allowed across Aqueduct due to one side being a fully open drop so it also gave a chance for sorting out the logistics of how we were going to get all of the kit across to the other side. In the end it was three paddle boards stacked up one on top of the other and lasso’d securely to be then towed through by Dave in his Kayak, while Brendan carried all of the paddles. I was lucky and got to jump into the back of Chris’ tandem kayak and travel across on the water, rather than walk across on the footpath and got to film half of the journey too. I am so glad that I did as it was breathtaking with both length, the height of the aqueduct over the river below and the absolutely stunning scenery opening out. A bit of last minute modification saw Brendan also taking the leash and tow the paddle boards across from the footpath, freed up Dave who was then able to set a new personal record of paddling that stretch entirely backwards.
We had another 2km or so to go before it was time to get set up with head touches for the first of the two tunnels. Tony lead the way, sadly the board mounted light wasn’t playing ball in either tunnel but the head torches were sufficient in the end. The first one was the shorter of the two being on 150m in length. We followed a family in two canoes through and almost didn’t need to paddle at all as the water flow did all of the work for us. The second Chirk Tunnel was almost three times the length and it was just our group so we weren’t limited by anyone else in front. The length made a big difference and the head torches were essential in the middle section to be able to see anything at all.
Soon after leaving the tunnel we took a 10 minute reprieve in the warm sunshine to rehydrate and take on some snacks before passing over the second Aqueduct of the day. This one was okay for us all to paddle across having protective edging to both sides. The views from this one down into the River Dee were still as glorious and it was fun to have been able to have paddled at such a height. It is defiantly one to keep an eye out for and try join on another occasion if you haven’t already completed this stretch of water.
Soon after the crossing, we arrived at our endpoint in Chirk. Both vehicles sitting ready for us to pack up the kit and return back to camp for the evening. All in all we finished the trip just after 4pm which wasn’t a bad time at all for what was a full on day of adventures, great company and not too many aches or pains.
As always sending our extended thanks and gratitude to Dave for all of the background prep that goes into the making of all of these trips, keeping up organised and safe at all times on the water and ensuring that the day just passes by so effortlessly. You really are a star!
Write up By Sam.